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Saturday, March 31, 2007

Taking a Look at Che-Hsuan Lin's Power...

We've seen vids exhibiting some of Lin's best tools....here's a new one showing off his power. The video was taken from last year; also keep in mind that Lin is using a wooden bat.

Minor League Rosters....

I'll keep a running tab on where our kids will start the season this year - This will be updated for factual accuracy and as rosters are completed.

Yung-Chi Chen - AAA Tacoma Raniers
Ching-Lung Hu - AA Jacksonville Suns
Ching-Lung Lo - AA Tulsa Drillers
Sung-Wei Tseng - A adv. Kinston Indians
Chao-Kuan Wu - A adv. Kinston Indians
Kuo-Hui Lo - A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
Chih-Hsien Chiang - SS Lowell Spinners
Wang-Yi Lin - Extended ST > most likely R GCL Red Sox
Chih-Hsiang Huang - Extended ST > most likely R GCL Red Sox
Sheng-An Kuo - Extended ST
Po-Yu Lin - Extended ST
Yen-Feng Lin - Extended ST
Chi-Hung Cheng - Extended ST - rehabbing
Po-Hsuan Keng - Extended ST > most likely A adv. Dunedin Blue Jays
Chen-En Hong - Extended ST > GCL Braves
Tzu-Kai Chiu - Extended ST
Wang-Wei Lin - Extended ST > possibly on to Australia later this summer




***Speaking of Chiang, here's a great find by Solidsnake2006 from Soxprospects.com - it's C.H. Chiang's own personal blog - has tons of pics.

Sat. Scores...

NPB:
Lin was 1-1 with a double in a pinch hitting role as his team beat the Hiroshima Carp 3-2. Lin is batting 1.000 on the season as he was 1-1 in a pinch hitting role as well on Opening Day Friday. Hanshin is now 1-1 on the season.

Ying-Chieh Lin pitched out of relief for the Rakuten Eagles on Saturday, tossing 1.2 shutout innings, giving up 2 hits while K'ing 2. He was clocked at a high of 85 mph. The Eagles fell to the Buffaloes 11-3. Rakuten falls to 1-5 on the season.

Chung-Shou Yang was 4-6 with 1 RBI as the leadoff hitter for the Fighters nigun team. His team beat the Giants nigun team 17-3. Yang is hitting .375 on the young season with a HR and 3 RBI's in 5 game appearances and 24 AB's.

CPBL:
Lions 11 - Cobras 5: Tilson Brito was MVP for the Lions as he was 3-5 with 4 RBI's/Toot-Toot (Pan) won his first game of the season for the Lions, going 5.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits, while K'ing 4 and walking 3.
Whales 4 - Bulls 1: MVP went to Whales 1B Chien-Wei Chen who was 2-3 with a RBI/Both foreign starting pitchers pitched well - The Bulls Alfredo Gonzalez threw 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits - his mound opponent Lorenzo Barcelo had almost identical stats - throwing 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits.


Friday, March 30, 2007

Friday CPBL Scores....

CPBL:
Cobras 12 - Elephants 11: Despite Chia-Chia's 3rd HR of the season - he was 2-3 with 2 RBI's, the Elephants fell short in their rally/Cobras SS Ming-Jen Kuo was Game MVP as he was a perfect 4-4 at the plate with 3 RBI's/Cobras 1B Chuan-Chia Wang hit another career milestone as he collected his 500th career RBI on a solo HR.
Bears 8 - Whales 1: CFC was 3-5 and smacked his 4th HR of the season to go along with 2 RBI's/Game MVP went to the SP for the Bears Wen-Hsiung Hsu who threw 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, while striking out 5 and walking 3. See vid below for highlights.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Big Day for Hu...

