Professional baseball player Mario Encarnacion of the Dominican Republic was found dead yesterday morning in his dormitory. The cause of death is not yet known pending an autopsy, but investigators said his room had not been broken into and that a post-mortem examination found no signs of external injury.
Encarnacion played with the Chinese Professional Baseball League's (CPBL) Macoto Cobras.
At a press conference held yesterday afternoon, CPBL secretary-general Lee Wen-ping (
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee said Encarnacion explained to the league that he had taken weight-loss medicine which may have contained steroids. Encarnacion was worried that his weight was affecting his performance.
But Lee warned the media not to jump to conclusions.
"Before prosecutors finish an investigation, please do not suspect that his death was related to him taking medicines prohibited by the league," Lee said.
Investigators said an autopsy would be conducted in a few days to determine the cause of death.
A Cobras coach, Lu Ming-shih (
"Encarnacion had asked not to attend the team's routine training over the weekend because of his serious gastroenteritis," Lu said.
Lu said that Encarnacion did not appear yesterday morning when the team gathered in front of the dormitory in Tamsui (
Encarnacion lived a simple life in Taiwan, according to Lu, and was not believed to have any drug or alcohol addiction.
"The team has lost a great player," Lu said.
Encarnacion, a 30-year-old right-handed central fielder from the Dominican Republic, had played for the Cobras since April. This season he hit 17 home runs, ranking number two in the league.
Encarnacion played for the US professional baseball team the Colorado Rockies in 2001, and for the Chicago Cubs in 2002.
He came to Taiwan earlier this year.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS