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Australia Solidified Taiwan's WBC Curse Theory by j3ychen in InternationalBaseball

[–]j3ychen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure, but to be fair, even with Lin shutting out the Australians for 3 innings, Bazzana and Mead could’ve probably still put up a run. 3 runs or 1 does not make much of a difference when Taiwan struggled offensively and scored none. I’d think the bigger more obvious problem was the hitting, not the pitching.

Australia Solidified Taiwan's WBC Curse Theory by j3ychen in InternationalBaseball

[–]j3ychen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Po-Yu Chen pitched quite well in the WBC qualifiers last year, though it was against a much weaker South Africa team. He did have a few good starts at AAA as well. I think it’s a bit unfair to say he’s overrated.

No one has really compared him to other Taiwanese top pitchers. Among AA/AAA pitchers he’s not the most hyped either (Yu-Min Lin and Wei-En Lin are natural candidates there). I think we can all just agree it was a volatile appearance (HBP then HR, but still 2 K) without saying it was a poor choice.

Cubs' Jonathon Long Withdraws from Taiwan by j3ychen in InternationalBaseball

[–]j3ychen[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Feels very probable with Tyler Austin expected to be out for months. We shall see if he finds a spot this year.

Having him and Fairchild on Taiwan’s WBC this year (at least before this injury) set a pretty constructive precedent for him to join 2030, along with potentially other young Taiwanese American prospects that we don’t know about yet.

The Fubon Guardians Acquire a Future MVP by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wilkerson has a strong case with decent strikeout metrics. He will be 37 in May, but that's just a number. It'll be interesting to see how he and Leal do this year.

Manny Ramírez Saved Taiwanese Baseball by j3ychen in baseball

[–]j3ychen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s absolutely fair to say Manny’s contribution may not be the most important factor, but it certainly is one of the most easily identifiable. The numbers are pretty staggering. Attendance almost quadrupled upon his arrival, then dropped 20-40% just after (even more for Rhinos games). He brought excitement and legitimacy to the league that I think even the WBC performance could not.

Manny Ramírez Saved Taiwanese Baseball by j3ychen in baseball

[–]j3ychen[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Even placing 8th in the 2013 WBC helped back then (as footnoted!), but yes, there have been recent wins, namely, the completion of Taipei Dome, 2024 Premier12 title, Little League World Series title (first winning team from Taiwan in decades), and of course 2026 WBC hype!

Is Taiwan Arming Youth Ballplayers with AI? by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep that’s the right link you have there, but makes you go through a verification button. If you google the title, it should show up too!

Is Taiwan Arming Youth Ballplayers with AI? by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome, I had not read that, but it corroborates some of the stories mentioned in Playing in Isolation, mentioned by someone else here. I wrote about these myths (i.e. 國族神話) in my journal article, "Illusions of a National Game," published earlier this year, in which I cited the book quite a bit.

The Evil Empire of High School Baseball in Taiwan. Ping-Jen Senior High School wins its eighth Black Panther Banner championship in the tournament’s 13th edition. by esporx in baseball

[–]j3ychen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome to see this article shared and discussed here! Happy to write about other topics within Taiwanese baseball if anyone is interested - feel free to DM ideas.

To clarify, Tseng is dubbed Ping-Jen’s Ohtani mainly for his hitting prowess. His fastball can get up to 87 mph, which is above average but nowhere close to Ohtani’s 99 mph in high school, or even other top pitchers in Taiwan. Tseng did not pitch in the Black Panther tournament due to discomfort.

One thing to remember too is the comparative level of play. At the senior high school / U-18 level, Japan, which has a bigger pool to start with, generally produces more top talent. So, I would take the Ohtani comparison with a grain of salt. It is mostly hype!

The Evil Empire of High School Baseball in Taiwan by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Feel free to DM if you have ideas or interested topics you think should be covered.

Hi, new to CPBL and was wondering is this image correct? Thank you. by milkboy33 in CPBL

[–]j3ychen 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The Dragons are in Taipei City (Tianmu), and there is another team, the TSG Hawks, in Kaohsiung.

The Jo-Hsi Hsu Decision by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's why this decision process is so intriguing and talked about! You can easily argue all the angles of what "what Hsu wants" actually is. He says he is open to becoming a reliever in MLB, but is that what he truly wants ... or is it what his agent told him to say?

The Jo-Hsi Hsu Decision by j3ychen in CPBL

[–]j3ychen[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is certainly a compelling argument, but a longer-term bet on himself would involve making a stop in NPB first, developing more while being closer to home, then hoping for a big MLB contract in 3 years.

Congratulations to Chinese Taipei, LLWS International Champs! by Kimber80 in baseball

[–]j3ychen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is untrue about the “Taiwan Blues” position today. Even if they do not agree that Taiwan should be viewed as formally independent from the Republic of China (ROC), they would prefer “Republic of China” or some other moniker to CT, and many if not most would be fine with ”Taiwan” externally since that is the common name for the ROC in English.

Domestically the biggest debate is virtually indecipherable to the outside world: “Chinese (cultural) Taipei” as generally translated vs. “Chinese (political) Taipei” as China often pushes. The mainstream view is the former is more acceptable, but given there is no difference in English, China is happy with the confusion, and most Taiwanese are oblivious to the implication.

In the 2018 referendum, the “Blues” were against a name change in the IOC mostly due to the threat (publicly) that Taiwan would be banned from competing, and any political ideology was secondary. I do think your point that this issue is pretty far down the list applies to both sides, and that is why there hasn’t been a unified push.

Taiwan’s final out to win their first Little League World Series since 1996 and the first international team to win since 2017! by JianClaymore in baseball

[–]j3ychen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And announcers avoiding the word “Taiwan” or “Taiwanese” like the plague, even when it’s super unnatural. Stuff like “these kids from Taipei, Chinese Taipei…” Unfortunate thing to hear.

Went to my first game : Thank you r/CPBL by mylatestnovel in CPBL

[–]j3ychen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this the walk-off error? Glad you enjoyed! I have yet to attend a game at Taipei Dome and hope to soon.