Wang Chien-ming's (
The 190cm right-hander from Tainan, who became the second Taiwan-born pitcher (after Tsao Chin-hui [
Wang retired the first 10 bat-ters he faced before surrendering a single in the bottom of the fourth to Orlando Hudson.
Up 3-0, the 25-year-old rookie allowed a pair of runs in the fifth when Eric Hinske led off the inning with a single and scored on Russ Adam's ground-ball out to first, two batters later.
Alex Rios would score on the ensuing play when Frank Catalanotto just beat out the throw to first for an infield single.
Accolades from his teammates filled the clubhouse following the game as the Yankees celebrated the win.
"He [Wang] made it look pretty easy," Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina said. "Maybe we're all trying too hard and we should just go out and do what he did. He looked pretty good."
Even A-Rod was pleased.
"He [Wang] was so poised out there, especially here at the Stadium," third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "It was a nice lift, and hopefully it can bring some energy here for a while."
Wang left the game with a 3-2 lead after the seventh inning and saw fellow reliever Tom Gordon yielding a game-tying solo homer to Corey Koskie in the eighth to deny him the chance for the victory.
"It would be nice to have the win, but I'm not going to worry about it too much," Wang said during a video press conference with local reporters yesterday.
"There will be a next time," he said.
He gave himself a "B" for his first pitching performance in the majors, which included mostly his 150kph-plus fastball and a two-seamed sinker, along with a couple of splitters and sliders.
Wang came into the game well prepared.
"I was able to look at the tapes from Randy Johnson's game [on Friday] to get ready for this game," Wang said.
The Yankees' coaching staff gave Wang a 100-pitch limit without a preset number of innings to play.
He ended up throwing 81 pitches over seven frames with an impressive 54-27, strike-to-ball ratio.
Manager Joe Torre was pleased with his Taiwanese import, referring to Wang's performance as "the best start by a rookie for the Yankees since I took over as manager in 1996."
On hand to witness Wang's debut were his parents and wife Wu Jia-ling (
"Wang was great in my opinion," Wu told reporters during the video conference. "I'd give him a perfect score for what he did out there."
The Wang family will have more than a great memory of this special day to share when they return to Taiwan, because Wang Chien-ming was handed a gift from the Yankees' manager -- the starting lineup card for the game autographed by Joe Torre.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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