MLB:
Ching-Lung Hu was 3-5 out of the leadoff spot for the Dodgers as they lost 13-2 to the Mets today. Box/Recap
The other ss Dodgers team lost to the Angels 6-1 later in the day. The box score has been corrected and Tsao was credited with 1 scoreless inning, K'ing 3 and walking 1 batter.
Box/Recap

CPBL:
Cobras 10 - Elephants 7: Game MVP honors went to Cobras 3B Ivanon Coffie who was 2-4 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI's /Cobras SP Chu-Chien Hsu was solid: 6 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs allowed, 7 K's, 1 walk/For the Elephants, Cheng-Min Peng was 4-5 with a HR and 3 RBI's.
Whales 11 - Bears 6: A total of 8 HR's were hit between the two teams with CFC netting his 3rd of the season and Chih-Sheng Lin with his 2nd - CFC was 2-4 with a double, HR, and a RBI, while C.S. Lin was 1-3 with a HR and 3 RBI's/Feng-Min Chen and Chih-Tsung Chiang (Chih-Hsien Chiang's older bro) also cracked solo HR's for the Bears/For the Whales, DH Han-Chou Tseng was 3-3 with a HR and 3 RBI's - 1B C.C. Kao was 2-3 with a HR and 2 RBI's - Game MVP went to Chang-Ming Cheng who was 2-4 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI's.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Wed. News...

NPB:
Ying-Chieh Lin pitched 2 inning of relief for the Eagles, allowing 2 runs (one earned) in the 6th and 7th innings. The Eagles lost to the Hawks 9-0. Lin was clocked at a high of 85 mph.

Lin's teammate En-Yu Lin is out with a blister on his finger.

Si-Yo Wu and Ming-Chieh Hsu have been pitching for their respective nigun teams. Chung-Shou Yang is also expected to start the season with the Fighters nigun team.

Two other Taiwanese ballplayers - the Tigers Wei-Chu Lin and the Giants Chien-Ming Chiang (may start April 3rd) are expected to start the season with the parent NPB club.

MLB:
Chien-Ming Wang looks like he is on the fast track in his recovery from a hamstring tear.

Chin-Hui Tsao is making his bid to be on the final 25 man roster for the Dodgers. Tsao is competing with Rudy Seanez for the final reliever spot. We'll find out Saturday if he starts the season in LA.

CPBL:
Elephants 4 - Lions 0:Game MVP Elephants SP Joey Dawley - 6 IP - 0 runs, 5 hits allowed - 9 K's, 4 walks/Cheng-Ming Peng and Ming-Hsieh Lin were both 2-4 with a RBI, with Lin cracking his first HR of the season.
Bulls 9 - Bears 3:Game MVP Bulls CF Hua-Wei Tseng was 4-5 with 2 RBI's/CFC was 0-3 while Chih-Sheng Lin was 1-4 for the Bears

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Game Recaps and News.......

Monday Results in the MLB:
*Chin-Hui Tsao pitched to one batter on Monday, recording an out as the Mets beat the Dodgers 6-5. Box/Recap

*Yung-Chi Chen was 0-1 with a K as the Mariners lost to the Rangers 10-6. Box/Recap

Tuesday Results/News:
*Chin-Hui Tsao pitched on back-to-back nights, this time throwing one scoreless inning as the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals 3-0. Box

*Y.C. Chen was 0-2 as the Mariners lost to the Giants 9-8. Box

*CPBL:Elephants*(edited) OF Chih-Yuan Chen will undergo surgery on his left shoulder here in the US and will probably miss the remainder of this season. Chen has been a shell of the former player who was one of the top cats in the CPBL not too long ago. Last year, Chen hit only .253. Chen was shutdown this season after appearing in only one game in which he was hitless in 4 AB's.

*MLB:News on Po-Yu Lin from ChicagoSports.com - Doesn't sound encouraging:
A puzzle

The Sox are baffled that pitcher Po-Yu Lin, 20, who received a reported $300,000 bonus, hasn't come close to reaching the 90-m.p.h. readings he posted in his native Taiwan last season.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Yung-Chi Chen Making the Most of His Opportunities.....

Chen
photo courtesy of apple-Taiwan
MLB:
*Y.C. Chen backed up 2B Jose Lopez and was a perfect 2-2 including a double with a run scored. The Mariners beat the A's 10-6. Box/Recap

*H.C. Kuo will seek conservative treatment for his ailing shoulder. Read more here.

