Taiwan’s baseball season restarted with two games yesterday, while CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) announced plans to open ballparks to fans at 25 percent capacity if all goes well.
The season was suspended on May 15 due to a local COVID-19 outbreak.
In Tainan yesterday, Canadian pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in an outstanding performance, leading the Uni-President Lions to an 8-1 thrashing of the Rakuten Monkeys. He was the natural choice for Most Valuable Player.
Photo courtesy of the CPBL
The Lion’s Argentine-Taiwanese slugger Lin An-ko hit a solo dinger, the first home run of the restarted season, boosting his total to six.
The home team gave up a run in the ninth inning, when the Monkeys took advantage of the Lions’ shaky reliever Chen Yun-wen.
In yesterday’s other contest, the Wei Chuan Dragons were beating the Fubon Guardians 4-1 in the top of the seventh in their game in Douliou City in Yunlin County as of press time last night, as it was delayed due to rain in the late afternoon.
Meanwhile, Tsai said league officials and team executives would closely monitor this week’s proceedings, and ensure that prevention measures are adhered to.
This includes medical staff testing players, game officials and ground crew for COVID-19 using rapid testing kits before each game.
“If it goes well in the coming weeks, and the situation throughout Taiwan is under control, then we will submit the plan for the next phase: to open ballparks to fans at 25 percent capacity,” Tsai told reporters.
“But before that, everyone must comply with regulations from the health authorities, who are still asking people to minimize contact by staying at home most of the time, and only going out when necessary. So for this period, we urge fans to remain at home and watch the baseball games on TV and online,” he said.
Tsai said the suspension of play had been tough on all five clubs, as over the past two months, the teams together lost at least NT$200 million (US$7.14 million) from ticket and merchandise sales and other related business, Tsai said.
“It was a painful decision, but the club executives knew it had to be made, and they collectively agreed to follow it through,” he said.
“We want to thank the league’s five clubs for their cooperation, and all the players. Nobody wants to see domestic infection clusters, but all the clubs and players followed government’s restrictions. They had to sacrifice a lot, but did not complain... Now everyone has high hopes and is looking forward to resuming the games,” he said.
CPBL officials also announced the schedule for this week, and said that they have applied to play games in the upcoming weeks, but are awaiting for approval from local governments.
The Fubon Guardians have migrated south, setting up base in Douliou City, as Douliou Baseball Stadium conforms to international standards and was used for major baseball tournaments in the past, including the IBAF Baseball World Cup, Intercontinental Cup and Asian Baseball Championship.
Fubon are to host the Dragons today, and face off against the Monkeys on Thursday. The Lions are to enjoy a home-field advantage at the Tainan Municipal Stadium with a two-game series against the CTBC Brothers on Thursday and Friday.
The Monkeys are to host the Dragons in Taoyuan for a three-game series starting on Friday and ending on Sunday.
Fubon are to remain in Douliou over the weekend. They are to face CTBC on Saturday, and the Lions on Sunday.
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