Two major events occurred off the field involving the CPBL this week, with the announcement that Sunday games are to be carried by Chinese Television System (CTS) and the expected signing of former Major League player Freddy Garcia by the EDA Rhinos.
The failure to continue the 18-year relationship with local sports broadcaster Videoland Sports to provide live coverage of games on the local cable network led to a wave of complaints from fans and ultimately brought on the deal with CTS, which will begin airing one of the two games being played on Sunday this weekend.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, except that CTS would not be televising any games during the week, whereas before baseball fans have had the luxury of access to all of the games on cable television for more than 20 years.
“It’s a positive step forward for everyone, since more fans will be able to watch the games, like they have for a long time, but the sport has definitely taken a hit as far as its overall popularity is concerned,” a source close to the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times.
In a bid to revive interest in the league after it hit an all-time high a year ago with the signing of former Major League Most Valuable Player Manny Ramirez, the EDA Rhinos announced they would be signing a former Major League pitcher with 150-plus wins.
Even though the Rhinos could not release the identity of the player as of yesterday due to compliance reasons, the description of the player — “born outside of the US, but is currently an American citizen who has spent time with the New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves” — leaves little doubt that it is Freddy Garcia.
The terms of the deal were not available, but Garcia is expected to receive a contract very similar to Ramirez’s last year, which was in the NT$1.5 million (US$50,000) range with other unspecified perks, such as a free suite at the EDA Crown Plaza Hotel in Greater Kaohsiung.
The signing of Garcia should give the slumping Rhinos, who have lost five straight and were dead last in the standings with a 6-12 record as of yesterday, a much-needed boost.
Garcia could be in a Rhinos uniform as soon as next week, pending the results of a medical and the inking of a contract.
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
TAIWANESE WIN: Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien and their partners won their first-round matches in the women’s doubles at the All England Lawn Tennis Club Late-night finishes and five-set matches are becoming a habit for Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon this year. On Wednesday, he wrapped up his win over Gabriel Diallo before the match was suspended — making sure the fifth-seeded American would not have to come back on court for a fourth straight day. Fritz overcame a bloodied elbow to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 4-6, 6-3 on No. 1 Court a day after he finished off another five-set win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that was halted on Monday at about 10:15pm after Fritz forced a fifth set with Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew looming. He
RSS