W - Yamada, L - Lee Woo-sun
Softbank HR - None
Samsung HR - None
Erm, yeah. I knew that Samsung was in trouble when I saw that Samsung went with Lee Woo-sun as their starter. I guess Cha Woo-chan and Yoon Seong-hwan wer being saved for the final, but we couldn't do any better than this?
Samsung looked awful on the mound and worse in the field. Every ground ball found a hole and every line drive found space in the outfield. Softbank basically ran the Lions out of the park once they got on base. Softbank stole seven bases during the affair.
Lee Woo-sun was battered and yanked in the second inning. He was responsible for three of the runs allowed. 28 year old warm body Lee Dong-geol didn't fare much better. I follow the Lions as closely as any non-Korean person can, but I've never heard of this guy. He stuck around for 3 2/3 innings, but was knocked around for five more runs.
Samsung didn't do much at the plate and most of the starters were pulled before the ninth inning .
Samsung has to win against Taiwain to earn themselves a spot in the final against the same Softbank Hawks.
Showing posts with label Asian Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian Series. Show all posts
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Samsung 10, Perth Heat 2
W - Jang Won-sam (1-0), L - Daniel Schmidt (0-1)
Samsung HR - Shin Myeong-cheol
Perth Heat HR - Allan de San Miguel
The official game recap from the Perth Heat can be found here.
This game basically unfolded the way most Lions fans thought it would. The Lions showed rust early thanks to their month long lay off, but took advantage of mistakes from the Heat and turned this game into a rout.
Samsung started the game looking very much like a team that hadn't played a competitive game in a month. The Lions looked sloppy and starter Jang Won-sam labored through the first few innings.
Perth actually took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a RBI double from catcher Allan de San Miguel.
Samsung answered back with a three-run rally in the bottom of the third. Lions third baseman Park Seok-min hit a two-run double and later scored on a throwing error.
The two teams traded runs again in the sixth. de San Miguel hit a solo homer for Perth's second run and Samsung right fielder Park Han-yi hit a sac fly.
The Lions put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with a six-run rally that included a grand slam from Lions second baseman Shin Myeong-cheol.
Jang Won-sam looked much better after he settled down. Jang tossed six innings(85 pitches, 56 strikes) of two-run ball. Jang gave up four hits and two walks while striking out ten.
Samsung HR - Shin Myeong-cheol
Perth Heat HR - Allan de San Miguel
The official game recap from the Perth Heat can be found here.
This game basically unfolded the way most Lions fans thought it would. The Lions showed rust early thanks to their month long lay off, but took advantage of mistakes from the Heat and turned this game into a rout.
Samsung started the game looking very much like a team that hadn't played a competitive game in a month. The Lions looked sloppy and starter Jang Won-sam labored through the first few innings.
Perth actually took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on a RBI double from catcher Allan de San Miguel.
Samsung answered back with a three-run rally in the bottom of the third. Lions third baseman Park Seok-min hit a two-run double and later scored on a throwing error.
The two teams traded runs again in the sixth. de San Miguel hit a solo homer for Perth's second run and Samsung right fielder Park Han-yi hit a sac fly.
The Lions put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with a six-run rally that included a grand slam from Lions second baseman Shin Myeong-cheol.
Jang Won-sam looked much better after he settled down. Jang tossed six innings(85 pitches, 56 strikes) of two-run ball. Jang gave up four hits and two walks while striking out ten.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Weekend Roundup
SK met the Chiba Lotte Marines at the Tokyo Dome and lost the game 3-0. The SK offense was missing a few of their regulars due to the Asian Games, but they looked like they hadn't swung a bat in a month. The Wyverns were limited to only four baserunners. If it weren't for singles from left fielde Park Jae-sang and catcher Jeong Sang-ho, they would have been no-hit. It was cool to see Ken Kadokura get a chance to pitch in his home country, but the result was disappointing.
The Korean National team beat Taiwan 6-1 on Saturday night. Team Korea was powered by a pair of early two run homers from DH Choo Shin-soo and a solid effort from starter Ryu Hyeon-jin. Ryu tossed six innings(67 pitches, 39 strikes) of one-run baseball. He limited Taiwan to only five hits and one walk while striking out four.
Team Korea also played Hong Kong's national team on Sunday night. The final was 15-0. That makes the game sound close. The game was stopped after 6 innings due to the slaughter rule.
