In an effort to sustain fan support and professional baseball's popularity, the Chinese Professional Baseball League has teamed up with a major local soft-drink company to hold the first ever intra-league competition for amateur players who are playing in the minor league system in place of serving their compulsory military duties, and those players who were not selected to the national baseball team that will compete in the upcoming Athens Olympic Games.
The 15-game competition is designed to "fill-in" for the month-long stoppage of the CPBL's regular season play due to the absence of its top players who have departed for Italy in preparation for the Olympics later this month.
Opportunity
"This will be a good opportunity for the minor leaguers to showcase their talents and gain some valuable actual game experience in playing with the big leaguers," league commissioner Lee Wen-pin said during a press conference held earlier this week
The competition, named the"Fantasy Play," will be played at regular CPBL ballparks throughout the nation for the next three weeks and televised by sports channels that normally carry CPBL action. Similar to the regular CPBL contests, a game-MVP named the "Fantasy MVP" will be selected by the press after each game.
Upon the completion of the 15-game competition, a "Super Fantasy MVP" will be selected by an online fan ballot from those who have won single-game "Fantasy MVP" honors over the course of the competition to win the grand prize of NT$50,000.
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