Chen Yung-chi’s sacrifice fly to center field in the ninth, which gave the Uni-President Lions a 5-4 win over the Brother Elephants in Hsinchu on Tuesday night, marked the latest clutch hitting that the shortstop has delivered for his new team.
The hero for Taiwan in nearly every international competition over the past eight years, -highlighted by Grand Slams against China and South Korea in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the Intercontinental Baseball Cup and his multi-homer outings in the Asian Games in 2006 and last year, has finally joined a Taiwanese professional squad to play out the rest of his career in his homeland after spending seven seasons in the US minors with three different teams.
With a batting average of .343, three home runs and 28 RBIs, Chen’s arrival has undoubtedly been the main reason that the Lions have climbed out of the cellar of last year’s fourth-place finish with a title-contending squad that is 23-11-1 (through Tuesday) and in a share of the lead in the standings with the Lamigo Monkeys.
“I know that it’s been a bumpy ride for me over the years with injuries and everything, but I’m not going to let that bother me right now,” Chen said earlier in the -season, referring to his disappointing stint in the US, which was marred by a series of injuries that kept him from realizing his dream of playing in the Major Leagues.
He was well on his way to becoming the Seattle Mariners’ next great infielder at both second base and third base after a couple of great seasons with the Tacoma Rainiers (the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate) in 2006 and 2007. However, a shoulder injury that required surgery cut his 2007 season short and eventually ended his quest for the Majors as an injury to his right knee (2008) and left wrist (2009) followed.
Now that he has recovered from the injuries, Chen is looking to blossom in a Lions uniform, having signed a three-year contract for more than NT$11 million (US$384,500) after the Lions drafted him as the No. 1 overall pick.
His continued success will not only improve the level of play in the league, but also bring more fans to the ballpark in an era when local professional baseball is in desperate need of a clean-imaged icon after a slew of game-fixing scandals that has tarnished the game to the extent that its legitimacy has been questioned.
“I hope we can all have a clean and healthy environment [in which] to play this great game of baseball, because so much is at stake,” Chen said earlier in the season.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
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