World Cup Prep. - Tuesday Update....

Taiwan beat Italy 6-1, the second time around on Monday. Kuo Hui Lo DH'd, and was 1-4 with a double. Today, Cuba defeated Taiwan 8-1. Taiwan could only muster 2 hits, with Lo getting one of the hits and the only RBI. Taiwan's last tuneup game is Wed. against China.

Cuba will be the prohibitive favorite to win the tourney and defend their title. They should have the best overall talent going into World Cup play, as other nations assemble mostly minor league players as well as players from their country's respective domestic leagues/universities.

Cuba crowned Youth baseball champs!!!

Cuba overcame a strong starting performance by Robert Stock, 8K's in 4 IP, to beat the US 5-0. In other action, Australia beat Japan 13-2 for the bronze. Taiwan managed to salvage 5th place by beating Mexico 12-6 behind a home run from 2B Yu-Ju Lee.

Final standings:
1)Cuba
2)USA
3)Australia
4)Japan
5)Taiwan
6)Mexico
7)Holland
8)Brazil
9)Russia
10)South Africa
11)Czechoslovakia

Sunday update...The Good and the Bad

USA will be playing Cuba for the gold medal, in a battle between the only 2 unbeaten teams in the AA Youth tourney. Japan and Australia are matched up in the bronze medal game. Taiwan is playing host Mexico for 5th place, after beating Brazil 9-0 in the loser's classification bracket.

Over in Italy, Taiwan's senior NT LOST to China 3-2. I know this is a tuneup for the World Cup, but 2 losses to Italy and China does not forbode well for Taiwan's chances of medaling in the September competition when it faces much tougher competition.

Tough day for Taiwan Baseball...

The senior national team for Chinese Taipei lost to the Italian NT 3-2 in 10 innings in a tuneup for the World Cup. Kuo Hui Lo had 5 plate appearances - went 0-2, with 3 walks - 1 intentional.
The good news for the team is that the reinforcements are coming - Chin-Lung Hu, Yung-Chi Chen, Po-Hsuan Keng, and Chi-Hung Cheng will be leaving their respective US minor league clubs shortly to join the rest of the team in Europe.

USA dominates Taiwan in Monterrey!!

Taiwan was outhit and outpitched by team USA at the World Youth Championships. The final score in 7 innings, was 12-1. USA will continue it's title defense by going against the winner of the Brazil-Japan game in a semi-final match up. Taiwan will play the loser of that game to help determine consolation rankings. Congrats to the US team on a dominating and impressive performance. The only team that might pose a threat to these kids is Cuba. That will be a classic matchup between two traditional powerhouses.

Quarterfinals set for World Youth Championship

USA beat Mexico 13-5 today to earn the #1 seed in Group A and will play Chinese Taipei Friday, August 26th. The matchup I was hoping to see is going to happen. I just envisioned it being in the semis or finals though. CT was beaten by Australia 5-4 and earned the #4 seed in Group B. Brazil, Australia, and Taiwan all had identical 2-2 records in preliminary play, but a run-difference ratio was used to determine rankings. Seedings for both groups are as follows:
Group A:
1)USA
2)Mexico
3)Japan
4)Netherlands
Group B:
1)Cuba
2)Brazil
3)Australia
4)Chinese Taipei
You can follow the USA-Taiwan game here on Friday. May the best team win!

Chinese Taipei NT tuneup for World Cup

After it's SoCal - US tour, the senior NT has been back in Taiwan playing a number of domestic teams. In it's final tuneup for the World Cup, Team Taiwan will travel to Italy to play the national teams of Cuba, Italy, and China from August 24th thru the 31st.
On September 1st, the team will travel to Holland for the World Cup. The good news for Taiwan is that it has been grouped in a different pool from Cuba; the bad news is that Taiwan is in the same group as the US, Japan, Puerto Rico, and Australia.

