Top Amateur Signing from SK......

HJ Lee

I know this isn't directly related to Taiwanese baseball, but it's interesting news anyways. Some Korean news outlets are reporting that an 18 year old HS SS - Hak-Joo Lee from Chungahm HS received a $1.15 million signing bonus (I'm hearing that his signing bonus may actually be closer to $750 K - either way it's a significant amount) from the Chicago Cubs recently. The 6'o", 170 pounder was signed by Steve Wilson, who's been active in South Korea. Wilson also signed SK HS'ers Hae-Sung Kook and Dae-Eun Lee ($810 K bonus) last year. DE Lee (Rhee) has been tremendous so far this year in Peoria. *Edited/Updated

HJ Lee's strengths are reportedly: his plus speed (runs the 100 in 11 seconds/4.10 seconds from home-to-first), his defense, arm (clocked at 89 mph), ability to make good contact, and has average power. He's been compared to Ichiro by some scouts because of his tools. The kid sounds very comparable to Red Sox signee Che-Hsuan Lin. Speaking of Lin, Red Sox Prospects has a breakdown of his stats this season.

Lee's signing bonus puts him in some elite company - check out what some of the top international prospects received last year and in 2006. It sounds like Lee would be the top SK positional HS prospect to sign with a ML organization since Shin-Soo Choo (a 2 way-star in HS who received a $1.3 million bonus in 2000). Hopefully we'll continue to see more top HS kids from South Korea give the ML's a try.

50/50 Split....

MLB:CMW picked up win #4 as the Yankees beat the White Sox 9-5. CMW allowed 3 ER on 10 hits over 6 IP. Wang can thank Bobby Abreu for the W as his grand slam in the top of the 7th gave the Yankees a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. The win marks a milestone for Wang as he now has 50 career wins. Box/Recap



The Dodgers lost to the Reds 8-1. HC Kuo lasted 3.2 innings before he was chased from the game. HC Kuo allowed 5 runs (4 came in the 4th inning) on 8 hits. Kuo was 1-1 at the plate with the lone run scored for his club.
Box/Recap



MILB:
A - Lakewood won 10-3. YF Lin allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1.1 IP. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 4-1. CH Chiang was 1-4. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 5-3. CL Lo fell to 0-4 on the year after giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits over 5 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma lost 9-5. YC Chen was 1-4 with a walk. Box



CPBL:
Elephants 11 - Whales 2: Dan Core picked up win #2 (2-0) and game MVP honors after a strong performance against the Whales. DC allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits over 7 IP (7K's, 1BB). Falling to 2-2 on the season was Whales rookie SP Min-Ching Kao (3ER on 8H in 2.2 IP).
The Elephants racked up 18 hits: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-5 with a double and a RBI/ DH CYC was 2-6 with a double and a RBI/ RF-1B Chia-Chia was 2-4/ LF-RF Kuan-Jen Chen was 4-6 with a RBI/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 3-6 with 2 RBI's/ CF Cheng-Wei Huang was 2-5 with a double.
For the Whales: 3B Carlos Villalobos was 2-3 & RF Abraham Nunez was 2-4 with 2 RBI's.

Lions 6 - Bears 2: The Lions gained a game on the league leaders (.5 GB) in a clash of the league's top 2 teams. Lions SP Lou Pote continues to win (3-0) as he allowed only 1 ER on 7 hits over 6.1 IP (0K's, 5BB's). Taking the L was Andrew Lorraine (2-2). AL gave up 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits in 4 IP. Game MVP honors went to Lions 1B KC Kao who was 4-5 with 2 RBI's. Teammate 3B Tilson Brito was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI's while C CK Kao was 1-3 with 2 RBI's.
For the Bears: LF CFC was 1-5/ 3B-SS Chih-Wei Shih was 2-5/ DH Gary Burnham was 2-4 with a RBI/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang was 2-4/ SS Chin-De Yu was 0-3 with a RBI.

Vintage SI.....

The latest SI feature article on CMW reminded me of an older post, which reflected on the last lengthy story on Taiwanese baseball from SI - "Where Have You Gone, Yu-Hong Kai?" (you can find the article in its entirety in the resources section - far right hand column > scroll down). That piece was written in 1991. You have to go all the way back to August 19, 1974 to find the first SI feature article to cover Taiwanese baseball. Here it is (click to zoom & read):

I hope we don't have to wait another 17 years before we see another feature SI article on the topic.

Slow Night (4/21)....

MLB:
The Dodgers won 9-3 over the Reds. CL Hu entered the game to replace Jeff Kent at 2B in the 6th inning. Hu was 0-1 in his only PA. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville lost 5-2. CH Lin was 3-3 with a double and a walk. He was also CS/PO'd at first. Box

AAA - CH Tsao made his return off the temp. inactive list. He threw 2 shutout innings, allowing 1 hit and K'ing 3. Omaha lost 6-2. Box

Po-Yu Lin Update...