*Jon Deeble, the Red Sox Pac-Rim Coordinator had this to say about Chih-Hsien Chiang,
“He was the best hitter in Asia as a 17-year-old. He's got a chance to play in the big leagues, for sure.” Link


CPBL:
Bears 6 - Lions 1: The big guns came through for the Bears as CFC was 2-4 with a double, his 2nd HR of the season and 1 RBI; Chih-Sheng Lin hit his 1st HR of the year; and game MVP Chung-Wei Pan was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI's.
Elephants 4 - Bulls 2:The game was won in extra innings as Jui-Chen Chen (1-3 on the night) drove in the game winning runs/Elephants starter Yu-Cheng Liao was dominant, throwing 8 innings of 2 run ball, allowing only 4 hits. He also had 10 K's and 3 walks.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Sat. Scores...

MLB:
Chin-Hui Tsao pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing 2 hits, as the Dodgers beat the Orioles 4-2. Box/Recap

*Updated* Yung-Chi Chen made his second appearance of the spring with the parent club and in his lone plate appearance, walked and scored a run. Chen also committed an error at 3B. The Mariners beat the Royals 5-4. Box

CPBL:
Bears 5 - Lions 1:Gary Rath earned the win and game MVP honors with an impressive showing - 8 innings, 1 run allowed on 6 hits, 5 K's, 1 walk/CFC was 1-4 while teammate Long-Yi Huang was 2-3 with 2 RBI's.
Elephants 6 - Bulls 6:Game called in the 6th due to rain/C.M Peng was game MVP with a 1-2 night with a HR and 3 RBI's/The Bulls Kuo-Long Hsu was also 1-2 with a HR and 3 RBI's.

Friday, March 23, 2007

The Injury Bug Bites....

MLB:
The results of Hong-Chih Kuo's MRI revealed shoulder inflammation. Kuo will be shut down - possibly for a few weeks, effectively placing Kuo in the minors to start the season. Read more here and here.

Chien-Ming Wang aggravated his right hamstring during light workouts Friday - although Torre is saying that it's just a cramp, Wang has also complained of a tight right wrist earlier this spring as well. I hope his body holds up for the rest of the season. Read more here.
Reports now say that he will be out a month and start the season on the DL. *Updated

Ching-Lung Hu was 0-1 with a walk in the Dodger's 6-2 victory over the Marlins. Box/Recap

CPBL:
The Whales beat the Lions 5-4 Friday:Former NT standout Chang-Wei Tu was game MVP as he earned the win, throwing 7.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 9 hits to go along with 4 K's and 0 walks/RF Dai-Chi Kuo was the offensive MVP for the Lions, going 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI's.

The Bulls beat the Cobras 5-3: Catcher Chun-Chung Yeh of the Bullls won game MVP with a 2-4 night at the plate with 2 doubles and a RBI.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Thursday Blues....

MLB:
*Chien-Ming Wang made a start today against the Phillies AAA ball club. Wang pitched 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits (including 2 HR's!). He had 4 K's and 0 walks in his performance. Story

*We now have a reason for why Hong-Chih Kuo has been so erratic lately: Kuo has soreness in the back of his shoulder and is scheduled for a possible MRI. Not good.........Story

*Chin-Hui Tsao pitched a scoreless 9th inning for the Dodgers today. The Dodgers lost 8-0 to the Orioles. Tsao allowed 1 hit, K'd 1 and walked 1. Box/Recap


CPBL:
The Whales beat the Lions Thurs. 9-7: Whales 1B Chun-Chiang Kao was 3-5 with 2 RBI's.

The Cobras embarrassed the Bulls 16-9: The Cobras cranked out 22 hits/Game MVP honors went to Cobras LF Hung-Yuan Lin who was 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI's/Tarzan was 1-5 with 2 RBI's/C.H. Hsieh was 2-4 with 2 RBI's

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Videos of Che-Hsuan Lin vs. Rong-Hao Hsieh....

Hsieh vs. Lin

Ok, we've seen some vids of Lin's defensive prowess in CF. Here are some new clips of Che-Hsuan Lin handling the bat at the plate. The vids are all from the championship game of the Elite HS Tourney that took place in February. Lin as you can recall, faced off against the much-hyped 16 year old star pitcher for Kupao HS - Rong-Hao Hsieh. Lin definitely got the better of Hsieh in the game as he was a perfect 4-4 with 4 RBI's and was walked intentionally by Hsieh in his 5th plate appearance of the game. Here's a look at Lin vs. Hsieh:

Video 1 Link: Lin's 1st AB vs. Hsieh

Video 2 Link: Lin's 2nd AB vs. Hsieh

Video 3 Link: Lin's 3rd AB vs. Hsieh

Video 4 Link: Lin's 4th AB vs. Hsieh

Video 5 Link: Lin scoring from 2nd base

Wild Thing...Wed News...