World Youth Baseball Championship Update

Upon completion of all games played through 8/22/05, the current standings are:

Group A: (1)Mexico 4-0 (2)USA 3-0 (3)Japan 2-2 (4)Netherlands 1-2 (5)Russia 1-2 (6)South Africa 0-4
Group B: (1)Cuba 3-0 (2)Chinese Taipei 1-1 (3)Australia 1-1 (4)Brazil 1-1 (5)Czechoslovakia 0-3

The individual group round robin games go through today and finish tomorrow 8/24/05. The top 4 teams from each group will play each other: Group A #1 vs Group B #4, Group B #2 vs Group A #3, etc. The winners advance to the semifinals on Saturday, August 27th. The Gold medal and Bronze medal games will be played the following day 8/28/05, to conclude the tourney and crown a new world youth champion. Team USA has won the past 3 world championships. USA is off to a hot start with tremendous starting pitching. Robert Stock has been as advertised, with a dominating 15K, 1 hit, 7 inning shutout performance vs. the Netherlands. Mexico and USA will clash on Thursday to determine first place in their group, while Taiwan and Australia will duke it out on Thursday to determine the runner-up to Cuba in Group B preliminary play.

XII AA WORLD YOUTH BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The IBAF-sanctioned championships is underway for the top 13-15 year olds in the world. Hosted in Monterrey, Mexico, the competition is split into two pools. Group A consists of: the US, Japan, Netherlands, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Group B consists of: Australia, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Cuba and the Czech Republic. Play began on 8/19/05 and will continue through 8/28/05. You can follow all of Team USA's action here. One interesting note for Team USA, is that the team will be led by super stud - Robert Stock, who impressed the hell out of me when he played against an older CT national team this past summer. See content that I posted on 8/6/05 for pics and comments on Robert Stock.

AAA - Junior International Baseball Tourney..

Taiwan hosted an international baseball tournament for top junior aged baseball players 15-18 that began 8/14/05 and ended today 8/20/05. Junior national teams from Japan, Australia, and Cuba competed against five teams composed of the top junior baseball players in Taiwan. Due to poor weather conditions, Japan and Ku Pau-Taiwan were declared co-champions. The bronze medal was won by Nan Ying-Taiwan. Complete game results can be found here.

CONGRATS TO TAINAN CITY, CT!!!!!!

Tainan City, Taipei won the 2005 Pony World Series over a team from San Diego 2-1 on Saturday. It was their first championship since 2000. CT was able to win on the strength of good pitching and small ball. Yao-Wen Chang, the tallest player for CT, was probably the most impressive player for the team, dominating with his pitching performances against Puerto Rico and in the championship game. Visit here for more details and pics.

Pony Baseball

Chinese Taipei has made it to the championship game of the Pony League World Series (for 13-14 year olds) The game will be broadcast on the internet this Saturday (8/20) at 1:00 pm Eastern Standard time. Click here for the broadcast link. Jia Yo Taiwan!

Hong Wen Chen

The team that will be representing Chinese Taipei at the upcoming World Cup might have one more potential pro prospect in pitcher Hong Wen Chen. Chen is the youngest of the unsigned players at 19 years old. He stands 6 feet tall even, has good size, and throws a fastball that sits around 89-91 mph. On the recent summer tour in Southern California, he was one of the few guys that stood out in my eyes(in addition to Lo). Let's see how he does in the World Cup against better competition.

Last Couple Misc. Pics of Team Taiwan (8/5/05).....

Pic of Me and John Hsu, the team trainer, translator, equipment manager, team photographer - the kid had a ton of team responsibilities. John promised me he would send me a copy of all his pics once he has some time. John is interested in coming here to the US to study at the University of Miami in FL. Anyone with UM connections, feel free to hook a brotha up! Contact me at Thetaiwaneseterror at yahoo dot com

The dugout - post game aftermath - nothing like watermelon on a hot day!

Team Taiwan with fans - I'm in the upper right hand corner :)

Mariners, Braves, Marlins Scouting 15 year old pitcher...

