This weekend’s Legends Games at Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei are to feature former star Epifanio Guerrero (known to local fans as 葛雷諾, “Ge Lei-nuo”), who has traveled from the US for the event and fondly recalled his time playing in the nation two decades ago.
Guerrero played in Taiwan for six years in the 1990s, first as a member of the Brother Elephants in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) and two seasons with Sampo Gida in the Taiwan Major League.
“It is my first time coming back here, after almost 20 years. I really miss my teammates and the fans in Taiwan,” Guerrero said at a launch event, where he joined other retired players from the CPBL’s four original teams: the Brother Elephants, the President Lions, the Mercury Tigers and the Weichuan Dragons.
He was a shortstop for the Brother Elephants, playing an important role in the team’s championship titles in 1993 and 1994.
A native of the Dominican Republic, he has since 2003 worked as a batting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers organization in the US, mostly at farm teams, where he coaches Taiwanese prospect Wang Wei-chung.
“I had a great time playing baseball in Taiwan. It was the best experience for me by far, in all the countries I have played,” Guerrero said. “Taiwan was the best — the passion of the fans, the championship seasons, having fun with teammates. It was better than when I played in the US, Mexico, Dominican Republic and other places.”
He learned conversational Mandarin over his six years playing in Taiwan, for which fans loved him.
After arriving in the nation on Thursday night, Guerrero was greeted by about 50 fans at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. At yesterday’s event, he was warmly embraced by former teammates and other retired players, who began talking in a mix of Mandarin, English and Spanish.
Guerrero had four outstanding seasons with the Brother Elephants and was known as the best two-way shortstop in the CPBL, as he excelled in defense and batting.
He accumulated 418 hits, 30 home runs, 164 RBIs and a stellar CPBL career batting average of .328 over the four seasons.
“My best memory was when our team won the championship and we had a parade in Taipei. There were many baseball fans who held up signs and shouted slogans of victory and support for the Brother Elephants,” Guerrero said. “It was great to remember, because I had not won titles and had not experienced that in other countries.”
The Legends Games begin today at 1:30pm with a contest between retired players of the Mercury Tigers and Weichuan Dragons, who are now defunct, but still hold a special place in the hearts of many local fans.
Tomorrow, former players of the Brother Elephants are to take on those of the President Lions to recreate the historic first CPBL game, which took place on March 17, 1990, at the old Taipei Municipal Stadium.
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