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In addition to Lin, infielder Cheng Tsung-che has also withdrawn from the initial 36-player training roster, Tsai said.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
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout