|
|
| |
 |
| |
Welcome!
The first recorded Australian baseball match was played on
February 21st, 1857, between Collingwood and Richmond, at the
Exhibition Grounds in Melbourne.
Nearly 150 years later, it is enjoyed by tens of thousands of
Australians, young & old, male & female, summer & winter. |
|
|
 |
|
| |
Chinese
Professional Baseball League
|
 |
About Taiwan
Professional baseball in Taiwan ...
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Professional baseball was started in Taiwan by the Chinese
Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 1989. At one time there
were two leagues and a total of 12 professional baseball teams
in Taiwan because during a row over broadcasting rights, another
league, the Taiwan Major League (TML), was created by television
tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng to compete with CPBL. CPBL absorbed the
remaining two teams in TML in 2003 when TML fell into deep
financial trouble. As of 2005, there are six professional
baseball teams and one professional baseball league, the CPBL,
in Taiwan with average attendance at around 5,000 per game. 2005
is also the sixteenth year of CPBL.
Many players in the North American Major League Baseball's
minor league systems were attracted to play in Taiwan since the
average yearly salary for a good foreign player, at US$60,000,
is very competitive when compared to A, AA, or even low level
AAA minor league salary. While this has contributed to a
relative high level of baseball participation, many people were
unhappy that hiring so many foreign players could hinder growth
of local players. In response to this, CPBL limits the number of
foreign players who may play for each team. The current limit is
four per team, although in the 2006 season, and in light of the
alleged involvement of foreign players in recent scandals, CPBL
is considering reducing the limit to two per team.
Foreign players (other than Japanese and Korean players,
whose names are already written in Chinese characters) are given
Chinese epithets, usually two to three characters in length, as
names to increase familiarity with Taiwanese fans. These
epithets are generally (but not always) loose transliterations
of the players' names and are generally chosen as terms meant to
convey strength or might. One example is Jeffrey Andra, whose
epithet is Feiyong - meaning, literally, a flying brave man.
Despite its young age, CPBL and professional baseball in
Taiwan as a whole, had endured two game-fixing scandals. Both
times led to a sharp decline in game attendance and broke many
fans' hearts. However, many die-hard fans do not blame the
players. Instead fans blame gangs and gamblers for their greed
and forcing players to participate in game-fixing with violence
and threats. They also blamed the police and the league for
being unable to provide a safe environment for players.
During the late 1990s, the first game-fixing scandal erupted.
The average attendance for a CPBL game dropped from around 7000
to around 1500. Some games with less popular team-combinations
drew less than 1000 paid attendance at times. This scandal led
to the permanent expulsion of many players and disbandment of
China Times Eagles and eventually the Mercuries Tigers and Wei
Chuan Dragons a few seasons later.
In July 2005, another gambling-related scandal erupted, this
time centered around foreign players in the league, but it also
involved some local players. Investigation is still on-going. So
far, the only player arrested is La New Bears catcher Chen
Zhaoying, who was immediately expelled by his team. Macoto
Cobras minor league manager Cai Shengfeng was also arrested.
However, on August 22, both Chen and Cai were suddenly released
after, according to the prosecution, they made full confessions.
Sinon Bulls pitchers Ho Chi-Hsien and Yang Jen-Ming, Macoto
Cobras shortstop Hsu Sheng-Chieh, La New Bears pitchers Tai
Lung-Shui and Hsu Chih-Hua, outfielder Hsu Yao-Yuan, infielder
Kuo Chang-Ting, Americans LA New Bears third baseman Victor
Rodriguez and Sinon Bulls pitching coach Jeffrey Andra, and
Dominican Chinatrust Whales pitcher Emiliano Girón, were
implicated, but none has admitted guilt. They were released
after interviews with the prosecutor, as was Macoto minor league
pitcher Chen Chih-Cheng. It is still unknown how many other
players are involved. With the recent lack of investigative
advances and indictments, there is growing suspicion that no
indictments would be forthcoming.
Current Teams are owned by and named for large Taiwanese
companies, as in Japan. Each team manages a regional "market",
as in "home city", but does not play its games exclusively in
that market.
Throughout TML's history, TML had been luring active CPBL
players to break their CPBL contracts and join TML by paying
them a high salary in excess of market value. A total of near 30
CPBL players were attracted to TML, however because of Chiu's
indecent incentive to form TML, many these players' fans ceased
to support them and called them "traitors" henceforth.
Chiu annually leased the 4 teams' logos and legal rights to
different sponsors for advertising purpose, so every year each
team would bear different name from different sponsors, only
with home city and mascot remained the same. All these TML's
policies were highly controversial; plus TML's single-company
nature, TML never gained popularity. Despite nice pay, young,
potential players hesitated to join TML because its games were
not competitive enough, and sponsors gradually disappeared.
In January 2003 Chiu finally decided to end TML after long
loss (an estimated 1.6 billion NT$ loss was amassed during the 6
seasons) and political pressure from President Chen Shui-bian;
Chiu also quitted TVBS's chair later. President Chen found local
Macoto Bank and First Financial Holdings to sponsor the 2
absorbed TML teams. Macoto Bank went on running, while First
Financial Holdings sold Agan to La New Corporation one year
later, forming today's CPBL.
Before CPBL's 2003 season started, CPBL decided to fine each
former "traitor" player who returned back with Gida and Agan for
1~4 million NT$ because of their previous contract-breaking.
Both Macoto Bank and First Financial Holdings originally refused
to pay the fine, so during 2003 these "traitor" players had no
game to play. However in 2004 Macoto Bank and La New Corporation
finally paid the fine by adding extra limitations in their
contracts. These players could finally show up in CPBL again
after 8-year absence.
While Taiwan has been producing great baseball talents for
the last few decades, its best players usually leave the
domestic league to play for professional teams in Japan or North
America. In the 1980s, Taiwanese pitchers such as Taigen Kaku
posted impressive numbers for Seibu Lions. More recently, a slew
of young stars (hitter Chin-Feng Chen and pitchers Chien-Ming
Wang, Chin-Hui Tsao and Hong-Chih Kuo) became the first group of
Taiwanese players to reach the North American Major League
Baseball.
Andrew Wong comments ...
Baseball in Taiwan may seem strange to a foreigner. It should.
Even though it is the same game, it is played in a different
country. In Taiwan the concession stands sell instant noodles
instead of hot dogs with mustard. Numerous fan support means the
season drags on for more than nine months. Local Taiwanese refer
to the matchups as the fight between the tiger and dragon, a
traditional Chinese metaphor for intense conflict. And was there
ever intense conflict in the early years of baseball in Taiwan.
Baseball was first introduced by the Japanese in the 19th
century so, in 1990, the ROC Professional Baseball League was
born. The electrifying battles between the Brothers Elephants,
the Wei Chuan Dragons and the President Lions [the latter two
owned, respectively by Wei Chuan Foods Co. and President Foods
Co.] succeeded in drawing standing-room-only capacity crowds.
Although baseball is the No. 1 sport, an even superior hobby is
gambling. After professional baseball was launched in 1989,
gamblers embraced the sport, taking bets from basement offices,
over the telephone or even via the Internet.
The CPBL relished in its glory until 1997 when a gambling
scandal ripped the masks off a number of two-faced baseball
players. Lured by the temptation of personal profit and turning
their backs on Taiwan's baseball tradition, these players
plunged Taiwan baseball into a multi-year dark age from which it
has only the last two/three years had the chance to recover.
The infamous "Black Eagles" scandal knocked the CPBL down from
its podium. In late January 1997, three members of the China
Times Eagles were accused of fixing games in exchange for
bribes. Other players and other teams were also guilty. The
incident led to the demise of the China Times Eagles and the ban
of many top players from the league. Despite playing more games,
the league saw the total attendance decline by half.
If you think Central Park in New York is scary, you ain't seen
nothing yet. On Aug. 2, 1996, four players from the Brother
Elephants were abducted and held in a hotel room in the city of
Taichung. Second baseman Fu-lien Wu was reportedly roughed up
and pitcher Yi-hsin "Knife Thrower" Chen had a pistol barrel
shoved in his mouth. According to prosecutors, the kidnappers
were from a syndicate that had lost $125,000 on an Elephants
game. They believed the players had intentionally thrown it
after being paid off by a rival gang.
Even the 1997 high school baseball championship suffered when
five players from the Pingtung High School team had to be taken
home by their parents in the middle of the game because the poor
young players had received threats from a group of men,
apparently gangsters worried about their bets. Eventually, 21
players, a coach and 12 alleged mob men were convicted in
September 1997. Also, Weichuan Dragons manager Hsu Sheng-ming
was stabbed four times in April 1996 after dropping his daughter
off at school. Thus the gambling scandals were finally thought
to be put behind the CPBL.
Then when Naluwan failed to aquire the television rights to the
CPBL, they formed the four-team TML that began play in 1997. It
took away many quality players from the scandal-plagued CPBL.
The CPBL was also extremely displeased to see the TML raiding
college players who were not yet mature enough to play pro ball.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is still the
oldest league in Taiwan after the Taiwan Major League (TML)
merged to begin the 2003 season. The TML was formed in 1997 the
rivalry between the two leagues in tiny Taiwan hurt the sport of
baseball immensely on the island.
The Future:- The average salary is $58,000 US a year while
foreigners make about $96,000 US a year. The average ticket
price is $6 US.
Taiwan won the baseball World Cup in 2001 and has seen its first
professional ballplayer, outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, make his
debut with MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.
Current Teams (CPBL)
Uni-President Lions
China Trust Whales
Brother Elephants
Makoto Gida
First Securities Agan
Sinon Bulls
What's A Season Like?
Each team plays 50 games a season. In total, there are 300 games
a year. In the 2002 season, there were 45 games and once, there
were 100 games were played by each team. Each team plays about
two or three times a week and then takes a week off, depending
on the schedule. There is usually a week off after a three-game
series. In 2003, the CPBL merged with the TML to become the CPBL,
which has six teams and use these stadiums: Taipei Stadium,
Tianmu Stadium, Shingcung, Longtan, Shingchu, Taichung, Hualen,
Jayi, Tainan, Kaoshung 1 and 2 and Pingtong. The top two teams
fight for the CPBL series championship. Here are the 2002
championship results for both the old TML and the CPBL before
the merger.
Seeing A Game ...
Games are available for everyone to see. The six teams do not
have a home stadium - they rotate, from Taichung to Koahsiung to
Taipei and so on. That way, everybody around Taiwan gets to
experience the game of baseball. Tickets average out at about $6
US. Stadiums usually have a capacity of around 5,000-10,000 with
crowds of usually 1,000-2,000. The 2003 opener drew 10,000.
Brent Hannon has this to say ...
It’s a calm summer evening in Hsinchuang, a suburb of Taipei.
Kites fly in the blue sky, children play, smoke rises from
barbecues. The scene is peaceful. But inside Hsinchuang Baseball
Stadium, it’s more like a madhouse. Attention is fiercely
riveted on the field, where the beloved Brother Elephants are
losing to the Chinatrust Whales, 6-0, in the fourth inning.
But soon the Elephants score two runs, and two innings later,
in a flurry of base hits, they score five more times, sending
their yellow-clad fans into a crescendo of flag-waving,
drum-pounding, trumpet-blowing support. Eventually, the hometown
Elephants beat the Whales 8-6, after surviving a bases-loaded
jam in the top of the ninth.
It’s a dramatic comeback for the Elephants, and their fans
walk happily away into the night. The presence of so many
supporters, sitting in a brand-new ballpark and cheering with
synchronized gusto, is an equally dramatic comeback for baseball
in Taiwan.
Led by new baseball parks, by the success of the Elephants,
and by Taiwan team victories against tough international
competition, the island’s national pastime is enjoying a
renaissance. Attendance at Chinese Professional Baseball League
games has risen 70 percent so far this year, and gate receipts
have almost doubled. The All-Star game in the new Tienmu
Baseball Stadium was a popular affair, drawing 5,100 fans,
including Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who swung and missed at a
ceremonial pitch.