MLB:
*Wow, Hong-Chih Kuo probably blew his chance at starting the season in LA with an erratic performance against the NY Mets on Wed. In 3 innings, Kuo allowed 2 runs on only 1 hit. But, he also gave up 4 walks and threw 3 wild pitches in his appearance. Kuo did have 3 K's. Box/Recap
That's 2 back-to-back forgettable performances from Kuo.

*Yung-Chi Chen made his first appearance in a Cactus League game this spring on Tuesday. Chen was a defensive replacement at 2B and had no plate appearances in the game. Chen has been recovering from an injured left shoulder he sustained last year in a minor league game.

*Scout.com has an update on Chi-Hung Cheng throwing from a flat surface. The Jays are being very cautious with Cheng. Read more here (check out the 1 minute vid of Cheng)


CPBL:
The Bears beat the Whales 3-2 Wed: CFC was 1-4 with a RBI and 2 K's/Kevin Huang earned his 2nd win of the season in relief/Game MVP went to Bears RF Chun-Hsiung Lu who had the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 9th inning/notable starting pitchers Ying-Feng Tsai of the Bears pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 10 hits, with 0 K's and 3 walks - his starting mound opponent Che-Yi Su was stellar, pitching 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits. He had 4 K's and 3 walks allowed.

The Cobras beat the Elephants 6-5 Wed: Elephants starter and former Red Sox farmhand TJ Yeh earned the loss, lasting only 2.2 innings - allowing 5 runs (only 2 earned) on 2 hits while walking 4 with 0 K's/Cobras pitcher Chia-Hung Chen earned the win and Game MVP honors.

TJ - now an Elephant

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Tuesday Rundown...

MLB:
The Dodgers were shutout by the Cardinals 13-0. Tsao pitched one inning in relief, allowing 2 earned runs on 2 hits. He allowed 1 walk and had no K's. Box/Recap
Kuo and Tsao are scheduled to make an appearance tomorrow night against the Mets.


NPB:
Lin was 0-4 as the cleanup hitter for the Tigers as they beat the Carp 5-4.


CPBL:
LA New Bears 4 - Whales 3: CFC was 1-1 with a double and 3 walks/Game MVP honors went to Bears starting pitcher Wen-Hsiung Hsu who had a no-decision despite throwing 6.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits to go along with 4K's and 2 walks.

Cobras 7 - Elephants 1:The Cobras outslugged their opponent by rapping out 16 hits/Game MVP went to Cobras LF Hung-Yuan Lin who was 3-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI's./Chuan-Chia Wang and Ivanon Coffie also had 3 hits and 2 RBI's each for the Cobras, with Wang cracking his first HR of the season.
*edited

Monday, March 19, 2007

Searching for the next Wang, Kuo, and Tsao....

News sources in Taiwan reported that WMG (the Wasserman Media Group - a sports management company) is in Taiwan partnering with the CTBA in helping to develop young prospects in Taiwan. WMG has sent ex-Major Leaguers Mark Langston, Kirk McCaskill, Tim Wallach, and Mike Fitgerald to help train the kids. In the process they are also evaluating future potential clients. WMG joins CSMG(representing Chien-Ming Wang/Hong-Chih Kuo/Chin-Feng Chen/Yung-Chi Chen/Sung-Wei Tseng/Chi-Hung Cheng....and the list goes on), Scott Boras (representing Chin-Hui Tsao/Chih-Hsien Chiang), Adam Chang of IBB (representing Po-Yu Lin/Chia-An Huang), Bros Sports Marketing Group (representing Tzu-Kai Chiu), Chi-Sheng Tsai (representing Ching-Lung Lo/Sheng-An Kuo/Wei-Yin Chen), and Tai-Yuan Kuo (representing Ying-Chieh Lin/En-Yu Lin) to help compete for the services of Taiwan's future stars. *

A couple of kids who were mentioned in the articles were 16 year old pitchers Rong-Hao Hsieh (91 mph fastball) and Wen-Hao Cheng (92 mph fastball). Unlike Hsieh who stands closer to 6'2", Cheng is only 5'9" so his upside is more limited (like Chih-Lung Huang)- then again that never stopped Sung-Wei Tseng from signing a sizable bonus with the Indians.

