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05/31/2003 Archived Entry: "Taiwan Baseball News: Whales Add Another Pitching Coach To Make Push"
Taiwan Baseball News: Whales Add Another Pitching Coach To Make Push
By Andrew Wong
The China Trust Whales are making a push at the Chinese Professional Baseball League title as club president Kuo-ching Huang announced the signing of former First Securities Agan manager Sheng-ming Hsu as the team's pitching coach.
Hsu resigned as the skipper of the last-place Agan three weeks ago. He was named the manager in January after the Taiwan Major League merged with the CPBL after being the manager of the Kaoping Fala.
Hsu, an 11-year coaching veteran, will work with current Whales pitching coach Keishi Asano to further improve the team's pitching. Hsu was Manager of the Year from 1997-1999 as he led the now-defunct Weichuan Dragons to three consecutive league championships.
Hsu will be the executive head coach for Taiwan's national team in the upcoming Asian Championship. The top two winners will earn the right to participate in the 2004 Olympics.
And the Whales began their trek towards this year's title as they beat the Sinon Bulls 10-4 last night.
Brother Elephants 8 President Lions 3
The Brother Elephants added five runs to their 3-0 lead in the eighth and ninth innings as they coasted past the struggling President Lions 8-3 at Tainan Stadium before a huge crowd of 10,151.
Japanese native Shin Nakagomi picked up the win for the 21-20-1 Elephants as he went seven innings, surrendering two runs, both earned, on eight hits. Nakagomi threw 99 pitches, 66 for strikes, walked one and struck out five as he improved to 4-5-0. Ruen-win Hsiao gave up the final run on one hit in two innings of work.
Nakagomi was aided by center fielder Chih-yuen Chen's big night as he went 3-for-5 with his sixth home run, off of Lions reliever Po-chang Sheng, who failed to get out of the inning. In front of Chen, short stop Rue-chang Chen finished the evening 2-for-5 with two runs scored while designated hitter Chin Jeh Lee went 2-for-2 with two doubles. He got on base all four times as he walked the other two at-bats.
American native John Burgos picked up the loss for the 23-19-2 Lions as he gave up three runs, all earned, in 6 2/3 innings. It wasn't a poor outing but he still fell to 0-1-0. In total, the Leos used seven pitchersin the ballgame, including rookie sensation Wei-luen Pan, normally a stater, in the ninth inning.
For the Lions, center fielder Kang-ling Huang set the table with a 2-for-4 performance as he also scored once and added a double. Japanese short stop Hiroaki Yoshimi also did the same except he went 2-for-3 while first baseman/right fielder Chuan-jia Wang went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Everybody else in the lineup failed to get the job done.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Elephants 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 2 8 13 0
Lions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 9 1
WP: Shin Nakagomi (4-5-0)
LP: John Burgos (0-1-0)
HR: CF Chih-yuen Chen (Elephants) (6, off Po-chang Sheng)
Attendance: 10,151
Venue: Tainan Stadium
Game time: 4:03
China Trust Whales 10 Sinon Bulls 4
7779 fans turned out to watch the China Trust Whales lay waste to the CPBL-leading Sinon Bulls 10-4 last night at Taichung Stadium.
Whales first baseman Chi-fong Hung hit a three-run home run off Bulls starter Chi-shian Ho (2-4-0) as he finished the night 1-for-2 with one run scored and three RBIs. He was named the Game's MVP. Center fielder Song-hsuen Yang went 3-for-5 with three runs plated and another driven in while second baseman Yueh-liang Lin went 1-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Dominican third baseman Juan Melo finished at 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Fellow Dominican native Maximo Rosa picked up the win for the 25-14-4 Whales, who are now only 2.5 games back of the Bulls. Rosa scattered ten hits, gave up three runs, two of which were earned, to improve to 3-1-0. He threw 101 pitches, 65 for strikes. Closer Kuo-Lee Chien-fu closed the game out for the winners with one scoreless inning. He gave up just the lone hit.
The 28-12-1 Bulls got a solo blast from slugging third baseman Tai-shan Chang but it wasn't enough. It was Chang's 13th homer of the season. He went 2-for-4 while second baseman Chang-yi Huang went 2-for-2 with one run scored.
The Bulls will get a chance to redeem themselves tonight against the Whales at Taichung Stadium (5:05 p.m. Taiwan time).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Whales 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 4 0 10 14 2
Bulls 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 13 2
WP: Maximo Rosa (3-1-0)
LP: Chi-shian Ho (2-4-0)
HR: 1B Chi-fong Hung (Whales) (5, off Chi-shian Ho); 3B Tai-shan Chang (Bulls) (13)
Game MVP: 1B Chi-fong Hung (Whales)
Attendance: 7,779
Game time: 3:19
Friday's Results
At Shingcung Stadium: First Securities Agan 1 Makoto Gida 2
At Tainan Stadium: Brother Elephants 9 President Lions 4
Today's Games (at 5:05 p.m. Taiwan time)
At Tian Mu Stadium: First Securities Agan (8-32-2) at Makoto Gida (16-24-2)
At Taichung Stadium: China Trust Whales (25-14-4) at Sinon Bulls (28-12-1)
2003 Chinese Professional Baseball League standings
W L T GB Pct.
1. Sinon Bulls 28 12 1 --- .700
2. China Trust Whales 25 14 4 2.5 .641
3. President Lions 23 19 2 6.0 .548
4. Brother Elephants 21 20 1 7.5 .512
5. Makoto Gida 16 24 2 12.0 .400
6. First Securities Agan 8 32 2 20.0 .200