Shu-Han Cheng, a 15 year old playing for a Chinese Taipei junior national team, was clocked in the low 90's while competing recently in the Enzo Civelli Tournament held in Italy. Cheng was born 12/7/89, stands 5'10'' tall and weighs 180 pounds. Keep an eye out on this kid in the next couple of years, when he becomes eligible to sign with a pro team. Chinese Taipei won the tournament with a perfect record. The other stand out player for CT was Kai-Wen Cheng. The 17 year old was the top player in the tourney playing 2 ways: hitting .520, with 2 HR's & 14 RBI's, while pitching a shutout and winning 2 complete games with an eye popping 31 K's in 16 innings.

2005 Chinese Taipei World Cup Roster announced....

For the upcoming competition in September, Coach Yeh has decided to add a few players with US pro experience. The team will be very young, but should be competitive against their opponents.

Tentatively the roster is as follows:

Coach - Chih-Shien Yeh
Asst Coach - Jung-Tang Kung
Asst Coach - Wu-Hsiung Huang
Asst Coach - Kun-Han Lin
Asst Coach - Gilbert Rondon

There are initially 10 pitchers selected:
1)Hong-Wen Chen
2)Yi-Che Huang
3)Min-Ching Kao
4)Fu-Te Ni
5)Ying-Feng Tsai
6)Min-Hao Wang
7)Chien-Ming Chiang - YOMIURI GIANTS
8)Po-Hsuan Keng - TORONTO BLUE JAYS
9) Chi-Hung Cheng - TORONTO BLUE JAYS
10) Sung-Wei Tseng - played for the Anchorage Bucs this past summer

3 catchers:
11)Chih-Hong Chen
12)Yi-Wei Li
13)Kuan-Yi Yang

7 infielders:
14)Tsung-Han Yu
15)Chun-Yu Kuo
16) Chiang-Ho Chen
17) Yin-Chuan Lin
18)Sheng-Wei Wang - played for the Anchorage Bucs this past summer
19)Yung-Chi Chen - SEATTLE MARINERS
20)Chin-Lung Hu - LOS ANGELES DODGERS

4 outfielders:
21)Ying-Chieh Liao
22)Kuo-Hui Lo - SEATTLE MARINERS
23)Chih-Yao Chan
24)Unknown

*Players in blue demarcate those who played in the So Cal - US tour this past summer.

Chinese Taipei Youth baseball

Someone once asked me why I have an interest in Taiwan's youth baseball program. Well, the answer is simple. Of the 13 recent players (including Kevin Huang who was let go by the Red Sox) who have come here to the US to play ball, several have had their international debuts here in the US. Here is a list of the alumni who have participated in Little League or Pony World Series championships:

1) Chen (Dodgers) - 1990 Little League World Series Champs
2) Cheng (Blue Jays) - 1996 Little League World Series Champs
3) Wu (Mariners) - 1996 Little League World Series Champs
4) Lo (Rockies) - 2000 Pony League World Series Champs

Several other players have also participated in these youth competitions and gone on to pro careers in Taiwan's domestic league as well as in Japan.

Essentially, many of these games are previews of Taiwan's future baseball stars.

For a list of Taiwanese baseball players here in the US, check out this site run by Frank. He also has a complete list of all Asian baseball players here in the US.

Little League/Pony League - Chinese Taipei 2005

Well, there will be no trip to Williamsport this year for the Chinese Taipei Little League (11-12 year olds) representatives. In the qualifying Asian regional hosted in Fukuoka, Japan, Chinese Taipei tied Japan and Korea with a 3-1 record in round-robin play. However, Chinese Taipei beat Japan (4-1). Japan beat Korea (10-0). Then, Korea upset Chinese Taipei (3-1). Instead of a playoff to determine the winner, a tie-breaker system was implemented and Japan was awarded the trip to Williamsport. Talk about needing to change the system. I feel bad for the kids from Korea and Taiwan, both of whom deserved another shot at Williamsport.


In Pony baseball action (a youth baseball organization separate from Little League) , the Chinese Taipei representatives lost in the Bronco age division (11-12 year olds) in the championship game versus Puerto Rico 2-1. Game results can be found here. Chinese Taipei's roster and photo can be found here.

In the Palomino age division (17-18 year olds) of Pony baseball, Chinese Taipei lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions - Santa Clara, CA 3-2.