The national team gets to see if they can slaughter Pakistan on Tuesday at 1 PM Korean time. I think Team Korea is a safe bet to make it out of the group stage.
The Korean National team beat Taiwan 6-1 on Saturday night. Team Korea was powered by a pair of early two run homers from DH Choo Shin-soo and a solid effort from starter Ryu Hyeon-jin. Ryu tossed six innings(67 pitches, 39 strikes) of one-run baseball. He limited Taiwan to only five hits and one walk while striking out four.
Team Korea also played Hong Kong's national team on Sunday night. The final was 15-0. That makes the game sound close. The game was stopped after 6 innings due to the slaughter rule.
The national team gets to see if they can slaughter Pakistan on Tuesday at 1 PM Korean time. I think Team Korea is a safe bet to make it out of the group stage.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Odds and Ends
Outfielder Park Yong-taek signed a 4-year deal to stay with the LG Twins.
SK played a two-game series with CPBL champ Brother Elephants last weekend. Both teams looked like they hadn't played in weeks. SK lost the first game 3-2 because they were shut down by the Elephants'' foreign pitchers. Orlando Roman threw seven innings of two-run ball. He gave up only six hits, two walks and a hit batsman while stiking out eight. Carlos Castillo threw two scoreless innings to earn the win. Jeon Byeong-doo threw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep SK in the game after Gary Glover was chased from the game in the third inning. SK actually held a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, but a rusty bullpen allowed the Elephants to win on a walk-off double.
SK took the second game 5-2 behind a solid game from Ken Kadokura. Kadokura threw seven scoreless innings. Ken allowed only six hits and one walk while striking out six. SK rallied for two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to essentially put the game out of reach. First baseman Lee Ho-joon went 2-3 with an RBI. Outfielder Lim Hoon came in as a defensive sub and went 1-1 with a pair of RBIs.
The next baseball action we'll be able to see on the peninsula is on Saturday. SK will play the Chiba Lotte Marines at the Tokyo Dome at 2 PM Korea time while the Korean national team will play the Taiwanese national team at 7 PM Korean time.
SK played a two-game series with CPBL champ Brother Elephants last weekend. Both teams looked like they hadn't played in weeks. SK lost the first game 3-2 because they were shut down by the Elephants'' foreign pitchers. Orlando Roman threw seven innings of two-run ball. He gave up only six hits, two walks and a hit batsman while stiking out eight. Carlos Castillo threw two scoreless innings to earn the win. Jeon Byeong-doo threw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to keep SK in the game after Gary Glover was chased from the game in the third inning. SK actually held a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, but a rusty bullpen allowed the Elephants to win on a walk-off double.
SK took the second game 5-2 behind a solid game from Ken Kadokura. Kadokura threw seven scoreless innings. Ken allowed only six hits and one walk while striking out six. SK rallied for two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to essentially put the game out of reach. First baseman Lee Ho-joon went 2-3 with an RBI. Outfielder Lim Hoon came in as a defensive sub and went 1-1 with a pair of RBIs.
The next baseball action we'll be able to see on the peninsula is on Saturday. SK will play the Chiba Lotte Marines at the Tokyo Dome at 2 PM Korea time while the Korean national team will play the Taiwanese national team at 7 PM Korean time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Odds and Ends...
This first free agent signing of the 2009/10 off season happened yesterday. KIA catcher Kim Sang-hoon a 1 year deal for 225 million won(about 200k American) to return with the Tigers..
The Korea/Japan Club Championship takes place in Nagasaki on Saturday November 14th at 1 PM Korea time. The KBO champion KIA Tigers will face the NPB champion Yomiuri Giants. I have no idea who is pitching or who will play. It's too bad the Asian Series went belly up. It was cool watching some of the best talent in Asia actually face each other and at least pretend to care. I'm not sure what kind of effort we can expect at this "Club Championship."
It sounds like Lee Beom-ho wants to stay with Hanhwa. I guess the Hanhwa brain trust wants to win 30 games instead of 20.
The Korea/Japan Club Championship takes place in Nagasaki on Saturday November 14th at 1 PM Korea time. The KBO champion KIA Tigers will face the NPB champion Yomiuri Giants. I have no idea who is pitching or who will play. It's too bad the Asian Series went belly up. It was cool watching some of the best talent in Asia actually face each other and at least pretend to care. I'm not sure what kind of effort we can expect at this "Club Championship."
