The island of Taiwan hosts the Chinese Professional Baseball League - which is not the same as the China National Baseball League, to be found on the other side of the Strait. ----- The CPBL has six teams in a single division - up from five last year - but played over two half-seasons. The winners of each half-season go into the playoffs, along with the team with the next best full-season record. for the All-Star Games, there is a "Team All-Star" (which had a very 80s-looking outfit this time around) and a "Team Taiwan" (which is, perhaps deliberately, styled as an alternative to the "Chinese Taipei" jerseys the Taiwanese players have to wear at events such as the World Baseball Classic). As in NPB, they play two ASGs, in which Team All-Star and Team Taiwan take turns being the "home" and "away" side. Speaking of the WBC, the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium - perhaps the most on-brand ballpark anywhere on Earth - was used as a host stadium in the 2023 edition of that tournament. Domestically, however, it's the home of the CTBC Brothers. Actually, as of late last year, the largest ballpark in Taiwan is now the Taipei Dome - which does not have a "home" club. Although it was used to host the ASGs, as well as a number of regular season CPBL games. There is a YT channel in Mandarin which routinely posts highlights, as well as a paid subscription service akin to that for MLB. Here's the highlight reels for the two ASGs: So, do you have a CPBL team of choice? do you cheer for Team All-Star or Team Taiwan at the ASGs? Or, if neither of the above, might there be a factor which could sway your interest one way or the other?
Recently, the Brothers Baseball Club celebrated its 40th birthday. The event featured two cakes: one with the current CTBC Brothers logo, and another with the prior Brother Elephants logo. Yet even the older logo was only added when the team was professionalized for the inaugural CPBL season in 1990; originally, the club simply referred to its original founders, Taipei's Brother Hotel. In any case, I thought it might be worth adding a post for each of the current (at this time of typing) clubs in the CPBL - starting, no less, with the CTBC Brothers. ----- According to Google Translate, part of the lyrics for the Brothers' 2024 fight song refers to standing on the shoulders of "giants": Which is not entirely off the mark; just as the Kyojin - who themselves mark their 90th birthday in 2024 - played a major role in the establishment of professional baseball in Japan, this team was a key part of the process which led to the creation of the CPBL in Taiwan. Founded in 1984 as the amateur Brother Hotel Baseball Club, the team became the Brother Elephants as one of the four teams to inaugurate the first season of the CPBL in 1990. Indeed, the man who founded the club (and the hotel), Hung Teng-Sheng, also served as the league's first secretary general. Despite the league being embroiled in match-fixing scandals which seriously impacted its popularity; as well as being opposed by the rival Taiwan Major League between 1997 and 2003 (when the TML was wound down, with two if ts clubs being merged into the CPBL); and the team itself going through a change of ownership, a re-brand to the CTBC Brothers, and a relocation to the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, the Brothers are one of only two teams to persist from the league's founding through to the present day. Appropriately, one of the exhibition games played earlier this year to help inaugurate the Taipei Dome saw the Brothers face off against the Giants: That said, while the Brothers are perhaps the most popular team in the CPBL across Taiwan, they are not quite the most successful: for the time being at least, that honour belongs to the Uni-Lions, who I plan to cover in a subsequent post. ----- On a side note: the Brothers, like other baseball clubs, have taken part in a number of cross-promotional events with clubs from other leagues, as well as with other intellectual properties. With the club's main colour being yellow, it's no surprise to see that they have teamed up with NPB's Hanshin Tigers (which is somewhat ironic, given the long-standing rivalry between the Tigers and the Kyojin over in Japan) - as well as with... the Minions! So, if you'd like a baseball jersey that says "Bello!" on the sleeve, you'll know where to find it... ----- As a further aside, the CPBL is hosting a "Formosan Baseball Saga" at Taipei's National Concert Hall on the 14th of October 2024. No word yet on if they plan to stream it, though...