MILB:
Here's a quick update on the White Sox farmhand. Po-Yu has been in Tuscon, Arizona doing rehab work. Lin, who has shoulder tendonitis, had a bullpen session last week, topping out at 85 mph. He might throw in an exhibition game next week.

A - Greenville won 19-7. CH Lin was 1-5 with a walk. Box

A+ - Lancaster won 4-2. CH Chiang was 2-5 with his 2nd HR of the year and a RBI. Box
*Updated


MLB:
Hu is starting in the lineup for the Dodgers today. He's at 2B and batting 8th in the lineup. Hu is currently 0-1 as the Dodgers are down to the Braves 1-0 in the 4th inning. Box


CPBL:
Bears 9 - Bulls 3: Bears starter Mike Johnson improved his record to 5-0 with a strong performance against the Bulls. MJ allowed 3 runs on 12 hits over 8 IP (4K's, 1BB) to earn game MVP honors. Mike received plenty of run support from his battery mates: 3B Chih-Wei Shih was 1-3 with a RBI/ LF CFC was 1-3 with a RBI/ DH Gary Burnham was 3-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Chih-Tsung Chiang was 3-3 with a double and 3 RBI's/ 1B Chung-Wei Pan was 1-3 with a RBI/ C Feng-Min Chen was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's.
For the Bulls: starter Iba Tomokazu fell to 1-1 on the year (3.2 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 0 K's/BB's)/ CF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-4/ LF Da-Hung Cheng was 2-4 with a RBI/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Chien-Jung Su was 2-4/ backup C Chia-Pao Chung was 1-1 with a RBI.

Elephants 13 - T-Rex 4: The Elephants outhit the Rex 20-5. Leading the way for the Elephants was game MVP CYC (Chih-Yuan Chen). CYC, still DH'ing, was 5-6 with HR #3, a double, and 3 RBI's. His teammates: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 3-5 with a RBI/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 1-4 with a RBI/ RF Chia-Chia was 3-5 with 3 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 4-5 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-4/ 1B Chin-Yong Wang was 0-3 with a RBI/ C Yi-? Kuo was 0-5 with a RBI. Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao improved his record to 4-0 after allowing 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 IP (3K's, 9BB's!).
The T-Rex struggled offensively with CH Hsieh still out of the lineup because of injuries. 3B Napoleon Calzado was 0-4/ CF Yuan-Chia Chen was 1-2 with a RBI/ 1B Wei Kao was 2-5 with 2 RBI's.

4/19 Scores....

CPBL:
Whales 6 - Lions 2: Lefty Fu-Te Ni finally picked up his first win of the year (1-3) after a dominant performance against the league's toughest lineup. Ni, the game MVP, allowed 1 ER on 6 hits over 7 IP - to go along with 8 K's and 3 BB's. His only mistake of the game was a solo HR allowed to Fu-Hao Liu in the first inning. Earning the L for the Lions was starter Greg Wiltshire. GW allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits over 5.1 IP (1K, 4BB's).
Providing run support for Ni were: 3B Carlos Villalobos who was 2-5 with a RBI/ 1B Chia-Hsien Tseng who was 2-5 with 2 RBI's/ C Yi-Wei Lee who was 2-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's.
For the Lions: LF Kan-Lin Huang was 2-5/ OF Fu-Hao Liu was 1-4 with his 4th HR of the year and a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 3-4 with a double/ IF Tilson Brito was 1-4/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-5 and C CK Kao was 1-4 (box score has both players driving in a run - so one of them drove in a run).

With the loss, the Lions fall to 1 GB the Bears who stand alone at the top of the standings.
1)Bears 13-5-1
2)Lions 13-7 1GB
3)Elephants 8-10-1 5GB
4)Bulls 8-11 5.5 GB
5)Whales 8-12 6 GB
6)T-Rex 7-12 6.5 GB


Elephants 8 - T-Rex 5: Elephants CF Cheng-Wei Huang was named the game MVP after his productive night at the plate. Huang was 3-5 with a triple and 3 RBI's. As for Huang's teammates: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 2-4/ DH CYC was 1-4/ RF Chia-Chia was 2-5 with a RBI/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 1-5 with a RBI/ C Rui-Chang Chen was 2-4 with a double/ 1B Chin-Yong Wang was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI's. Starter Steve Kent earned a ND despite allowing 2 ER on 7 hits over 4.1 IP (5K's, 3BB's).
For the T-Rex: Starter Chien-Fu Chen earned the L (1-4) after giving up 4 runs (1 earned) on8 hits over 5 IP (4K's, 1BB)/ RF Su-Chi Chou was 2-5/ 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 2-5 with a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-3/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B Wei Kao was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 3-5 with a RBI.