It sounds like Lee Beom-ho wants to stay with Hanhwa. I guess the Hanhwa brain trust wants to win 30 games instead of 20.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Asian Series 2007
Round One
Uni-President Lions 9, China Stars 5
SK Wyverns 6, Chunichi Dragons 3
SK was simply more prepared to play than Chunichi. The Dragons, without star first baseman Tyrone Woods or right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, had about as much interest in playing this game as the janitorial staff had in cleaning up after. These guys looked like they were suffering a serious championship hangover.
The Lions just outhit a young Chinese team. Most of the Chinese team looked competent, except reliever Xu Zheng. It took him 34 pitches to record one out. He allowed most of the damage while allowing 6 of 7 batters face to reach base and score.
Round Two
SK Wyverns 13, China Stars 0
Chunichi Dragons 4, Uni-President Lions 2
How often do you see a slaughter rule enacted in a professional tournement? Whenever the China Stars commit 3 errors and allow SK to score 13 runs on only 10 hits. 8 walks and one HBP were allowed by Chinese pitching. Moving on.
Chunichi was able to piece together enough of an offense to get the win for its strong pitching. Kenta Asakura went 6 strong innings only giving up 2 earned. The Chunichi bullpen shut the door on the Lions, only allowing two runners to reach base in the last three innings. Shortstop, Hirokazu Ibata was the star at the plate for Chunichi. He went 1-3 and drove in all 4 runs.
Round Three
Chunichi Dragons 9, China Stars 1
SK Wyverns 13, Uni-President Lions 1
China actually had a lead in this game. They lead 1-0 until the fifth inning when Chunichi tied the game on Kazuki Inoue's solo homerun. Chunichi the scored 8 unanswered runs to take the W. Errors and mental mistakes continued to plague the young Chinese team. They commited three more errors in this game. Giving them a total of 6 in the series.
SK scored 13 runs in the first 4 innings and coasted to a second seven inning slaughter. Foreign starter, Pete Munro, was awful. 8 of the 13 runs were charged to him, with 7 being earned. Of the 14 batters he faced, 12(!) reached base. Every SK starter, except 2nd baseman Chung Kyoung-Bae, got at least one hit. The Lions lone run came on a solo shot by centerfielder, Yang Sun-Hsan.
Championship Game
Chunichi Dragons 6, SK Wyverns 5
This one actually left me a little bitter. SK won all three tournement games. Is it really fair to ask them to beat a team they've already beaten? On that team's homefield? Again? The gentlemen that run the Asian Series sure think so.
This was a fitting championship game.
This was a definite see-saw game with both teams holding and losing leads. SK starter, Mike Romano, was brought in for the eighth inning and was left to stay out for the ninth. He allowed the dreaded leadoff walk to 1st baseman Norihiro Nakamura. Nakamura advanced on a sacrifice by Atsushi Fujii and scored on a basehit by shortstop Hirokazu Ibata. Hitoki Iwase was the nail in the coffin as he pitched a 1-2-3 9th to secure the championship for Chunichi. This is Japan's 3rd consecutive Asian Series championship win.
Uni-President Lions 9, China Stars 5
SK Wyverns 6, Chunichi Dragons 3
SK was simply more prepared to play than Chunichi. The Dragons, without star first baseman Tyrone Woods or right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, had about as much interest in playing this game as the janitorial staff had in cleaning up after. These guys looked like they were suffering a serious championship hangover.
The Lions just outhit a young Chinese team. Most of the Chinese team looked competent, except reliever Xu Zheng. It took him 34 pitches to record one out. He allowed most of the damage while allowing 6 of 7 batters face to reach base and score.
Round Two
SK Wyverns 13, China Stars 0
Chunichi Dragons 4, Uni-President Lions 2
How often do you see a slaughter rule enacted in a professional tournement? Whenever the China Stars commit 3 errors and allow SK to score 13 runs on only 10 hits. 8 walks and one HBP were allowed by Chinese pitching. Moving on.
Chunichi was able to piece together enough of an offense to get the win for its strong pitching. Kenta Asakura went 6 strong innings only giving up 2 earned. The Chunichi bullpen shut the door on the Lions, only allowing two runners to reach base in the last three innings. Shortstop, Hirokazu Ibata was the star at the plate for Chunichi. He went 1-3 and drove in all 4 runs.
Round Three
Chunichi Dragons 9, China Stars 1
SK Wyverns 13, Uni-President Lions 1
China actually had a lead in this game. They lead 1-0 until the fifth inning when Chunichi tied the game on Kazuki Inoue's solo homerun. Chunichi the scored 8 unanswered runs to take the W. Errors and mental mistakes continued to plague the young Chinese team. They commited three more errors in this game. Giving them a total of 6 in the series.
SK scored 13 runs in the first 4 innings and coasted to a second seven inning slaughter. Foreign starter, Pete Munro, was awful. 8 of the 13 runs were charged to him, with 7 being earned. Of the 14 batters he faced, 12(!) reached base. Every SK starter, except 2nd baseman Chung Kyoung-Bae, got at least one hit. The Lions lone run came on a solo shot by centerfielder, Yang Sun-Hsan.
Championship Game
Chunichi Dragons 6, SK Wyverns 5
This one actually left me a little bitter. SK won all three tournement games. Is it really fair to ask them to beat a team they've already beaten? On that team's homefield? Again? The gentlemen that run the Asian Series sure think so.
This was a fitting championship game.
This was a definite see-saw game with both teams holding and losing leads. SK starter, Mike Romano, was brought in for the eighth inning and was left to stay out for the ninth. He allowed the dreaded leadoff walk to 1st baseman Norihiro Nakamura. Nakamura advanced on a sacrifice by Atsushi Fujii and scored on a basehit by shortstop Hirokazu Ibata. Hitoki Iwase was the nail in the coffin as he pitched a 1-2-3 9th to secure the championship for Chunichi. This is Japan's 3rd consecutive Asian Series championship win.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Asian Series 2007
The third annual Konami Cup is set to start on November 8, 2007. The Konami Cup is a Round Robin championship between the three champions of Japan, Korea and Taiwan and the Chinese all stars. All the games will be played at Japan's Tokyo Dome. Japan has won the first two Konami Cups with the Chiba Lotte Marines winning in '05 and Nippon Ham Fighters winning in '06. Korea and Taiwan have both been runners up once. The China Stars are still looking for their first win.
The Chunichi Dragons finished the year in 2nd place in the Central League, but they won the climax series by defeating both Hanshin and Yomuiri to reach the Japan Series. It took only five games for the Dragons to defeat the Nippon Ham Fighters. The series ended with a combined perfect game from starting pitcher Daisuke Yamai and ace closer Hitoki Iwase.
Players to watch: Chunichi has the advantage in pitching and the best hitter in the tournement. Chunichi has three quality starters to use in the tournement. Kenta Asakura(12-7, 3.36 ERA, 105 K in 171.3 innings), Kenshin Kawakami(12-8, 3.55 ERA, 145 K in 167.3 innings) and Kenichi Nakata (3.59 ERA, 14-8, 177 K in 170.3 innings) aren't dominant aces like Doosan's Danny Rios or Yu Darvish of the Nippon Ham Fighters, but they can eat up innings and keep their team in the game.
Chunichi also has a fierce backend of their bullpen. Closer Hitoki Iwase was their 9th inning hammer all year. He posted 43 saves with a 2.44 ERA. He also struck out 50 in 59 innings of work this year while only walking 9 batters. Chunichi's top set up man is Shinya Okamoto. Okamoto didn't record a save all year, but he was a valuable bridge to Iwase. In 56 innings he allowed 67 runners to reach base. His ERA was 2.89 and he recorded 44 punch outs.
Tyrone Woods is probably the best power hitter in the tournament. He crushed 35 homers and drove in 102 for the Dragons. He posted an OPS of .948. The Dragons offense was helped by a career year out of utility man (seriously, this guy played everywhere)Masahiko Morino. Morino set career highs in almost every single major offensive category including homers (18), RBI(97), runs scored(75) and OBP(.366). It's also going to be interested to see Korean outfielder Lee Byung-Gyu take the field against his countrymen in the first game. He probably won't get plunked, at least not right away.
Chunichi is the clear favorite this year. They’ve got the advantage on paper as well as home field advantage for the tourney. This should be Japan’s third consecutive championship
The SK Wyverns finished at 73-48-5. They won the Korean Series in 6 games over the Doosan Bears, overcoming a 2-0 series deficit. They were in first for most of the season and no one ever really challenged them.