Baseball has a long history in Taiwan. The Japanese taught
the game to the locals, who turned around and beat their
colonial masters in a landmark tournament in 1930. The game
surged in popularity in the 1960s, as the Taiwan little league
team won the first if its 17 world titles. The Chinese
Professional Baseball League was founded in 1990, and two years
later, Taiwan’s national team won a silver medal in the
Barcelona Olympics.
Baseball fever in Taiwan peaked in 1996. That year, more than
1.3 million fans poured into ballparks around the island, and
television ratings hit the stratosphere. The games were raucous,
ear-splitting events, as fans set off fireworks, banged drums,
blew air horns, yelled into bullhorns, and supported their teams
with an unrelenting, deafening chorus of noise.
Then came the gambling scandal of 1997, a sorry affair in
which players were kidnapped and threatened, and many games were
fixed. Attendance fell more than 50 percent, TV ratings plunged,
three teams folded, and the future of Taiwanese baseball was in
grave doubt.
The current revival began in October 2001, when the Chinese
Professional league championship series attracted more than
10,000 fans per game, and TV ratings soared. A month later,
Taiwan hosted the World Cup of Baseball, and the Taiwanese team
took third place, beating Japan in the final game. A joyful
celebration followed the win over Japan, as thousands of fans
poured into the streets and staged an impromptu victory parade,
following the team bus for miles.
The sport is set to get another boost from the U.S., where
several Taiwanese players are poised to break into the most
glamorous league in the world. Outfielder Chen Chin-fong of the
Los Angeles Dodgers minor leagues is a can’t-miss prospect,
while pitcher Tsao Chin-hui was given a US$2.2 million signing
bonus by the Colorado Rockies. In all, seven Taiwanese players
have been signed by American teams, and hopes are high that one
of them can be like Ichiro, a Japanese player who has been a
huge success in the U.S.
The most visible reason for Taiwan’s baseball revival are the
new ballparks, two in Taipei and one in Kaohsiung. Old Municipal
Stadium in downtown Taipei was torn down after the 2000 season,
and nobody misses it. The old stadium had no seats - people sat
on dirty concrete – and the outfield was a brown patchwork
filled with the sort of swampy puddles that usually attract
biology classes.
The brand-new Tienmu stadium is a sharp contrast to the old
stadium, but the 10,000-seat park will host just 12 baseball
games this summer, as the rich residents of Tienmu have
protested against the noise and the traffic. But during the
latest All-Star Game, the Tienmu fans behaved themselves: not a
single air horn shattered the evening calm, and the drums were
curiously muted. As it turns out, no air horns are allowed in
Tienmu Stadium, and drums bigger than 30cm across are banned.
No such restrictions apply at Hsinchuang Baseball Stadium,
which opened in 2000, with a capacity of 5,000. This little
neighbourhood park is a gem, more intimate than Tienmu Stadium,
but likewise filled with broad concourses, abundant restrooms,
and comfortable, close-to-the-field seats. The field is natural
grass – after all, Elephants, Lions and Bulls, let alone Whales,
can’t be expected to play on artificial turf. The food is good –
grilled sausages on sticks, with roasted garlic - and the beer
is cold. Let’s play ball!
Many of the fans at the games are teenage girls, who bring a
touch of Beatlemania to the new ballyards. Squealing and
laughing, they surge forward for autographs and pictures. The
hip young players, many with streaked hair and tattoos, are
respectful, even shy, in the face of such adoration.
At the Elephant-Whale game, I sit next to Jui-Ho Hong, owner
of the Elephants. It’s a fine evening, with the sun setting over
the grandstand, perfect weather for a ball game. And so it goes
for the next five innings, as the fans settle in. Darkness
falls, the lights flicker on, and a full moon comes up in right
field.
Not surprisingly, Hong says the revival of baseball in Taiwan
is due to the resurgence of his Elephants, who won the 2001
title. “Baseball is popular again because of the baseball World
Cup, and because my team won the championship,” says Hong.
Baseball in Taiwan has a bright future, says Hong. “If we can
win the championship again, next year will be even better,” he
says. Want more? Check out what
The Spooks have to say. |
|
|