As the end of the 2024 CPBL regular season approaches, there are two sets of standings worth keeping an eye on: those for the second half-season, and those for the overall season. While the Uni-Lions booked their place in the post-season by winning the first half-season, it's not looking good for them repeating this feat in the second half. So, if (as seems likely) some other team tops the second half-season, the team with the best overall-season record that is not either of those teams gets a wildcard slot. Had the Uni-Lions been on track to claim both halves of the season, however, the second- and third-best teams from the full-season records would have joined them in the post-season instead. Right now, the Brothers are in the lead both for the overall season and the second half-season standings. Meanwhile, the Monkeys are sitting in third place behind both the Brothers and Uni-Lions in the overall season standings, which (if this holds up) would see them go into the playoffs also. ----- One team which is currently missing out on a playoff berth are the current Taiwan Series defending champions: the Wei Chuan Dragons. Although, if their 2024 fight song is any indication, they aren't quite ready to give up just yet: Historically, the origins of the Dragons go as far back as the late 1970s, when Wei Chuan Foods - one of Taiwan's largest producers of food products - partnered with Chinese Culture University's baseball program. The "Dragons" name and branding were added when the team professionalized in 1990, as one of the four founding CPBL clubs. Alas, despite winning three Taiwan Series in a row from 1997 to 1999, the Dragons were folded at the end of the 1999 season. Records on why this is so are somewhat unclear in English, but it appears that, when Wei Chuan Foods was bought by Ting Hsin, the new ownership was not interested in supporting professional baseball at that time. Although, with the after-effects of the 1997 "Black Eagles" match-fixing scandal dramatically lowering the league's fanbase overall, it could be that such broader developments helped sway the decision to wind down the club. Thus, would-be fans of the Dragons would have to wait until 2019, when the CPBL and Ting Hsin agreed to reactivate the club: their reserve team resumed play in 2020, while the senior team re-joined the league proper in 2021. This would not quite be the end of the Dragons' troubles, however. At present, the club plays their home games at Taipei's Tianmu Baseball Stadium, and had intended to move into a renovated ballpark in Hsinchu. However, with major structural issues being reported at the latter site, the Dragons have been obliged to stay at Tianmu - although they have been hosting a number of "home" games at the Taipei Dome: So if the move to Hsinchu doesn't pan out, would it be on-brand for a Dragon to "nest" in Taipei's "Big Egg"?
So, what does a capacity crowd at the Big Egg look like? The occasion was a send-off for a player who, as well as playing for the Brothers, once played for a now-defunct CPBL team, the Cobras - who still had a few legacy fans in attendance: ----- On another note: in Taiwan, the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores is operated by President Chain Store Corporation, a subsidiary of the Uni-President Enterprises Corporation - one of Taiwan's largest food production companies. Thus, when the team once called the Uni-President Lions was re-branded in 2008, it became known as the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions - or "Uni-Lions" for short: Of the two CPBL clubs to have continually operated from the league's founding through to the present day, the Uni-Lions are the only one of the two not to have been sold to a new ownership group, and the only one of the two to still play in the same home city (in this case, Taiwan's historical capital of Tainan) throughout. They are also, at this time of typing, the most successful CPBL club; they have won the Taiwan Series a total of ten times, most recently in 2020. The Uni-Lions play most of their home games at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium, which first opened in 1931. At least, through to the end of this season; next year, the team is set to move into a new stadium currently being constructed at the Tainan Asia-Pacific International Baseball Training Centers complex: Recent collaborations the club has undertaken include with NPB's Saitama Seibu Lions, as well as with the Ultraman franchise.