NPB:
The Dragons won 10-5. WY Chen allowed 1 ER on 5 hits in 2 inning of relief. Box


MILB:
A - Lakewood won 9-2. YF Lin threw 1 perfect inning. Box

A - Lansing won 10-4. CH Cheng earned the W as he allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits over 4 IP. Box

A - Peoria won 9-7. HW Chen pitched 1.1 scoreless inning, K'ing 2. Box

A - Greenville lost 9-3. CH Lin was 0-3 with a walk and his 5th SB of the year. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 5-0 in the 9th. The team is in the process of being no-hit. KH Lo is currently 0-3 and committed his first error of the year. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 4-3 in the 7th. CH Chiang is 1-3 with a triple, a RBI, and a BB. Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 11-3 in the 5th. YC Chen is currently 0-2. Box
*Updated

Friday Action...

CPBL:

Lions 5 - Whales 0: SP Wei-Lun Pan was outstanding, giving a game-MVP worthy performance. Pan threw 7 shutout innings, allowed only 4 hits, while K'ing 6 and walking none, thus improving his record to 2-0. Equaling Pan's performance was teammate - OF Sung-Hsien Yang who was 4-4 with 2 RBI's - he was selected the game MVP.
Other Lions in the lineup: RF Fu-Hao Liu was 3-5 with a triple/ 1B KC Kao was 0-2 with 2 walks/ 3B Tilson Brito was 1-3 with a walk/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 2B Sen Yang was 1-4 with a double.
For the Whales: RF Tai-Yong Kuo was 2-4/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 1-4.

Bears 7 - Bulls 6:

CFC - game MVP

Bears LF CFC earned game honors after he drove in the GW run in the 9th and for his 2-4, double, 3 RBI night. Supporting CFC's big night were: RF Chien-Wei Tsai who was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Shih was 3-5/ DH Gary Burnham was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B Chung-Wei Pan was 2-4 with a RBI. Pitching in relief of starter Wen-Hsiung Hsu (2.1IP, 2H, 5R (3 earned), 2K's, 4BB's), Yu-Wei Hsu managed to shut down the Bulls offense - allowing only 1 run on 2 hits over 5.2 IP (1K, 2BB's). Chin-Chih Huang would pick up the W (2-0) for the Bears after throwing a scoreless/hitless 9th inning for the Bears.

For the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang was 0-2 with a RBI/ CF Hsien-Ming Yu was 0-3 with a RBI/ LF Da-Hung Cheng was 0-5 with a RBI/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 0-4 with a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Chen was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 1-3 with a double/ 2B Chia-Hao Chang collected 2 of his team's 4 hits in 3 AB's.


MLB:
Kuo pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning in relief of starter Derek Lowe. Kuo K'd 1 as his team fell 6-1 to the Braves. Box
Kuo's next scheduled start is Tuesday against the Reds.

CMW is also scheduled to pitch on Tuesday against Jose Contreras and the White Sox.

MILB:
A - Asheville lost 14-3. SA Kuo fell to 1-2 as he gave up 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits in 4 IP (2K's, 5BB's). Box

A - Greenville lost 9-8. CH Lin was 3-5 with 2 doubles, a RBI, and his 4th SB of the season. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 4-0 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-3. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 3-0 in the 7th. CH Chiang is currently 1-3. Box

AA - Akron lost 5-4 in 10. SW Tseng pitched 2/3 of an inning, allowing 1 run on 2 hits. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 3-2 in the 8th inning. YC Chen is currently 0-2 with a walk. Box

Thursday Scores...

CPBL:
T-Rex 6 - Whales 3: Rookie Chun-Nan Lai earned his 4th win of the year (4-2) and game MVP honors after shutting down the Whales offense. Lai allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits over 5 IP (1K, 2BB's). Fellow rookie starter Min-Ching Kao earned the L, falling to 2-1 on the season. He allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1.1 IP (1K, 3BB's).
T-Rex lineup: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 0-1 with 2 walks and a RBI/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 1-4 with a RBI/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 1-4 with a triple/ 2B Shih-Yang Deng was 1-3 with a RBI.
Whales lineup: The team was limited to 4 hits - CF Ren-Chieh Hsu was 1-4 with a triple and 2 RBI's/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 1-4 with a RBI.

