Compared to last year, 2007 was a tough year for Taiwanese baseball. The NT's poor showing in the WC and OQ's, the President Lions' third place finish in the K Cup, multiple injuries to key players in the US and Japan, and several other low-lights helped to define this past year. However, here's a few highlights (of mine) from this past year:
1)The Yankees' CMW won 19 more games, putting him at the top of MLB's cumulative list with 38 wins in the past 2 years.
2)When given the opportunity to play everyday and prior to injuring his shoulder, Hanshin Tigers OF Wei-Chu Lin was having a career year. He ended the season with a .292 BA, 15 HR's, and 58 RBI's in 418 AB's. It is the best performance by a Taiwanese hitter in the NPB since Yasuaki Taiho's .341 BA/18 HR/39 RBI performance with the Chunichi Dragons in 1999.
1)The Yankees' CMW won 19 more games, putting him at the top of MLB's cumulative list with 38 wins in the past 2 years.
2)When given the opportunity to play everyday and prior to injuring his shoulder, Hanshin Tigers OF Wei-Chu Lin was having a career year. He ended the season with a .292 BA, 15 HR's, and 58 RBI's in 418 AB's. It is the best performance by a Taiwanese hitter in the NPB since Yasuaki Taiho's .341 BA/18 HR/39 RBI performance with the Chunichi Dragons in 1999.
3)Chin-Lung Hu of the LA Dodgers tore up the minors, earned himself a September call-up to LA (5th Taiwanese ML'er), and won several awards this past season including these two gems: Dodgers 2007 Minor League POY and MVP of the 2007 Futures Game.
4)The junior NT won the 2007 Asian Junior Championships and was undefeated this past summer.
5)LHP HC Kuo became the first Taiwanese player to hit a HR in the Majors.
6)In the US minors aside from Hu, two guys made memorable impressions this past year. Che-Hsuan Lin impressed many baseball personnel with his tools in his first year in the US while Kuo-Hui Lo had a break-out year and set a Taiwanese MILB SB record.
7)A record 9 kids jumped at the opportunity to play in the US in 2007: Sheng-An Kuo (Rockies), Tzu-Kai Chiu (Reds), Hong-Wen Chen (Cubs), Che-Hsuan Lin (Red Sox), Chih-Hsiang Wen (Cubs), Yen-Wen Kuo (Reds), Chun-Hsiu Chen (Indians), Chia-Chu Chen (Red Sox), & Yao-Wen Chang (Mariners).
8)WL Pan and KC Kao had outstanding seasons in the CPBL, but CFC was still "The Man." CFC put up ridiculous numbers in the CPBL, then followed that up with a Herculean effort in the 2007 Taiwan Series, a solid WC, and then starred in the OQ's. CFC is still the best bat Taiwan has to offer.
4)The junior NT won the 2007 Asian Junior Championships and was undefeated this past summer.
5)LHP HC Kuo became the first Taiwanese player to hit a HR in the Majors.
6)In the US minors aside from Hu, two guys made memorable impressions this past year. Che-Hsuan Lin impressed many baseball personnel with his tools in his first year in the US while Kuo-Hui Lo had a break-out year and set a Taiwanese MILB SB record.
7)A record 9 kids jumped at the opportunity to play in the US in 2007: Sheng-An Kuo (Rockies), Tzu-Kai Chiu (Reds), Hong-Wen Chen (Cubs), Che-Hsuan Lin (Red Sox), Chih-Hsiang Wen (Cubs), Yen-Wen Kuo (Reds), Chun-Hsiu Chen (Indians), Chia-Chu Chen (Red Sox), & Yao-Wen Chang (Mariners).
8)WL Pan and KC Kao had outstanding seasons in the CPBL, but CFC was still "The Man." CFC put up ridiculous numbers in the CPBL, then followed that up with a Herculean effort in the 2007 Taiwan Series, a solid WC, and then starred in the OQ's. CFC is still the best bat Taiwan has to offer.
Feel free to add any highlights that you feel should be on the list in the comments section.
Happy Holidays and here's to hoping that we'll have lots to cheer about in 2008!
Happy Holidays and here's to hoping that we'll have lots to cheer about in 2008!
4 comments:
Here's to Terror for a magnificent year of blogging the national sport of the motherland.
Cheers!
Thanks for the kind words bro. Makes doing what I do worth the while!
I don't know if this counts, but Dodgers announced HC Kuo will be on the Dodgers New Year Rose Parade float with Nomar Garciaparra, Takashi Sato and James Loney.
Thanks for sharing that tidbit. Funny that you mention that. Going down Huntington Drive in Arcadia today, I saw CHP escorting three floats (one being the Dodgers float) on their way to Pasadena.
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