White Sox Sign Lin....

*pic added 12/2

With the success of Chien-Ming Wang, it seems as if more MLB teams are interested in getting a foothold in the Taiwanese market. The White Sox signed 20 year old pitching prospect Po-Yu Lin with a sign-on bonus of ~ $300,000. The righty stands 6 feet tall and weighs 216 pounds. Lin was a member of the 2004 junior NT that included fellow minor leaguers Chih-Hsien Chiang and Wang-Wei Lin. At the time, Lin was considered the ace of the staff. Lin's stats for the 2004 Junior World Championships can be found here. Lin gained additional exposure when he played this past summer for the Anchorage Bucs in the ABL. Lin appeared in 6 games for the Bucs and had a 3.03 ERA. Lin played alongside fellow Taiwanese prospect and current NT member - Cheng-Lung Lo.
In high school, Lin was clocked around 90 mph. See video footage here of Lin.

WIN VS. CUBA!

GW Clutch HR!

Facing elimination from the Intercontinental Cup, the Taiwanese NT dug deep and managed to defeat the Cuban NT 4-3 despite being outhit 10-4. With Cuba up 2-o in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Taiwan would go on to score 4 times in the 3rd inning. Taiwan would score after Chung-Shou Yang and Chien-Ming Chang reached base to start the inning. Chih-Yao Chan drove in Taiwan's first run with a single. A balk by the Cuban pitcher would score Taiwan's second run. Finally, with Chan on base, Tai-Shan Chang came through with a huge hit - a 2-run bomb that would put Taiwan up 4-2. Cuba would score another run in the 6th, but the relief work of Sung-Wei Tseng and Po-Hsuan Keng was phenomenal as they limited the Cubans to 1 run on 4 hits over the last 6.1 innings. Starter Cheng-Lung Lo pitched 2.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits.
With the victory - combined with Australia's loss, Taiwan advances to the semifinals as the #4 seed. Taiwan will face Cuba again in the second semifinal on Saturday. The other 2 top seeds are #2 Japan and #3 the Netherlands. So far, it's been a great run for the NT - beating the Cuban NT is no small feat. This same Cuban team lost to Japan in the WBC finals and is loaded with star talent - including stud Yulieski Gourriel.
*Edited/Updated


Other News:
Chien-Ming Wang threw out the first pitch today prior to Taiwan's match versus Cuba. Wang was also the runner-up to Johan Santana in the AL Cy Young race. Despite a fabulous second season by Wang, Johan Santana deservedly won his second Cy Young award. Santana led the AL in almost all vital pitching categories. Congrats to Santana and Wang on tremendous seasons!

NT WINS 2-1 over Cuba...

Lefty Lo

In it's final tuneup match prior to the I-Cup, Taiwan defeated powerhouse Cuba 2-1. Amazingly, that's 3 times this year a Taiwanese NT has defeated a Cuban NT. Amateur pitcher, Cheng-Lung Lo - another 19 year old, held the Cubans in check over the first 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits. Lo was clocked at 90 mph. Lo's relievers got the job done, blanking the Cubans over the final 4 innings. Chien-Fu Yang earned the win in relief of Lo, while En-Yu Lin also made his first appearance in a relief role. With the win, hopefully the NT has built some momentum and confidence going into the Cup.

Other NewsKuo reporting for his mandatory 12 day military stint

Kuo is back in Taiwan, fulfilling his military obligations and getting ready for the Asian Championships in December.

Pipeline to Alaska....

P Sung-Wei Tseng and IF Sheng-Wei Wang got a good jump start here. Both players participated last year in the Alaska Baseball League with the Anchorage Bucs. In fact, you could say that Tseng used his time spent in Alaska (he was All-ABL in 2005) to help springboard himself to the top of the amateur list in Taiwan. Following in their footsteps are two young Taiwanese pitchers:
Po-Yu Lin: RHP 6'1" 215 pounds 19 years old - DOB:9/16/86
& Cheng-Luong Luo: LHP 5'11" 170 pounds 19 years old - DOB:3/7/87

Lin was the ace of the 2004 junior NT. At the time he was clocked at a high of 92 mph. He went 1-1 in the tourney with his loss coming to the US 2-1. Check the rest of his stats from 2004 here.

Luo was one of the better pitchers on the 2005 junior NT. He had an outstanding performance in Taiwan's 2006 spring amateur tourney.

The 2006 Bucs played on Saturday, and Po-Yu Lin was dominant, going 5 innings, giving up 1 earned run, and K'ing 9. He earned his first win of the season.

Luo pitched 1 inning on Friday in a relief role and gave up 2 hits, 1 run, and 2 walks, with 0 K's.


Four other collegiate Taiwanese players will be joining the Alaska GoldPanners, also in the Alaska Baseball League.
The 4 players are:
1)RHP Chia-Yi Mia
2)RHP Chen-Hsien Wu
3)SS Shao-Bai Lan
4)OF Yuan-Chin Chu

CAL LEAGUE NEWS:
Yung-Chi Chen was selected to the Cal-league All Star team and will represent IE at 2B. *UPDATED and EDITED