One of the disadvantages faced by the CPBL at present is its relative vulnerability to inclement and/or high-temperature weather: Over the past three days, the only games not to have been postponed were the ones played in the fixed-roof Taipei Dome. Unlike in MLB or NPB, there are no stadiums with retractable roofs. But then, this is not an issue unique to Taiwan; there are no retractable roof stadiums in South Korea's KBO League either, and only one team there whose home ground has a fixed indoor roof. Although, a second fixed roof is to be added at the new Cheongna stadium/shopping mall which is set to be opened by the SSG Landers in 2028. So, it'll be interesting to see what, if any, kind of spillover into October there might end up being, in terms of getting this year's CPBL regular season fully in the books. ----- The first wave of expansion teams to join the CPBL took place in 1993. Of those two teams which joined in that year, however, only one of them continues to exist in some shape or form. And yet, this club would go through a number of re-brands, ownership changes, and re-locations before settling in (for now, at least) to their current identity as the Fubon Guardians: The earliest iteration of this team as a professional organization was as the Jungo Bears, which played its home games in Taichung Baseball Field - an older and smaller venue than the modern-day Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. in 1996, the first change in ownership saw the team become the Sinon Bulls, yet still staying in Taichung. in 2013, the team became the EDA Rhinos, and moved to the more southerly city of Kaoshiung - which included playing at the same Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium currently being used by the TSG Hawks. After only a few years, however, the club was sold (and moved) once again; this time, they were bought by the Fubon Financial Holding Company, and moved to the Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City. On a side note: while this team has played as the Fubon Guardians since the 2017 CPBL season, that MLB team over in Cleveland only took on the "Guardians" name in 2022. The club has won three Taiwan Series championships overall, yet none so far under the current name and ownership. Recent visitors to their ballpark include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well as a certain set of travellers from Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido:
At some point, this thread might be at risk of being entirely taken over with talk about the Big Egg - but when things happen there, it rarely escapes public notice in Taiwan. On the one hand, the first stage of a new underground shopping venue opened there just recently: On the other hand, however, it appears that last weekend's pair of farewell matches were marred for some of the attendees by several leaks in the roof: Hopefully these problems won't be as difficult to address as those found at the Bog O(we) over in Montreal... ----- Back in 1997, the CPBL was confronted by the rival Taiwan Major League, which emerged in the wake of a dispute over broadcasting rights. Unlike the case with the American and National Leagues in MLB, or the Pacific and Central Leagues in NPB, the two sides did not reach the point of establishing a viable working relationship. Instead, a deal brokered by then-ROC President Chen Shui-bian led to the consolidation of the four TML clubs into two, and the subsequent addition of these two clubs into the CPBL in 2003. One of these two consolidations saw the creation of the team now known as the Rakuten Monkeys: More specifically, the Monkeys began (in CPBL terms) as the First Financial Holdings Agan, which was formed by the absorption of the TML's Taipei Gida into the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala. Oddly, this was not as a continuation of the TML's Taichung Agan; that club was instead merged with the Chiayi-Tainan Luka into what later became known as the ill-fated Dmedia T-Rex. In any case, the "legacy" name was changed in 2004, when the team became known as the La New Bears. They played in the same Chengcing Lake Baseball Field that was later used (and abandoned in turn) by the team now known as the Fubon Guardians. in 2011, the team moved to Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium and became the Lamigo Monkeys. Fun Fact #1: The Chinese characters for the city of Taoyuan (桃園) and those for "peach monkey" (桃猿) are both pronounced Táo yuán - so, if going by MLB naming conventions, the club would be the Taoyuan Monkeys, or the Táo yuán Táo yuán! In 2019, the clubs was purchased by Rakuten - owner of NPB's Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles - and was re-named in time for the 2020 CPBL season to the Rakuten Monkeys. Fun Fact #2: The Chinese characters used in Mandarin for their meaning to write "Rakuten" and those used for their phonetic value to write "Lotte" (as in, the company which owns both NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines and KBO's Lotte Giants)... are the same characters! As a result, the announcers at Monkeys games often say "Raku-ten" (or "Ra-ku-ten"), instead of "Lè tiān", so as to avoid this issue. Their standard home and away jerseys have Rakuten logos on the front, but they do have alternates which show the Monkeys name instead: Overall, the club has won seven Taiwan Series championships, though none as of yet under the current ownership. That said, while they were swept by the Brothers in the 2022 Taiwan Series, they "only" lost 4 games to 3 against the Dragons in 2023. And if the Brothers hold off the Dragons to win this year's second half-season, the Monkeys' all-season record should see them through to the post-season in 2024, also.