Chinese Taipei will have one last shot at winning a world championship in the Pony division (13-14 year olds) World Series beginning August 13th. Be sure to follow all the action here.

Pic of Lo and Me!!!!!!!

This picture was taken by a fellow Chinese Taipei baseball fan who goes by Citybear.

Lo is listed as 6'2" and 182 pounds. That sounds about right, cuz I'm 5'9" and 162 pounds.

Big props to Citybear for taking this photo. For those of you interested in more pics of Friday's game, check out Citybear's pics at his site. He's got a much better camera than I have.

I'm gonna frame this baby!

More to come...

Alright, I'm pooped out for now. I'll post more pics/stuff in the next couple of days. Till then, take care and enjoy!

8/5/05 Brewers Blue Pics

Chad Gross (37) 1B at the plate - the kid was huge, at least 6'5", quite an intimidating presence

Robert Stock (13) DH at the plate

The Brewers in Blue

Another look at Robert Stock - FUTURE STAR IN THE MAKING?

Man among boys - Devin Shepherd (33) RF

8/5/05 In game pics CT - Part III

Kuo (45) 1B at the plate

Lin (25) 3B on deck

Chan (8) RF taking some ferocious hacks

Starting pitcher Chen (99) winding up

8/5/05 Pre-game Warm up Pics- Part II

After exchange of gifts between the two teams.....GAME ON!!!!

Rod Dedeaux (in red) with a pre-game introduction of both teams

Lo (52) practicing bunting, Chen (99) - starting pitcher in center of picture

Liao (11) - starting OF warming up

Lin (25) IF

Starting catcher Chen (22)

Pics from Friday's Game 8/5/05 - Part I

The path leading to Dedeaux Field - named after a famous alumni

Self explanatory

There were a number of scouts in attendance with their radar guns handy

More on the Brewers Blue team

A full roster can be found here. Almost all of the players who played yesterday are going to be HS seniors this upcoming school year, with the exception being Robert Stock, who will only be a HS junior in the fall. With that being said, the 4 kids who did manage to get a hit against older competition were: #6 Kyle Smith (2B) with a single, #33 Devin Shepherd (RF) with a hard single, #23 Travis Tartamella (DH) with an infield single, #10 Justin Jacobs (3B) with an infield single. Devin Shepherd and Chad Gross (1B) are both imposing physical specimens. #13 Robert Stock (DH) , the youngest guy playing on the field, only had 1 AB, but managed to hit a ball to the deepest part of CF for a long out. #21 Hank Conger (C/3B) also showed good power with another long fly out to the warning track. All in all, these HS kids were pretty impressive since they were using wood bats. Pitching wise, #36 Josh Raven was very impressive in 2 scoreless innings, giving up 0 hits/runs, 0 walks, and 2 K's. #19 Fabian Williamson also pitched well in 2 scoreless innings, striking out 4, walking 1, while giving up 1 hit.

Look for a number of these kids to star at the next level, collegiate or pro.

Friday Game Recap: CT vs Milwaukee Brewers Blue Team

Chinese Taipei played a split squad Area Code Team made up of some of the top HS kids from California - known as the Milwaukee Brewers Blue team. The game started 8/5/05 at 2:30 PST at USC's Dedeaux Field. In attendance were a handful of scouts to check out the HS kids and maybe a few of the CT players. Chinese Taipei was slotted as the home team. CT was able to win a full 9 inning game by the score of 2 - 0, on 8 hits and 2 errors. The Brewers Blue team was able to muster together 4 hits. The line up and stats for CT is as follows:

7 Chen Yu Chung (CF) In 4 AB's had 0 hits, 1 walk, a sacrifice bunt, and K'd once
8 Chih Yao Chan (RF) In 4 AB's had 2 singles, and a run scored
25 Yin Chuan Lin (3B) In 4 AB's had a double - RBI, K'd once
52 Kuo Hui Lo (DH) In 4 AB's had a single - RBI, K'd once
45 Chun Yu Kuo (1B) In 4 AB's had a single
11 Ying Chieg Liao (LF) In 3 AB's hitless
5 Chiang Ho Chen (2B) In 3 AB's had 2 singles
22 Chih Horng Chen (C) In 2 AB's hitless, K'd once
21 Ko Chien Lin (SS) In 3 AB's had a single, K'd once