Rong-Hao Hsieh


Wen-Hao Cheng
*Updated

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Sunday Happenings....

MLB:
Chin-Hui Tsao continues to make a push for a final roster spot in the pen as he pitched one scoreless inning, punching out 2 batters in his team's 5-0 loss to the Indians on Sunday. Tsao hit 95 mph on the radar gun. Ching-Lung Hu filled in for an injured Tony Abreu and was 1-3 at the plate. He did commit a costly error in the 4th inning, leading to an unearned run. Box/Recap

CPBL:
There were 2 games on tap Sunday:
1)The Whales beat the Elephants 5-2: The Whales Kwei-Yu Huang was game MVP with a 1-2 night that included a 3 run HR.
2)The Lions beat the Bears 4-1: CFC was 0-2 with 2 walks. Game MVP went to Lions starter Rob Cordemans who earned his first win in the CPBL.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

A Look Around the Minors (minor league camp)...

Huang
photo courtesy of Mike - founder of Soxprospects.com

Chiang
photo courtesy of Mike - founder of Soxprospects.com

Cheng
photo by Dave Letizi of Insidethedome.com

Keng
photo by Dave Letizi of Insidethedome.com

2007 CPBL Season Kicks Off.....

CFC
photo courtesy of 1-apple
CPBL:
The LA New Bears defeated the President Lions 4-3 in the season opener of the CPBL on Saturday. The game was a rematch of last year's CPBL championship series. The game also featured the league's top pitcher and hitter in Wei-Lun Pan and CFC.
With the Lions up 4-0 heading into the bottom of the 5th inning, Wei-Lun Pan would begin to tire as the Bears would rally to tack on 5 runs in the 5th and 6th innings to knock Pan out of the game. Wei-Lun Pan started for the Lions and allowed 5 runs on 9 hits in 6.2 innings. He had 2 K's and allowed 2 walks. Pan gave up the season's first home run to none other than Chin-Feng Chen in the 6th inning. CFC was 1-2 with a RBI and 2 walks. The game MVP went to LA New Bears catcher Feng-Min Chen who was 2-3 with 4 RBI's. Bears slugger Chih-Sheng Lin was 1-4. LF Sung-Hsien Yang led the way for the Lions with a 2-4, 2 RBI night. Former Red Sox prospect Kevin Huang would nail down his first save of the season for the Bears.


NPB:

Chiang of the Giants
photo courtesy of giants.jp

Chien-Ming Chiang continues to build on an impressive spring by winning against the Rakuten Eagles on Saturday. Chiang threw 7 innings, allowing only 1 run, to go along with 3 K's and no walks.

Wei-Chu Lin plated 2 runs with a double in the 3rd inning as the Tigers beat the Bay Stars 7-4 Saturday.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Tale of Two Pitchers...

MLB:
Chien-Ming Wang pitched 5 solid innings today, allowing 1 run on 4 hits. He also had no walks and 3 K's to go along with 10 groundball outs. The Yanks lost 4-3 to to the Astros. Box/Recap
Wang's performance puts him on track to start the Yanks season opener against the Devil Rays on April 2nd.

Hong-Chih Kuo, on the otherhand, started against the Boston Red Sox Friday. With the media frenzy focused on Boston starter Matsuzaka, Kuo started well, throwing a scoreless first inning and K'ing 2 batters. However, in a game that was cancelled in the 3rd inning due to the downpour, Kuo's control went downhill from thereon out. In the second inning, he would give up 2 home runs - leaving the fastball up in the zone. Kuo's woes would continue in the 3rd as he walked Matsuzaka, who was instructed not to swing while at the plate. Kuo would then allow his 3rd HR of the game later in that same inning, before mercifully, the rain came pouring down and put an end to a miserable start for Kuo. Although Kuo's stats will not be affected because of the game postponement, his forgettable outing significantly hurts his chances of claiming the 5th starting spot.

