Taiwan catcher Lyle Lin yesterday announced that he has signed a minor-league contract with the Oakland Athletics and received an invitation to spring training, which has led to his withdrawal from Taiwan’s squad for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) qualifiers.
The contract, which includes his first major-league spring training invitation since being drafted in 2019, requires him to fully attend the team’s spring training facility in Phoenix, Arizona, Lin wrote on Facebook.
He apologized for any inconvenience caused to the national team and expressed gratitude to head coach Tseng Hao-chu for giving him another opportunity to join the national team after his role in the squad who won the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship against Japan in November last year.
Photo: CNA
Lin also thanked Taiwanese baseball fans for their support, which he said had helped the team secure the Premier12 championship despite being underdogs.
He urged fans to continue supporting him just as they cheer for the national team, pledging to live up to their expectations and never give up.
“I am proud to be a part of Team Taiwan. We are Team Taiwan,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
CPBL president Tsai Chi-chang expressed his full support for Lin’s decision.
In addition to Lin, infielder Cheng Tsung-che has also withdrawn from the initial 36-player training roster, Tsai said.
The WBC qualifiers are to begin in Taipei on Friday next week, with Taiwan to play Spain at 7pm at the Taipei Dome. They face South Africa and Nicaragua over the following two days at the same venue.
Photo: CNA
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS