It's All About the Lins....

NPB SPRING TRAINING TIDBITS:

On Sunday in the NPB, the Hanshin Tigers played the Nippon Fighters in ST.

Lin #1

Tigers OF Wei-Chu Lin cracked a 2 run HR in the 6th inning to help lead his team to a 10-9 win. Lin has been swinging the bat well in BP as of late. Youngster C.S. Yang did not see the field for the Fighters.

Lin x 2

Pitchers En-Yu Lin, Ying-Chieh Lin, and Chien-Ming Chiang all participated on their respective team's intrasquad games on Sunday as well. Nothing important to note, although E.Y. Lin was clocked at 91 mph on his fastball. Y.C. Lin maxed out at 85 mph on his fastball.

Making It Official....

The Rakuten Eagles officially announced the signing of En-Yu Lin today. The Daily Yomiuri reports that Lin received a 2 year deal with a 50 million yen (~$435,000) sign on bonus. That amount is much lower than what was anticipated earlier in the year.

News Updates....

Several injuries to report:

1)AppleDaily reports that Chunichi Dragons pitcher Wei-Yin Chen underwent surgery on Monday in Japan for his throwing elbow. Chen saw only limited action this year with the Dragons nigun team before getting shut down- appearing in 9 games - with 34.1 IP, 1 Win, 3 Losses, and a 4.98 ERA. What can I say - another Taiwanese casualty in the NPB - Grrr!
Hopefully the 21 year old will be able to bounce back quickly after his surgery.

2)En-Yu Lin, who struggled against South Korea on Sunday, has been experiencing discomfort in his throwing elbow and is seeking medical attention. Lin, one of the aces of the NT staff when healthy, stated that there is a high probability that he will not participate in the Asian Games in December.

3)Si-Yo Wu, who was scouted heavily by NPB scouts - particularly the Chiba Lotte Marines during the Konami Cup, injured his neck while pitching against the Samsung Lions. Wu is also reported to be a big ?-mark for the Asian Games roster at this point. The other 2 Taiwanese players who received considerable attention from NPB scouts during the Konami Cup were sluggers Chin-Feng Chen and Chih-Sheng Lin. The LA New Bears office is refuting the rumor that pitcher Yu-Wei Hsu is being considered by the NPB - citing it as just hearsay only.

With the injuries to Wu and Lin, the NT pitching depth for the Asian Game is looking awful thin. With Kuo and Chiang as the aces of the staff, the team will need good performances from S.W. Tseng, W.L. Pan, and C.F. Yang. Also Chin-Feng Chen is reporting that he does not want to participate in the Asian Games secondary to being overly fatigued and wanting to give the younger guys a shot on the international stage.

Other News:

Chien-Fu Yang who was outstanding in his ND versus Japan, will get the start tomorrow versus the Netherlands in the I-Cup. A win is crucial as it would give Taiwan a little more breathing room in placing in the top 4.

NT 4-2 Win Over Italy....

Yang

In the third exhibition match for the NT in preparation for the Intercontinental Cup, the NT managed to defeat the Italian NT 4-2. Starting pitcher Sung-Wei Tseng pitched 5 scoreless innings, K'ing 4. The Italian NT scored both of their runs in the 9th inning off of NT reliever Yueh-Ping Lin. Lin, who was clocked ~ 89 to the low 90's, continues to struggle after failing to shut down the LA New Bears in his closer role during the CPBL Championships. Again, the offensive star for the NT was 19 year old Chung-Shou Yang who collected 2 hits and drove in 2 runs.

CPBL NEWS:Lin - MVP

En-Yu Lin, the CPBL triple crown winner (Wins/ERA/K's), was voted MVP of the CPBL. Lin, who will continue his career next year in Japan, beat out Chin-Feng Chen (finished 2nd in voting) and Tai-Shan Chang.

Chen - ROY

As expected, the CPBL ROY award went to Guan-Ren Chen of the Brother Elephants.

AFL

Hu was 0-3 in tonights 4-2 Mesa loss. Box
Hu's 4th journal entry is now up. Check it out.

HWB
Lo earned his second victoy in the HWBL yesterday. Lo easily has his best outing in Hawaii as he pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up 4 hits to go along with 4 K's and 1 walk. Box

Monday News....

***In preparation for the Intercontinental Cup, the NT will play a series of exhibition matches beginning Wednesday, November 1st. The schedule is listed below:
1)11/1 - vs. LA New Bears
2)11/2 - vs. LA New Bears
3)11/4 - vs. Italian NT
4)11/5 - vs. Australian NT
5)11/6 - vs. Cuban NT

***Hu was 1-5 today with 2 runs scored and a SB. Mesa won 14-4 in the AFL. Box

***Well as Maos stated earlier, En-Yu Lin is now the newest member of the Rakuten Eagles. His signing bonus is rumored to be in the ballpark of around $600 K to $750 K. If that amount is correct, then the Eagles obviously feel that E.Y. Lin's upside is greater than that of Y.C. Lin, who got around $400K when he signed with the Eagles last year.

Sunday Roundup....

Eagles set to sign another Lin?

***The Rakuten Eagles of the NPB are very close to sealing the deal with the Cobra's En-Yu Lin. Lin would join former teammate Ying-Chieh Lin on the last place team in the Pacific League.


***In the HWBL, Lo got lit up yesterday as he pitched 3 innings, gave up 5 runs on 4 hits (one of them a 2 run shot), to go along with 3 walks and 3 K's. Despite the shaky outing, Lo earned a ND. Box


***The field is set for the Konami Cup. The LA New Bears will face off against the Nippon Ham Fighters, the Samsung Lions, and the CBA All-Star team.

CPBL ROUNDUP...

With the regular season over...... the CPBL playoffs are upon us. The Sinon Bulls and the President Lions will play a 5 game series from the 13th to the 18th this month. The winner of the series will play the LA New Bears for the League title. The CPBL champs will then gear up for the Konami Cup in November.

Notable League Leaders:Tai-Shan Chang (Bulls) hit the most HR's: 24 - he also hit .349 with 72 RBI's


Chin-Feng Chen (Bears) had the most RBI's: 81 - he also hit .317 with 21 HR's


En-Yu Lin (Cobras) won the triple crown in pitching with the most wins: 17 - tied with Si-Yo Wu, lowest ERA: 1.74, and most K's: 209 - which set a single season record. What a season for the young man!