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In addition to Lin, infielder Cheng Tsung-che has also withdrawn from the initial 36-player training roster, Tsai said.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
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
RSS