This is the moment when the Zhōngxìn Xiōngdì clinched the 2024 CPBL second half-season: With this, the Brothers have officially booked their spot in the post-season - and, in so doing, both secured the Monkeys' place as the wild card team and officially eliminated last year's champions, the Dragons, from playoff contention. What remains now is to see whether or not the Brothers or the Uni-Lions finish the full season with a higher overall record; as outlined here, whichever team does so moves directly on to the Taiwan Series, while the other takes on the Monkeys in the Playoff Series. Speaking of the Uni-Lions: they too held a special farewell party at the Big Egg over the weekend. How well did it go for them? ----- As for the team which the Uni-Lions was playing against for the occasion: that would be the CPBL's most recent expansion club, the TSG Hawks: As an aside, I like the ways in which the other teams' emblematic creatures are depicted on the flags marking their home locations on the stylized map shown in the video above. The Hawks are the result of an agreement between the CPBL and Taiwan Steel Group - whom, it so happens, now operates all Burger King franchises in Taiwan. In a total lack of coincidence, they have added the BK logo to those displayed at the Hawks' home ground, Kaoshiung's Chengcing Lake Baseball Field. Fun Fact #3: The area now covered by the city of Kaoshiung was originally known as "Takau" - which is believed to have meant "bamboo forest" in the language of the local indigenous Siraya people. However, when the earliest Hoklo colonists arrived in the area, they used a phonetic Chinese character reading which had the unflattering surface meaning of "beat the dog"... So, when the Japanese colonized Taiwan, they used the pronunciation "Takao", but changed the characters to match those of an area with that same name over in Kyoto. Then, after the ROC took over Taiwan in 1945, they in turn kept the Japanese characters, while reading them in Wade-Giles as "Kaoshiung". Although, in pinyin, the reading would be "Gāoxióng" instead. For their part, the team has used "TAKAO" for a couple of their jersey variants, as well as for the name of their mascot. Beyond this, there is yet another variant jersey; this one has the stylized characters for "Tái gāng" - or "TSG" - on the front: Fun Fact #4: Technically, the characters used by the team for "Hawks" are "xióng yīng" - or "雄鷹" - which refer to an eagle, or more specifically to a male eagle. So, if the Hawks ever set up a women's team, would they need to change the "male" character in the Chinese name to a "female" one, in order to account for this? As for the team itself: the results have been quite rough for them this season... but then, it is their expansion year. (Although, their reserve team started play in 2023.) Going forward, however, one concern might be the relative degree of inaccessibility to and from their home stadium. It's probably not a good sign that the last two times a CPBL club tried to make this same ballpark work, each resulted in a relocation to another, more northerly city. As an entirely unfounded point of speculation: might the long-term answer be in an alternate site closer to the centre of Kaoshiung itself, for home fans to more easily get to; and/or one closer to the Red line of the Kaoshiung Metro, so as to more readily welcome away fans arriving at the Xinzuoying THSR station?
Not all that long ago, the TSG Hawks held a photo shoot at Fo Guang Shan Monastery and Buddha Museum, the largest Buddhist complex in Taiwan: Since then, the city of Kaohsiung has been confronted by Typhoon Krathon: While typhoons making landfall on Taiwan are nothing new, it's relatively uncommon for one to land on the more densely populated south-west of the island, as opposed to the more mountainous south-east. Hopefully, as the storm passes and a full accounting of its effects is carried out, as few lives shall have been adversely affected as possible. And, once life gets back to some measure of normality, at least one can think of a place a person might go in the area, so as to ponder the impermanence of all things...
The Brothers have locked in their bye to the 2024 Taiwan Series: After the game, the team took the time to thank the home fans for their support: So, once the last regular season games are taken care of, the Uni-Lions and Monkeys shall face off for the right to join the Brothers in this year's championship series. ----- Speaking of fans: this page allows one to chart the rise, fall, and resurgence of attendance rates from 1990 through to 2023. Once this page is updated with the 2024 numbers, the total will have passed 2 million for the first time in league history! Of course, some of those attendees are there solely for the actual baseball. But, as is the case in Japan and in South Korea, the overall fan experience is itself a major draw - as outlined in this article over on the MLB website. And who might be a major part of providing this experience? Throughout the game, a variety of bespoke songs are played, one for each player at-bat, with their own corresponding dance moves. Conveniently, there are ways for fans to learn said songs (and dance moves) if they so wish: Beyond the CPBL proper, the cheer squads for the men's Chinese Taipei teams at events such as the World Baseball Classic and the WBSC Premier12 are drawn from these "club" squads. Although, since they have female cheerleaders for the men's club teams right now, would a potential women's league be supported by male cheerleaders instead?