NPB:

E.Y. Lin
photo courtesy of rakuteneagles.jp

Y.C. Lin
photo courtesy of rakuteneagles.jp

Both Lins pitched well for the Rakuten Eagles as they shutout the Yakult Swallows 6-0 on Friday. En-Yu Lin started and threw 5.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing 2 hits and K'ing 3 batters. Ying-Chieh Lin pitched in relief, allowing 3 hits while K'ing 2.

In other Friday NPB action, Ming-Chieh Hsu earned a save for the Seibu Lions as they defeated the Yomiuri Giants 4-3.
Si-Yo Wu started for the Lotte Marines against the Hanshin Tigers and got shelled. Wu lasted 4.1 innings, allowing 5 runs on 10 hits. Wu had 1 K and 1 walk as well. Tigers OF Wei-Chu Lin was 0-3, and was the lone K victim of Wu. The Tigers won 7-3.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

HR #2 for Lin...

Lin cracked his 2nd HR of the spring for the Hanshin Tigers as his team beat the Yokohama BayStars 8-2 on Wednesday. Lin was 3-4 with 3 RBI's, hitting out of the 5 hole in the lineup. Box - in Japanese

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Tsao on Tuesday...


Tsao threw one scoreless inning, K'ing 2 batters in the Dodgers 4-3 win over Detroit today. Box/Recap

Tsao's teammate Kuo, will have one less competitor for the 5th and final starting spot for the Dodgers rotation. Chad Billingslely was removed from consideration as a starter in favor of the bullpen, leaving Brett Tomko and Mark Hendrickson as Kuo's main competitors.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Minor League Notes...

Ching-Lung Hu was assigned by the Dodgers to their minor league camp. Hu may start the year with the AAA affiliate in Las Vegas.

Speaking of minor league camp, Sung-Wei Tseng looked good during minor league workouts. Read more here and here.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Sunday Results...

MLB:
*Chien-Ming Wang made his 3rd start of the spring and fared much better this time around. Starting against the Indians again, Wang pitched 4 innings, allowing 1 run on a solo HR and 3 hits. Despite earning the loss, Wang did have 4 K's to go along with 1 walk. Box/Recap
Wang complained of right wrist tightness, although it is not considered to be an issue at this time.
Wang rejected the Yanks offer of $500+ K and will instead earn $489,000 this year. With another solid year, Wang will earn his keep as he is eligible for salary arbitration next year.

*Hong-Chih Kuo tossed 2 scoreless innings in relief of starter Brad Penny. Kuo allowed no hits to go along with 2 walks and 1 K. The Dodgers would rally for a 10-9 win over the Nationals. Box/Recap
The news in Taiwan is reporting that the reason Kuo missed the gold medal game of the Asian Games is because he failed a drug test - the substance is being reported as ephedra - Story. *Updated

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Sat. Rundown....

MLB:
Chin-Hui Tsao threw a scorless 9th inning, allowing one hit to go along with 2 K's. Ching-Lung Hu was 0-1 coming off the bench and was also picked off in a pinch-running role. The split Dodgers squad lost 8-5 to the Marlins.

NPB:
The Giants beat the Tigers 5-1 as Chien-Ming Chiang and Wei-Chu Lin squared off. Chiang started for the Giants and threw 5 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits to go along with 4K's. Chiang was clocked at a high of 90 mph. Lin had 2 AB's against Chiang and K'd the first time up before smacking a double in his last AB of the game. Good read on Lin...scroll down to the Hanshin section.

En-Yu Lin throwing for the Rakuten Eagles, faced off against the Yomiuri Giants nigun team and threw 7 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit to go along with 7 K's. Lin was clocked at a high of 89 mph.

Facing off against the Lotte Marines, Ming-Chieh Hsu threw 2 innings of relief, giving up 1 run on 3 hits. Hsu had 1 K. Speaking of the Seibu Lions, here's the latest scandal -not surprising at all, we've seen this before: Kuo/Lin

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Just Minors : FYI for Collectors....

I received the following email yesterday from Just Minors and
thought that I'd pass it on to you the readers. It sounds like
everything's on a first come, first serve basis - so call ASAP
to get a good price today!