Bears 8 - Elephants 4: Bears SP Kevin Huang picked up his first W of the year (1-1) and game MVP honors after throwing 6 innings, allowing 2 ER on 8 hits (0K's, 2BB's). Elephants rookie Chia-Rui Mai fell to 1-1 on the year after giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits over 4.1 IP (3K's, 2BB's).
Backing Huang's strong start were: RF Chien-Wei Tsai who was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Chih-Wei Shih who was 3-4 with 3 doubles and a RBI/ DH CFC was 0-3 with a walk and 2K's/ 1B Gary Burnham blasted HR #4 and was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 2B Chih-Tsung Chiang was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ LF Hao-Chu Tseng was 0-3 with a RBI.
The Elephants outhit the Bears 14-10 (albeit no XB hits) with the following leading the way: CF Ming-Hsien Lin was 2-3/ DH CYC was 0-5/ 1B Chia-Chia was 3-4 with 2 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-5.


NPB:
The Dragons lost 1-0 to the Giants. WY Chen threw a scoreless 9th inning and managed to K Michihiro Ogasawara. Box


MLB:
The Dodgers beat the Pirates 8-1. CL Hu was 0-1. Box


MILB:
A - Greenville won 6-0. CH Lin was 1-3 with 2 walks and his 3 SB of the season. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 1-0 in the 5th. CH Chiang is currently 1-3. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 20-5! CL Lo continues to struggle. He earned his 3rd L of the season and gave up 9 runs (8 earned) on 7 hits in 1.1 IP. Box

AA - Akron won 5-1. SW Tseng allowed 1 run on 1 hit over 1.1 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 5-3 in the 6th. YC Chen is currently 1-3 with a RBI. Box
*UPDATED

The SI Jinx.....

MLB:

CMW appears in this week's Sports Illustrated (April 21, '08 print edition) - with a lengthy article lauding the Yankees ace. Tonight was a different story however for CMW. The 28 year old would not survive the 5th inning. CMW allowed 8 ER (5 came in the 5th inning) on 9 hits over 4+ innings. Fortunately for him, his offense picked up the slack and outslugged the Red Sox 15-9. Box

MILB:

A - Greenville lost 8-2. CH Lin was 0-5. Box

A+ - Lancaster is down 1-0 in the 2nd inning of a doubleheader. CH Chiang is currently 0-1. Box

A+ - High Desert is knotted up at 3-3 in the 7th. KH Lo is 0-3 with a RBI. Box

AAA - Tacoma is down 5-1 in the 8th inning. YC Chen is currently 1-4. Box

CPBL:
Lions 8 - Bulls 4: Two of the Lions' big guns helped lead the way to their team's win. 1B KC Kao and 3B Tilson Brito both slugged HR's to plate half of their team's 8 runs. KC Kao was 1-1 with 2 RBI's (HR #2) while Tilson Brito was 2-3 with 2 RBI's (HR #3). TB was game MVP.
Other Lions hitters: OF Sung-Hsien Yang was 2-5/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Sen Yang was 2-3 with 2 RBI's/ C CK Kao was 2-4 with a double.

Picking up the W for the Lions was Lou Pote, who threw 6 innings giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits (5K's, 3BB's).For the Bulls: DH Chien-Ming Chang hit his 1st HR of the year (2-5 with a RBI)/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 2-3/ RF Hsun-Wei Lu was 1-4 with a RBI.

Bears 4 - Elephants 3: CFC's clutch solo HR (HR #1) in the bottom of the 8th broke a 3 all tie and proved to be the game winner. The Bears DH was the game MVP after his 2-4, 1 RBI night. Teammate Gary Burnham drove in the team's other 3 runs on a 3-run shot (HR #3) in the 4th inning. GB was 1-3 with 3 RBI's. Earning a ND for the Bears was starter Andrew Lorraine, who allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 6.1 IP (1K, 1BB).

The Elephants were led by DH CYC's 2nd HR of the year (he was 1-4 with a RBI) and SP Danny Core's strong start - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 K's, 2 BB's. DC would also earn a ND. Other Elephants notables: Chia-Chia was back in the lineup, playing in RF, he was 1-4 with a double/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 1-4 with a RBI/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 2-4/ C Yi-Feng Kuo was 2-3 with a double/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-3 with a RBI.

IBB Client List....

IBB sports agency (based out of Taiwan & representing Po-Yu Lin/White Sox and Chia-An Huang/Mariners) - run by Adam Chang is representing a number of amateur prospects from Taiwan, including NT C Kun-Sheng Lin.

Here's the list as provided by the agency:

Client List

Name (School/Team)	Birthday	Height	Weight	Pos	T/B	Pitches
Xan,chi-yao (Taiwan Power)	01/02/1983	178cm	78kg	of	L/L
Yang,shien-shieng (Taiwan Beer)	08/09/1987	171cm	71kg	ss	R/Switch
Lo,bo-yu (National Taiwan College of P.E.)	11/19/1988	181cm	75kg	ss	R/R
Tsai,wan-lin (Catholic Fu-Jen University)	05/12/1988	176cm	75kg	p	R/R	92mph fastball, slider, 75mph slow curve ball
Mai,chia-xiew (Cooperative Bank)	02/25/1987	180cm	78kg	p	R/R	94mph fastball, slider, change-up
Lin,chen-hwa (Wen Hwa Culture University)	12/16/1988	186cm	82kg	p	R/R	90mph fastball, 81mph sinker, slider, split finger
Yan,chia-wei (Vanung University)	05/12/1989	177cm	74kg	p	R/R	90mph fastball, 78mph forkball, slider
Lin,Kun-sheng (National Taiwan College of P.E.)	03/08/1987	178cm	82kg	c	R/R

The Saga of Chin-De Chang...

Chin-De Chang

photo - Apple Daily


Mr. Lin

As reported by Yam Sports and China Times, Chin-De Chang is a 14-year old (DOB 5/17/1993) top power hitting prospect from Taiyuan junior HS in Taitung, Taiwan. The 2 way player (left-handed hitting SS and RHP) stands a shade under 5'10" and weighs 171 pounds. The youngster was good enough to draw the attention of the KDN Sports Agency. Chang and his family ended up signing an agreement to let the agency represent him. The young man was on his way to following in the footsteps of many top Taiwanese junior high prospects who attend HS in Japan when his junior HS found out. The school's baseball program would have been suspended as a result of Chang's signing with an agent. Furthermore, school officials stated that Chang's father is illiterate and was duped by the agency. Based on the circumstances, the kid and his family decided against going to Japan. The KDN agency sent someone named Mr. Lin to the school to try and work out something. Since February of this year, Mr. Lin had been by the school multiple times, demanding that the school release Chang to him. The school was alarmed by the demands and presence of Mr. Lin on their campus and called the police as well as releasing this story to the media. KDN will seek legal recourse (threatening to sue for $1 million NT) since Chang and his family signed a binding contract.
Speaking of binding contracts, Chia-Jen Lo is also represented by KDN. Lo has a binding 5 year contract with the agency. KDN will receive a 15% cut of anything Lo receives over the duration of his contract.

Tuesday Scoreboard...

MLB:
The Dodgers are currently up 8-1 in the 6th inning. HC Kuo started and was wild in the first inning - allowing 3 walks - plating the lone run for the Pirates. He would K the side in the 2nd inning and settle down over the next 2 innings. Kuo's bottom line: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 6 K's, 3 BB's - and a ND. Box

Wang will start tomorrow against the Red Sox. He'll be rematched against Clay Buchholz on the nationally televised game (ESPN2). *Updated


MILB:
AAA - Tacoma is up 11-3 in the 7th. YC Chen is back in the lineup. He's currently 1-4 with a double and a RBI. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 4-0 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-2. Box

A - Lakewood won 5-3. YF Lin earned his 1st save of the year after allowing 1 run on 2 hits over 2 IP. Box

A - Peoria lost 5-1. HW Chen threw 3 scoreless innings in middle relief. Box

A - Greenville won 7-0. CH Lin was 0-2 with 3 walks, a SB, and committed his 2nd error on the season. Box



CPBL:
Bulls 8 - Lions 5: Game MVP Wen-Ping Yu picked up his second win of the year against the Lions. Yu allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits over 6.2 IP - to go along with 4 K's and 4 BB's. The hard-luck loser for the Lions was Chih-Chiang Chang, who fell to 1-2 on the season. He gave up 6 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits over 5 IP. His defense committed 4 errors on the night.
Bulls at the plate: RF Chien-Ming Chang was 2-5 with a RBI/ LF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ DH Da-Hung Cheng was 2-5/ 1B Chung-Yi Huang was 3-5/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 2-5 with a double and a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 1-3 with 2 RBI's.
For the Lions: CF Sung-Hsien Yang was 3-5 with 2 doubles and a RBI/ 2B Sen Yang was 0-3/ RF Fu-Hao Liu was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ 3B Tilson Brito was 1-4 with a double/ C CK Kao was 0-1 with a RBI.

Whales 6 - T-Rex 5: Pitching in relief of starter Steve Watkins, Yu-Chan Liu earned game MVP honors and the W after blanking the T-Rex for 2.1 innings, allowing only 2 hits and K'ing 2. Watkins left after 4 innings giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits. T-Rex starter Hsien-Chih Chang pitched well, but earned a ND. He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits over 5 IP (7K's, 1BB).
In the Whales lineup: SS Che-Wei Kang was 2-5/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 3-5 with a RBI/ LF Chun-Hsiung Lu was 2-4/ 1B Chia-Hsien Tseng was 1-3 with a double and a RBI/ CF Ren-Chieh Hsu was 2-4 with a RBI/ C Hsin-Min Wang was 1-3 with a double and a RBI.
The T-Rex lineup: CF Su-Chi Chou was 4-5/ SS Ming-Jen Kuo was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ LF Chuan-Chia Wang was 1-3 with a RBI/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 2-4/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 1-5 with 2 RBI's/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 2-3 with a double.


NPB:
Wei-Yin Chen threw 2 perfect innings of relief for the Dragons, K'ing 2. The Dragons beat the Giants 6-3. Box

4/14 MILB Scores...

MILB:
A - Lansing lost 6-2. CH Cheng pitched 5 innings of middle relief, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Box

A+ - KH Lo hit his 1st HR of the year and is currently 1-3 with 2 RBI's. High Desert is up 7-0 in the 7th inning. Box

AA - Akron lost 6-3. SW Tseng pitched the last 3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits. Box

AAA News - Wondering where CH Tsao is? He's been placed on the temporarily inactive list.

4/14 News.....

CPBL Standings & News:
1)Lions 11-5
2)Bears 10-5-1 .5 GB
3)Elephants 7-8-1 3.5 GB
4)Bulls 7-9 4 GB
5)Whales 6-10 5 GB
6)T-Rex 6-10 5 GB


*Chih-Sheng Lin's punishment has been finalized. He will be suspended for 15 games (he's already sat out 4 games, so he's got 11 more to go ) and will be fined 180,000 NT - up from the initially reported 110,000 NT.


*Here's a vid of yesterday's Lions vs. T-Rex game. The Lions hit all three jacks (Tilson Brito followed by Lien-Hung Chen followed by Tai-Chi Kuo)
in the 6th inning to break open a close game.

4/13 Scoreboard...

CPBL:
Lions 5 - T-Rex 3: The Lions won on the strength of 3 HR's. DH Lien-Hung Chen hit HR #5 and was 2-4 with a double and a RBI/ game MVP Tilson Brito was 2-4 with HR #2 and a RBI/ SS Tai-Chi Kuo came off the bench and hit HR #3, he was 1-1 with 2 RBI's. Other Lions of note: 1B KC Kao was 1-4/ C CK Kao was 2-4/ 2B Sen Yang was 0-2 with a RBI. Lions starter Greg Wiltshire earned a ND despite pitching well - allowing only 1 run on 3 hits over 5.2 IP (4K's, 3BB's).
For the T-Rex, LF Chuan-Chia Wang hit HR #2 and was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's. Wang's other teammates: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 3B Napoleon Calzado was 2-4.

Bears 5 - Whales 2: Mike Johnson improved to 4-0 after another impressive start from him. MJ allowed 1 run on 5 hits over 6.1 IP (6K's, 4BB's). Bears LF Hao-Chu Tseng backed up MJ's strong start with his own game MVP performance - he was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI's. Other Bears in the lineup: CF Long-Yi Huang was 1-3 with a RBI and HR #3/ DH CFC was 0-3/ C Feng-Min Chen was 0-3.
Fu-Te Ni was the unlucky loser, falling to 0-3 on the year. Ni allowed only 1 earned run (4 runs total) on 5 hits in 5.1 IP as his defense committed 5 errors in the game. Ni also had 5 K's and walked none. Carrying a big stick for the Whales for the second consecutive night was RF Tai-Yong Kuo. He was 2-5 and drove in both of his team's runs. Carlos Villalobos was 0-4.


MILB:
A - Greenville won 3-1. CH Lin was 2-4. Box

A - SA Kuo lasted only 1.1 innings after giving up 7 runs on 7 hits. His team is down 7-0 in the 4th. Box

A+ - CH Chiang is currently 1-3 with a double and a RBI, but he's also made 3 errors. Lancaster is down 10-3 in the 3rd. Box

A+ - High Desert is up 1-0 in the 4th. KH Lo is 1-2 with the lone RBI. Box

Sat. News and Scores...

MLB:
HC Kuo will get the start on Tuesday against the Pirates.

CL Hu is currently 0-3 as the Dodgers lead the Padres 11-1 in the 9th inning. Live Box


CPBL:
Elephants 10 - Bulls 9: After the Bulls had managed to tie things at 9 all in the top of the 9th, the Elephants would score the game winner in the bottom of the frame. Game MVP honors went to RF Huai-Shan Chen who had the GW hit and was also 2-5 with 3 RBI's. Other contributing Elephants: OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ DH CYC was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI's/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 2-3 with a double/ 3B Jui-Chen Chen was 0-4 with a RBI/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 2-4/ SS Keng-Shin Liu was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI's. Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao got rocked for 8 runs of which 4 were earned in 2.1 innings. He earned a ND.
For the Bulls: LF Hsien-Ming Yu was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI's/ DH Da-Hung Cheng and RF Chien-Ming Chang were both 0-4 with a RBI/ CF Hua-Wei Tseng was 4-5 with a triple/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 3-5/ SS Tsung-Nan Lin was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI's. Tarzan DNP.

Bears 6 - Whales 0: Bears starter Wen-Hsiung Hsu and reliever Chih-Hua Hsu combined on a 5 hit shutout. Wen-Hsiung Hsu earned game MVP honors after picking up his first win of the season and for his 7.1 scoreless innings, in which he allowed 3 hits and had 5 K's and 1 BB. Backing Hsu's strong start were: CF Long-Yi Huang who was 2-5 with a triple and a RBI/ DH CFC who was 2-5 with a RBI/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang who was 2-4 with his first HR of the year and 2 RBI's/ C Feng-Min Chen who was 1-3 with a RBI.
RF Tai-Yong Kuo collected 2 of the team's 5 hits (in 4 AB's - including a double). Teammate Carlos Villalobos was 0-4.


MILB:
A - Greenville won 7-2 in game 1. CH Lin was 1-2 with 2 walks and was CS. Box Greenville won game 2 5-1. CH Lin was 1-4. Box

A - Lakewood lost 2-1. YF Lin threw 2.2 scoreless innings, K'ing 3 and walking 1. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 11-1. CH Chiang was 1-2 with double. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 11-2 in the 7th. KH Lo was 0-3 with a walk. Box

AAA - YC Chen was hit in the head in the first inning and ended up leaving the game.

4/11 Scoreboard...

CBPL:
Elephants 6 - Bulls 0: Game MVP Kobayashi Ryokan threw a CG shutout to help pick up his first win of the season (1W - 2L). Ryokan allowed only 2 hits, while K'ing 3 and walking 3. His mound counterpart, Chien-Fu Yang would fall to 1-2 after giving up 6 runs on 8 hits in 6.2 innings.
Offensively for the Elephants: SS Sheng-Wei Wang was 2-4 with a RBI/ OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 0-4 with a RBI/ DH CYC was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 2B Hung-Sen Chu was 3-3 with a double and a RBI/ reserve 3B Po-Jen Yang was 1-1 with a RBI.
For the Bulls, Tarzan DNP while RF Chien-Ming Chang was 0-4.

Lions 13 - T-Rex 4: Recently acquired SP Lou Pote was impressive in his debut. The former major leaguer allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 5 IP (4K's, 2BB's) to pick up the W.
The Lions rapped out 13 hits and 3 HR's led by: LF Kan-Lin Huang who was 1-4 with 2 RBI's/ OF Wu-Hsiung Pan was 3-5 with 2 RBI's/ RF Fu-Hao Liu hit his 3rd HR of the season and was 1-4 with a RBI/ 1B KC Kao was 1-2 with 2 walks/ 3B Tilson Brito was 0-2 with 2 walks/ game MVP DH Tai-Chi Kuo hit his 2nd HR of the season and was 3-4 with a double and 4 RBI's/ 2B Sen Yang hit his 1st HR of the year and was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ reserve RF Po-Chao Yang was 1-1 with a double and a RBI.
The T-Rex were held to 6 hits: RF Su-Chi Chou was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI's/ DH Hung-Yuan Lin was 1-3 with a triple and 2 RBI's/ LF Chia-Hui Wu was 2-4. CH Hsieh DNP.


MLB:
Three and Counting.....CMW won his third game (and start) of the season against divisional rival - the Boston Red Sox. This time around against a team that has traditionally hit him well, Wang was outstanding, throwing a CG 2-hit gem - allowing only one run. Wang himself said it was the best performance of his young career. NY won 4-1. Box/Recap

Former Lion - Nelson Figueroa won his first ML game in nearly 5 years as the Mets beat the Brewers 4-2. Way to go Nelson!


MILB:
A - Peoria lost 10-3. HW Chen allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 2.1 IP. Box

A+ - Lancaster lost 10-6. CH Chiang was 1-5 and committed his 3rd E of the season. Box

A+ - High Desert won 6-5 in 11. KH Lo was 0-5. Box

AA - Tulsa lost 7-3. CL Lo lost his second consecutive start. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits over 3.2 IP. Box
*Updated

Toot-Toot Returns...

CBPL:
Lions 8 - Bears 3: Wei-Lun "Toot-Toot" Pan made his season debut in impressive fashion. Pan threw 5 shutout innings, allowing 5 hits, K'ing 5 and walking one. He was selected the game's MVP.
Backing Pan's strong start were: CF Sung-Hsien Yang who was 2-5/ RF Fu-Hao Liu who hit HR #2 on the season and was 1-3 with 2 RBI's/ 1B KC Kao who was 1-5 with a double and 3 RBI's/ 3B Tilson Brito was 3-5 with a RBI/ DH Lien-Hung Chen was 2-3/ C CK Kao was 0-4 with a RBI.
For the Bears: CF Long-Yi Huang was 2-5 with 2 RBI's/ DH CFC was 0-3 with 2 K's/ LF Hao-Chu Tseng was 2-4 with a double/ 1B Hsiao-Wei Huang was 1-4 with a RBI.

Whales 7 - Elephants 4 (11): Behind game MVP 2B Yi-Min Wang's 3-5, 3 RBI night, the Whales would prevail in extra innings. Other Whales of note: CF Chun-Chiang Kao was 1-6 with a double and 2 RBI's/ 3B Carlos Villalobos was 0-5/ reserve SS Chia-Yuan Chang was 0-0 with a RBI.
Offensively for the Elephants: OF Ming-Hsien Lin was 1-4 with a RBI/ DH CYC was 3-5 with a RBI/ LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 2-4 with 2 RBI's.
Both rookie starters pitched well but earned ND's. Whales starter Min-Ching Kao threw 7.1 innings, allowed 3 runs on 6 hits while K'ing 4 and walking 1. For the Elephants, this year's top pick - Chia-Rui Mai allowed 3 runs on 8 hits over 5.2 IP (3K's, 1BB).


MILB:
A - Greenville won 5-2. CH Lin was 1-4. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 6-4 in the 6th. KH Lo is currently 0-2 with a walk. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 12-4 in the 6th. CH Chiang is currently 2-4. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 1-0 in the 7th. YC Chen is currently 1-2. Box



MLB:
CMW will be matched up against Clay Buchholz tomorrow in the opening game of a 3 game set in Boston.
*Updated

Chih-Lung Huang Update...

Ok, we finally have an update on the former junior NT star. The young man (represented by Jerry Sung - the self-proclaimed "Jerry Maguire" of Asia) recently had a showcase here in Los Angeles. He exhibited his wares during a JC exhibition game in front of several MLB scouts. Huang, who's been clocked in the low to mid 90's in the past, reportedly hit 90 mph on only one pitch during his session. While I'm pulling for the kid to get his shot here in the US, I'm concerned about his decline in velocity.


On to today's scores:

CPBL:
T-Rex 8 - Bulls 2: Rex rookie SP Chun-Nan Lai improved his record to 3-2 on the year after a strong CG performance. Lai allowed 2 runs on 9 hits over 9 IP - while K'ing 6 and walking none. The game's MVP outdueled losing pitcher Fu-Jen Shen (0W - 2L) who gave up 3 runs in his 7 innings.
Contributing Rex in the lineup: RF Su-Chi Chou was 2-4 with a triple and a RBI/ DH Chuan-Chia Wang was 0-1 with 2 walks and a RBI/ 1B CH Hsieh was 1-3 with a RBI/ 3B Wei Kao was 1-4 with a RBI/ C Ko-Fan Chen was 3-4 with a double and a RBI/ LF Chia-Hui Wu was 1-4 with a double and a RBI/ 2B Hung-Yuan Lin coming off the bench was 1-1 with a RBI.
For the Bulls: RF Chien-Ming Chang was 2-4 with a RBI/ DH Tarzan was 1-3/ 3B Chih-Wei Chen was 2-3 with a RBI/ C Chun-Chang Yeh was 0-3.


NPB:
The Dragons fell to the Lions 2-0 on Wednesday. Wei-Yin Chen earned the L, despite allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 4 IP (5K's, 3BB's). Box


MILB:
A - Lakewood won 6-5. YF Lin was charged with a blown save as he allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 1.2 innings. Box *edited

A - Greenville won 7-1. CH Lin blasted his 1st HR of the season. He was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI's. Box

A+ - Lancaster is up 3-1 in the 7th. CH Chiang is currently 0-4. Box

A+ - High Desert is down 1-0 in the 7th. KH Lo is currently 1-3 with a walk. Box

AA - Akron lost 6-3. SW Tseng pitched in relief, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in 2 IP. Box

AAA - Tacoma is up 5-0 in the 6th. YC Chen is currently 0-2 at the plate. Box


OTHER:
You can now add Nelson Figueroa (2007 Taiwan Series MVP with the Lions) to the short list of former CPBL players (including Ben Weber and Melvin Mora) who have made the jump over to the major leagues.
*Updated

Attention So Cal - Support Lo!

Got wind of this from an acquaintance who was at last night's game - Kuo-Hui Lo will be with his team in Rancho Cucamonga, CA today and tomorrow. Both game times are set for 7:05 PM Pacific.

Since Lo has only been in California for roughly a week or so, he's been open to hanging out with Taiwanese fans after games, posing for pictures, and signing autographs. Last night, since my acquaintance was the only Taiwanese fan in attendance, he had the opportunity to catch dinner with Lo after the game. This is a great opportunity to meet the young NT star.

So, if you live in So Cal and have the time, go and support Lo. In the California League, Rancho Cucamonga is the closest team to downtown LA.