Chinese Teipei's cheer squad working the crowd just before Yu Chang hit his grand slam in the 2nd inning against the Netherlands in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The "First Army" (senior team) Dragons might be out of playoff contention - but the "Second Army" (reserve team) have fared better this year: All of the clubs' reserve teams use the same branding as the senior teams, though they often play in smaller stadiums: for example, this series was held at Douliu Baseball Stadium in Yunlin County. ----- Actually, just as a number of NPB teams play "countryside" games across Japan, so too do a number of CPBL clubs play "home" games in such venues across Taiwan. (This page lets you clarify which games are to be held at which venues.) For example, these are the highlights from a quite dramatic game the TSG Hawks recently hosted in Chiayi City Municipal Baseball Stadium:
With four of the six teams having wrapped up their 2024 regular seasons as of Double Ten Day, only one last game is to be played before the postseason officially begins. As it happens, that game is going to be between the Uni-Lions and the Monkeys - a timely warm-up for the "Lion-Ape War" set to commence in the playoffs this weekend. ----- Speaking of which, the details for this year's post-season have been announced: The Playoff Series is a best-of-five round - or rather, a first-to-three-wins round, since the Uni-Lions have a "ghost win" to start the series against the Monkeys. Game 1 is set for the Big Egg; Game 2 is in Taoyuan; and Games 3 and/or 4 (if needed) would be held in Tainan. The Taiwan Series is a best-of-seven round - no "ghost wins" here. However, the Brothers shall be the home team in Games 1 and 2, and (if necessary) in Games 5, 6, and/or 7. In terms of host venues, the first two games are once again in the Big Egg. If the Uni-Lions make it, the third game would also be in the Dome, while the fourth game would be played in Tainan. However, if the Monkeys qualify, both the third and fourth games would be played in Taoyuan. Finally, if Games 5 through 7 are needed, those would be played at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Hostilities commence at the Dome this Saturday. Who is going to seize this year's championship title?
The final regular season game was a win for the Monkeys: That said, if this caused any issues for the Uni-Lions going into Game 1 of the Playoff Series, they didn't show it at the Dome: With this, the Uni-Lions went two wins up (courtesy of the "ghost win" they began the series with), leaving the Monkeys on the brink of elimination. Which, of course, would make today's Game 2 in Taoyuan the perfect time for the latter to make a statement win: So now, at this time of typing, the series stands at 2-1 in favour of the Uni-Lions, with Game 4 (and game 5, if necessary) to be held in Tainan tomorrow (and on Tuesday, again if necessary).
The Uni-Lions are through to the 2024 Taiwan Series: By the end of the sixth inning, the hosts were already up eight runs to zero; their guests, the Monkeys, had yet to register even a single base hit... Despite this, the Monkeys tried to turn things around thereafter, with five runs scored at the top of the seventh and a loading of the bases at the top of the ninth. Those latter base runners would find themselves stranded, however - along with their chances of progressing in this year's CPBL post-season. Still, for seven of the Monkeys' players, there are at least seven more games to play, as part of the Chinese Taipei team set to take part in this year's WSBC Premier12 competition. That's two warm-up "Formosa Series" games against the Czech Republic, plus five Group B games in the tournament proper - all to be hosted at the Taipei Dome. And, beyond this, there are others in the Monkeys organization who still have a "Big Dream" of their own: As for the Uni-Lions, the Big Egg awaits them also - where they shall face the Elephant(s) in the room! ----- Also, there was supposed to have been a "Formosan Baseball Saga" concert held at Taipei's National Concert Hall today. Which makes it odd that the CPBL, which had planned this date well in advance, lined up a playoff game to take place at the same time...
Game 1 of the 2024 Taiwan Series is in the books: The Uni-Lions started well, with a 3-run lead by the middle of the first inning. The Brothers took a while to build up an earnest response - but once they did, they scored a total of nine runs between the fourth and sixth innings! The Uni-Lions got one more run on the board at the top of the eighth. To answer this, one of the Brothers' players decided to show his generosity at the bottom of the eighth, by sending a game ball over to the away fan section of the ballpark: The game finished 4-10 to the hosts, giving them a 1-0 series lead. Game 2 is set for tomorrow, with the Brothers once again hosting at the Taipei Dome.