The following Gold Autograph Sets are now completed and ready
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Just Rookies Preview 2006 17-card Gold Autograph Set @ $170.00
Justifiable Preview 2006 16-card Gold Autograph Set @ $160.00

There is a limit of 1 per customer on the 2 different Preview
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We are also ready to ship the following cards:

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Justifiable Preview 2006 Yung Chi Chen White Autograph
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Justifiable Preview 2006 Chi-Hung Cheng White Autograph
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Just Rookies 2006 Sung-Wei Tseng White Autograph
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Just Rookies 2006 Sung-Wei Tseng Black Autograph
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Justifiable Preview 2006 Sung-Wei Tseng White Autograph
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Some of these items will sell very quickly, so please
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Taking a Look Back...A Missed Opportunity....

Yu-Chi Wang
pic courtesy of baseballtaiwan.net

The name Yu-Chi Wang probably doesn't ring a bell for most people. However, in 2000-2001 Wang was the second Boston Red Sox signee from Taiwan, following Kevin Huang's signing in 2000. Wang-Yi Lin, the OF who signed with the Minnesota Twins last year, wasn't the first Taiwanese twin to join a MLB organization; that distinction falls to Yu-Chi Wang (whose twin bro Yu-Chen Wang was also a talented baseball player). Yu-Chi Wang, a RHP, stood around 5'11" and weighed about 180 pounds as a HS senior. Wang, who is 24 years old today, gained interest from the Sox because of his 88-92 mph fastball. Wang also attended HS baseball powerhouse San-Min HS, which has produced the likes of Chao-Kuan Wu, Chih-Hsien Chiang, and Chih-Hsiang Huang.

Wang never made it over to the US because of some pretty bad luck and timing. Wang was unable to obtain a visa to the US because of the 9/11 tragedy in 2001. The Red Sox were also in the midst of a change in ownership and the organization wasn't interested in lobbying the US government to grant him a visa at that sensitive time. So unfortunately for Wang his contract was voided.

Where is Wang today? I'm really not sure, but he isn't listed on any CPBL rosters. Maybe someone can fill us in as to how he's doing nowadays.

Thanks to baseballtaiwan.net for the story.

Wed. ST Results...

MLB:
A split Dodgers squad lost 11-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Kuo pitched 2 innings in relief of starter Brad Penny and allowed 1 hit (a solo HR), 1 run to go along with 2 walks and 1 K. Tsao pitched one scoreless inning. Ching-Lung Hu got 2 AB's, but was held without a hit. Box
Nice read on Hu.

NPB:
Si-Yo Wu started for the Marines, lasting 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Che-Hsuan Lin Update..

Target in Sight!

The current buzz on Lin is that scouts from the Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners organizations recently went to Lin's high school to watch him work out and practice. Afterwards, the scouts were seen speaking with Lin. Rumor has it that the Mariners invited Lin to extended ST here in the US.

Wang and Lin Updates....

AP Photo
MLB:
Chien-Ming Wang started against the Indians today and had a subpar performance, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings of work. He allowed a leadoff HR to Indians star Grady Sizemore. Recap/Box
Wang did agree to a one year $500K and change deal with the Yankees.
*updated* Hu was 3-4 for the Dodgers with one SB. Recap/Box

NPB:
Wei-Chu Lin cracked his first HR in ST game action, going 1-2 with a solo shot in the 7th inning against the Softbank Hawks. The Tigers lost 8-3.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Monday Rundown...

MLB:
*Hu made an appearance in today's Dodgers vs. Red Sox ST game. Hu recorded no stats. Box
*Tsao clocked 95 mph on his fastball on Sunday...while Kuo was at 92 mph on Saturday.
*Chien-Ming Wang dancing the tango - promoting the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in English! Wang's next start will be Tuesday, March 6th versus the Cleveland Indians.*edited*
*Nice writeup on Hong-Chih Kuo.


NPB:
Wei-Chu Lin was 2-4 versus the Rakuten Eagles as his Tigers won 3-1. Lin hit cleanup for his club.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Weekend ST Recapped....