99 Hong Wen Chen (SP) Pitched 6 strong innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 3 K's, 0 BB's, 1 hit batter

10 Kuan Yi Yang (C) Substituted for #22, had 1 AB - grounded out - showed good defense, threw out runner trying to advance to 2nd base
59 Yuan Chin Chu Pinch hit in the 9th inning - flied out
16 Chun Wun Chiou Pinch hit in the 9th inning - K'd
15 Chuang Hsun Tu Pinch hit in the 9th inning - K'd

61 Chia Min Tseng Relieved #99 in the 7th inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 BB
62 Chun Yan Tseng Relieved #61 for 8th,9th innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 K, 1 BB

Friday's Goodbye Game....

Well, Chinese Taipei played it's last game in it's 2 week US tour today at USC's Dedeaux field. There were a ton of scouts there checking out CT's opposition: the Area Code Milwaukee Brewers Blue team. Because of a busy schedule tonight, I will post game recap and photos tomorrow. Come back and check it out!

My thoughts on the IOC and CPBL scandal...

The IOC's decision to can baseball for the 2012 Olympics is a direct slap in the face to the US. In the IOC's effort to undermine America's dominance at it's own games, it has failed to recognize the globalization of the game and the fact that the US didn't even qualify for the 2004 Olympics!


Baseball is played all over the world in regions from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, to Asia and Oceania. It is a growing sport that has seen the world's most populous country, China quickly establish a more competitive program in a matter of a few years.


What are the implications of the IOC decision on Taiwan baseball? Well, the most important result is the fact that funding for the development of CT's national team will be cut. Less money being spent on player development, equals the possibility of a decline in the current and future talent pool. Add to that the gambling scandal going on in the CPBL, and you have the potential for a decline in the sport's popularity. Once you lose the fans' trust, it's always hard to win back their support again. It would be a damned shame to see the progress that has been made by the current crop of aspiring baseball players here in the US, take a few steps backwards.

Big Props.....

Big Props to the Seattle Mariners for recognizing the potential and talent in Taiwan by having the only full time MLB scout - Jamey Storvick, based outta there. I hope the signings (4 kids so far) pay off in the future for the organization. A great way to follow how the kids from Taiwan are doing is to check out Mariner Minors, a very informative and updated daily website that reports on the everyday stats/transactions/news in the world of the Mariner's minor league system.

Baseball World Cup 2005

The current CT team that is touring the US might make up the majority of the roster for the upcoming World Cup in Holland. Lo is almost a certain lock to make the team. However, the CTBA is mulling the possibility of adding a few pros from their domestic league. In the last two World Cups, Taiwan has sent a team comprised mostly by professionals in 2001 and a predominantly amateur team in 2003. One player who has been invited to join the World Cup team is newly signed Yomiuri Giants pitcher Chien-Ming Chiang. The 20 year old would be a nice addition to the current pitching roster.

Stay tuned.....

I will try my best to make Friday's game vs. the Area Code Team and report on the 411 there.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments on my blog content, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave comments on the blog or email me at: thetaiwaneseterror at yahoo dot com. The at and dot were spelled out to avoid getting spam mail.

Pics of Chinese Taipei team!

Team Photo!

Starting Pitcher and Catcher have finished warmups

Coach rallying the troops

Pitcher - Yi-Che Huang

Fan appreciation Pic

You can't go to a Chinese Taipei game without some rabid fans and our beautiful flag!

Rod Dedeaux and me!

Well, here it is: my chance to hang out with an icon in the college baseball scene. Mr. Rod Dedeaux was gracious enough to pose with me as well as answer some questions I had for him. Even though he has aged physically, his mind is still sharp as a tack! Based on my conversation with him, I think Mr. Dedeaux had a big hand in helping the Chinese Taipei National team find some competitive games here in the US in preparation for the Baseball World Cup going on this September 2005 in Holland.