Here is a sample clip from the recent Formosan Baseball Saga concert, held at the Taipei National Concert Hall: Hopefully more of this concert shall be made available online at a later point in time. ----- Meanwhile, Game 2 of the 2024 Taiwan Series took place yesterday: The Uni-Lions needed a forceful response after Game 1, and they provided it through defeating the Brothers by 10 runs to 3 - thus bringing the series level at 1-1. This ensures that the series shall finish at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, regardless of how many games (5, 6, or 7) it now takes to decide the overall result. In the meantime, tomorrow's Game 3 shall be the last of three games in this series to be held at the Big Egg - this time with the Uni-Lions acting as "hosts".
Both Game 3 and Game 4 of the 2024 Taiwan Series have now been held: The Uni-Lions played host in both games. Firstly, at the Big Egg - which, alas, still has more than its share of structural issues: And secondly, for the final "First Army" game to have been held at the storied Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium, before the team moves into their new ballpark at the Tainan Asia-Pacific International Baseball Training Centers complex for the 2025 CPBL season. Game 3 was decidedly one-sided, with the Brothers winning by 10 runs to 0 at the Taipei Dome. Game 4 was a much more close-run affair; the final score was 6-4 in favour of the Brothers. With these two results, the Brothers now lead the series 3 games to 1. If the Uni-Lions want to claw their way back from elimination, they'll have to start by winning Game 5, to be held in Taichung this Friday. Meanwhile, the Brothers now have three opportunities to settle things between now and Sunday - which, if they succeed in doing so, shall bring them level with the Uni-Lions at 10 Taiwan Series championships apiece.
When American pitcher Eric Stout made a mid-season transfer to the KBO League's Kia Tigers a couple of months back, he made a couple of bold predictions: As of today, these words have been proven accurate, with the CTBC Brothers winning Game 5 of the 2024 Taiwan Series at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium: While the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions earned a 1-run lead in the top of the first inning, the traffic was in the other direction thereafter; with two runs for the home team at the bottom of the first, and once more apiece at the bottom of the 6th and 8th innings respectively. Here is the moment when the championship was settled: The final score was 1-4 - to match the Brothers' winning of the series by 4 games to 1. ----- With this, both the Brothers and the Uni-Lions are equal in the all-time Taiwan Series rankings, with 10 championships and 8 runners-up positions respectively. Alas, there is no Asia Series at present for the Brothers to qualify for at present. For both teams, those players (and cheer squad members) not assigned to the Chinese Taipei roster for next month''s Formosa Series and WBSC Premier12 games can now begin their off-season. Although, at least three of the Uni-Lions' employees appear to have have a side gig set up, promoting apple products from Japan's Aomori Prefecture: And as for the Brothers organization? All that is left to be said for them this year is: "Go! Passion Go!"
It appears that the official YouTube channel for the Octangle Male Choir is posting more clips from October's Formosan Baseball Saga concert: Notably, one of these songs was sung in Japanese, in reference to the 100th anniversary of the opening of Koshien Stadium - where a team from colonial Taiwan, with a mix of Japanese, Han Taiwanese, and Indigenous Taiwanese players, once played in the finals of the Summer Koshien tournament. ----- Meanwhile, some of you might be aware of Youppi! - the former mascot of the Montreal Expos, who was hired by the Habs when his former club moved across the border. Imagine, instead, of it turned out that Youppi! had a "brother" - no, not that one - who had an off-season job for a team in a different league... over in Toronto. This is kind of what appears to be going on in Taiwan, where TAKAO, the mascot of the TSG Hawks (who, as noted above, has a name that refers to the history of the City of Kaohsiung) now has a "brother", TAYUAN, working for the Tainan TSG GhostHawks basketball team - along with a few of TAKAO's co-workers: In fairness, TAYUAN's name has historical echoes if its own; the district of Tainan currently known as Anping was once known as Tayouan - not to be confused with the City of Taoyuan further north. Still, it's a sign of where the New Taiwan buck stops, in that both mascots share a corporate employer, rather than a home city.