MLB:
*Ching-Lung Hu was 1-2 with a run scored on Friday against the Washington Nationals. Box
*On Saturday versus the NY Mets, Hu was 0-2 with a RBI. Hong-Chih Kuo also made his ST debut, by pitching 2 shutout innings giving up 1 hit and 2 walks. Box
Dodgers manager Grady Little was pleased with Kuo's bid to land a spot as the club's 5th starter.
*After pitching on Thursday for the Dodgers, Chin-Hui Tsao pitched a perfect 9th inning on Sunday versus the Atlanta Braves, striking out one hitter. Box Tsao was clocked at 96 mph on Thursday. Ching-Lung Hu was 0-1 as a split-squad Dodgers team lost to the Washington Nationals on Sunday. Box


NPB:
*Wei-Chu Lin was 0-4 in an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday. Lin batted 5th and was in LF.
*Chien-Ming Chiang started for the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday and threw four shutout innings against the Softbank Hawks. Recap
*Ying-Chieh Lin started as well for the Rakuten Eagles on Sat. and threw 3 innings. Aside from a 3-run dinger given up in the first inning, Lin settled down and retired the remaining batters. Recap
*En-Yu Lin threw on Sunday for the Eagles and gave up 2 runs in 3 IP.
*Ming-Chieh Hsu also made an appearance on Sunday for the Seibu Lions and did not allow any hits/runs in his brief relief work.


Other News:
Chien-Ming Wang was offered a one year deal by the NY Yanks for a little over $500 K. That would be a slight raise over last year when he made $353,175. Read more here.

Friday, March 02, 2007

ESPN Insider Article on Taiwan Baseball....

"*ESPN with a news article on Taiwan Baseball. Pretty good stuff - a few notes: Chien-Ming Wang didn't have elbow surgery - rather he had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. The player named Lung-Hao Hsieh is also known as Rong-Hao Hsieh on this blog."

Ok, the ESPN article listed above is now only available to Insiders, so by popular request, I thought I'd share the article with you.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Tzu-Kai Chiu Signs with Reds....

Chiu
pic added 3/6

The Cincinnati Reds were able to break into the Taiwanese market by signing 19 year LHP Tzu-Kai Chiu. Chiu received an estimated $200,000 signing bonus + additional money for his education. Chiu stands around 6'0" tall and weighs close to 200 pounds. Chiu has been on the MLB radar for quite some time now - refer to this Jan. '06 post to read more about Chiu. Chiu is currently in his first year of college but will be heading to the US shortly for a physical. Chiu throws comfortably in the 85 to 87 mph range with touches of 89 mph on his fastball - Chiu's best pitch is his curveball. Congrats to Chiu!


*In other news, Hong-Wen Chen - a RHP playing for Chinese Culture University, was clocked at 92 mph as he led his team to a 7-2 victory against Furen University in the current college baseball tourney. I had the opportunity to watch Chen in the summer of '05. He was the best pitching prospect - (including LA New Bears rookie Ying-Feng Tsai) on that touring NT.Chen #99

Thursday ST News....

*Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to pitch today in the Yankees exhibition opener against the Minnesota Twins.
-*Updated* Wang pitched the first 2 innings, retiring 5 of the 6 batters via the ground-ball out. Wang only needed 19 pitches in his two innings as the Yankees won 6-1.

*Chin-Hui Tsao is also scheduled to make an appearance today for the Dodgers versus the Braves. Hong-Chih Kuo will make his seasonal debut on Saturday against the Mets.
-*Updated* Tsao gave up a run in relief work as the Dodgers lost 7-2.

*ESPN with a news article on Taiwan Baseball. Pretty good stuff - a few notes: Chien-Ming Wang didn't have elbow surgery - rather he had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. The player named Lung-Hao Hsieh is also known as Rong-Hao Hsieh on this blog.

Card of the Month.....Triple Auto...Chen-Tseng-Cheng..

The above is a Silver Parallel of the 2006 Just Rookies product. This is the first officially licensed autographed multi-sig. card featuring Taiwanese players that I've seen produced. It is one sweet looking card - I made it a point to add this unique item to my collection. The card can be purchased on Ebay at this link with a Buy It Now option or you can make a reasonable offer to the seller - Rookiesquantities. In addition to the items being listed on ebay, Rookiesquantities also carries a vast collection of Taiwanese baseball cards (rookies and autos) that can purchased as singles or bought in bulk on their website (be sure to click on card database to view the vast selection of players) . Prices are wholesale - so whether you're a collector or an investor, know that you'll be getting one of the best deals around. Be sure to ask about the gold and black (#'d to 25!) parallels of the Just Minors autographed products.