Players to watch: Pitching for the Wyverns starts with its two American starters, Mike Romano and Kenny Rayburn. Romano(12-4, 3.69 ERA, 81 K’s in 146.3 innings) and Rayburn(17-8, 3.27 ERA, 98 K’s in 184.6 innings) were easily the top two starters for SK last year and both will be important to SK’s success in the Asian Series.Chong Dae-Hyeon was the 9th inning hammer for SK last year, posting a microscopic 0.92 ERA in 78.3 innings. He recorded 27 saves and struck out 65. He was a big reason SK was so successful this year. When he was given a lead in the late innings, he protected it.
SK’s pitching and defense were the keys for SK this season. The team only hit .264 collectively, just good enough to come in 4th in the league. It was the fact that SK kept other teams off the scoreboard and avoided the big mistakes on defense. The goal for SK will be to keep the other teams off the scoreboard and scrape together a few runs and hope it’s good enough to win. SK will not be able to hang with Chunichi or Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions if games become slugfests. I’d expect SK pitching to be good enough to keep the Chinese team off the scoreboard.
SK didn’t have a single player finish in the top ten in either runs scored or RBI’s this season. Park Jae-Hong’s 17 homeruns were good enough for 9th in the league. Chong Gun-Woo lead SK with a .323 batting average this season (4th in the league), he managed to do this in 391 at bats.
For SK to have success in the Asian Series, they need to stick to the formula that got them here. Avoid big mistakes, capitalize when the other team gives them an opportunity and keep teams off the bases and off the scoreboard. SK will most likely be playing for runner-up.
The Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League finished 2007 with a 58-41-1 record. After sweeping the Macoto Cobras in round one of the playoffs, it took the Lions a full seven games to win this years Taiwan series. They held a 3-1 series advantage, but allowed the La New Bears two consecutive wins to tie the series at 3-3.
Players to watch: Their top hitter is Dominican national, Tilson Brito. Brito is a journeyman in the truest sense. If I’m counting correctly, Taiwan is the 6th different country he’s played in during his professional career. He thumped 42 homers, drove in 132 and hit .307 on the season. Nelson Figueroa is essentially a ringer. He was brought in for the playoff push, starting only 4 games during the regular season. He won the Taiwan Series MVP award this year. He started games 1, 4 and 7 for the Lions. He won all three and was the difference in this year’s Taiwan Series. Pete Munro and his ridiculously fast, ridiculously straight fastball made the all-star team this year. Starting catcher, Kao Chih-Kang is one of the more famous players in the league. He was a member of the 2004 Olympic team and the 2006 WBC team. He carries a .280 batting average in 226 career games.
I don’t even have a logo for the Chinese team. China is still looking for its first win in Asian Series competition. Unless there’s a miracle for China or a disaster for the champions of the Asian leagues, I expect them to remain winless. Baseball is still in its infancy in China and the Chinese don’t have enough experience to compete with the strongest clubs in Asia.
My prediction? The Japanese look the best on paper and will be tough to overcome with their home field advantage.
The first game is in Tokyo on November 8. The first two games are the Uni-President Lions versus the Chinese All Stars and the Chunichi Dragons versus the SK Wyverns.
The Chunichi Dragons finished the year in 2nd place in the Central League, but they won the climax series by defeating both Hanshin and Yomuiri to reach the Japan Series. It took only five games for the Dragons to defeat the Nippon Ham Fighters. The series ended with a combined perfect game from starting pitcher Daisuke Yamai and ace closer Hitoki Iwase.
Players to watch: Chunichi has the advantage in pitching and the best hitter in the tournement. Chunichi has three quality starters to use in the tournement. Kenta Asakura(12-7, 3.36 ERA, 105 K in 171.3 innings), Kenshin Kawakami(12-8, 3.55 ERA, 145 K in 167.3 innings) and Kenichi Nakata (3.59 ERA, 14-8, 177 K in 170.3 innings) aren't dominant aces like Doosan's Danny Rios or Yu Darvish of the Nippon Ham Fighters, but they can eat up innings and keep their team in the game.
