Hsu Ming-chieh became the oldest Taiwanese player in the Chinese professional Baseball League to pitch an entire game and complete a shutout earlier this week when he went the distance on a four-hitter to lift the Lamigo Monkeys past the Chinatrust Brother Elephants at the age of 37.
The Greater Kaohsiung native, who began what has ended up being a 14-year career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in 2000 with the Saitama Seibu Lions (from 2000 to 2011) and the Orix Buffaloes (in 2012 and last year) before returning to Taiwan to play out his career with the Primates, has finally found his groove after a rocky beginning in his first five starts that saw him go 1-2 with a 5.18 earned run average (ERA) over 33 innings pitched.
Even though he has not been dominating opposing hitters like he did in the past — his velocity is lower than it was in his heyday — he is still painting the corners of the plate and getting the hitters to swing at pitches in the dirt as well as anyone has done.
“I know I can’t blow the pitches by people like I used to be able to do, but with what I’ve learned over the years in Japan, I hope I can still compete effectively and show some of the younger guys what this game is all about,” Hsu said after signing with the Monkeys during the off-season to show his desire to give back to the game.
Hsu’s rediscovered success will undoubtedly give the top-ranked Primates a big boost in a staff that boasts three of the top-five hurlers in total wins, including Miguel Mejia (4), Ken Ray (3) and Chen Yu-hsun (3).
Meanwhile, the results for the Most Valuable Players of the Month last month were announced this week, with Andy Sisco of the EDA Rhinos and teammate Lin Yi-chuan being named the MVPs in pitching and hitting respectively.
Sisco went 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in six starts, while Lin batted 29-for-78 (.372) with 15 RBIs and one home run in 21 games.
Sisco and Lin are the main reasons that the third placed Rhinos managed to salvage a 10-11 mark in their 21 games last month after starting off with a dismal 3-8 record to drop to the cellar in the standings midway through the month.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
RSS