The Fukuoka Connection...

Fukuoka Daiichi High School - the history of Taiwanese kids attending this HS goes back several years - with the most famous Taiwanese alumni being Chung-Shou Yang, the Fighters #1 draft pick in 2005. LHP Heng-Hsiao Kuo was another talented prospect who until suffering a probable injury, was considered a top pro prospect.

Taitung County's Hsin-Shen jr HS will be sending 2 more baseball players to Japan for HS this year. They will be attending.............you guessed it - Fukuoka Daiichi HS. Last year, Hsin-Shen jr HS sent the top pitcher from its graduating class - RHP Hong-Chen Wang (6'3''/132 pounds/ tops out at 85 mph) to that school as well.

Hanshin Tigers OF Wei-Chu Lin attended nearby Yanagawa HS, located in Fukuoka Prefecture. Speaking of Lin, he's expected to be back in action sometime in June.

Geographically, it all makes sense as Fukuoka (southwestern part of Japan) is only several hundred miles away from Taiwan (to its north east).



Other News:
An update to this list - Samuel Fu is no longer with the White Sox organization.