Tsai Kuen-shiang's (蔡昆祥) lazy fly to center found its way into the glove of Agan centerfielder Huang Lung-yi (黃龍義) to give the home team a 5-3 victory and conclude regular season play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).
In one of the most eventful years in the CPBL's 14-year history, the year began with the merger of two rival leagues.
Then came the disastrous 3-10-1 start for the defending champions that had Brother Elephants fans scratching their heads.
Sinon Bulls slugger Chang Tai-shan (
Chang's record-setting season continued as he claimed the double-century mark (100 home runs and 100 stolen bases), the fastest to reach the 500 RBI plateau, the most homers in a single season, and the 20-20 mark (20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season).
Following their miserable start, the Elephants regained their composure, finishing the first half of the season in a second-place tie in the standings with the Chinatrust Whales.
They then won the second-half title in one of the league's most dramatic turnarounds.
Four-time defending base-stealing champion Huang Kang-lin (
But the season had its share of misfortunes as an automobile carrying four players in April ran into a tree that led to one player being hospitalized for over a month.
And off-field trouble struck in August when the Elephants' team bus got into a highway race with a truck, ending with four hot-tempered players breaking the leg of a truck driver.
The postseason will begin this weekend in Kaohsiung, where the Elephants will host the Bulls in Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven 2003 Taiwan Series.
It will be the highest rated championship series matchup ever, since no two teams have ever had a closer regular-season record.
Adding to the excitement, this year's batting champ Peng Cheng-ming (
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