Chunichi also has a fierce backend of their bullpen. Closer Hitoki Iwase was their 9th inning hammer all year. He posted 43 saves with a 2.44 ERA. He also struck out 50 in 59 innings of work this year while only walking 9 batters. Chunichi's top set up man is Shinya Okamoto. Okamoto didn't record a save all year, but he was a valuable bridge to Iwase. In 56 innings he allowed 67 runners to reach base. His ERA was 2.89 and he recorded 44 punch outs.
Tyrone Woods is probably the best power hitter in the tournament. He crushed 35 homers and drove in 102 for the Dragons. He posted an OPS of .948. The Dragons offense was helped by a career year out of utility man (seriously, this guy played everywhere)Masahiko Morino. Morino set career highs in almost every single major offensive category including homers (18), RBI(97), runs scored(75) and OBP(.366). It's also going to be interested to see Korean outfielder Lee Byung-Gyu take the field against his countrymen in the first game. He probably won't get plunked, at least not right away.
Chunichi is the clear favorite this year. They’ve got the advantage on paper as well as home field advantage for the tourney. This should be Japan’s third consecutive championship
The SK Wyverns finished at 73-48-5. They won the Korean Series in 6 games over the Doosan Bears, overcoming a 2-0 series deficit. They were in first for most of the season and no one ever really challenged them.
Players to watch: Pitching for the Wyverns starts with its two American starters, Mike Romano and Kenny Rayburn. Romano(12-4, 3.69 ERA, 81 K’s in 146.3 innings) and Rayburn(17-8, 3.27 ERA, 98 K’s in 184.6 innings) were easily the top two starters for SK last year and both will be important to SK’s success in the Asian Series.Chong Dae-Hyeon was the 9th inning hammer for SK last year, posting a microscopic 0.92 ERA in 78.3 innings. He recorded 27 saves and struck out 65. He was a big reason SK was so successful this year. When he was given a lead in the late innings, he protected it.
SK’s pitching and defense were the keys for SK this season. The team only hit .264 collectively, just good enough to come in 4th in the league. It was the fact that SK kept other teams off the scoreboard and avoided the big mistakes on defense. The goal for SK will be to keep the other teams off the scoreboard and scrape together a few runs and hope it’s good enough to win. SK will not be able to hang with Chunichi or Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions if games become slugfests. I’d expect SK pitching to be good enough to keep the Chinese team off the scoreboard.
SK didn’t have a single player finish in the top ten in either runs scored or RBI’s this season. Park Jae-Hong’s 17 homeruns were good enough for 9th in the league. Chong Gun-Woo lead SK with a .323 batting average this season (4th in the league), he managed to do this in 391 at bats.
For SK to have success in the Asian Series, they need to stick to the formula that got them here. Avoid big mistakes, capitalize when the other team gives them an opportunity and keep teams off the bases and off the scoreboard. SK will most likely be playing for runner-up.
The Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League finished 2007 with a 58-41-1 record. After sweeping the Macoto Cobras in round one of the playoffs, it took the Lions a full seven games to win this years Taiwan series. They held a 3-1 series advantage, but allowed the La New Bears two consecutive wins to tie the series at 3-3.
Players to watch: Their top hitter is Dominican national, Tilson Brito. Brito is a journeyman in the truest sense. If I’m counting correctly, Taiwan is the 6th different country he’s played in during his professional career. He thumped 42 homers, drove in 132 and hit .307 on the season. Nelson Figueroa is essentially a ringer. He was brought in for the playoff push, starting only 4 games during the regular season. He won the Taiwan Series MVP award this year. He started games 1, 4 and 7 for the Lions. He won all three and was the difference in this year’s Taiwan Series. Pete Munro and his ridiculously fast, ridiculously straight fastball made the all-star team this year. Starting catcher, Kao Chih-Kang is one of the more famous players in the league. He was a member of the 2004 Olympic team and the 2006 WBC team. He carries a .280 batting average in 226 career games.
I don’t even have a logo for the Chinese team. China is still looking for its first win in Asian Series competition. Unless there’s a miracle for China or a disaster for the champions of the Asian leagues, I expect them to remain winless. Baseball is still in its infancy in China and the Chinese don’t have enough experience to compete with the strongest clubs in Asia.
My prediction? The Japanese look the best on paper and will be tough to overcome with their home field advantage.
The first game is in Tokyo on November 8. The first two games are the Uni-President Lions versus the Chinese All Stars and the Chunichi Dragons versus the SK Wyverns.
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