The Lamigo Monkeys’ Lin “Big Brother” Chih-sheng won the Home Run Derby at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium yesterday, hammering five shots over the outfield boundary in the final round, two better than teammate Chen Chun-shou.
In the other Home Run Derby competition, two US Major League Baseball legends went head-to-head, with Ivan “I-Rod” Rodriguez prevailing after hitting five home runs compared with Jason Giambi’s four.
“Since my retirement, I haven’t swung a bat in some time. It takes a good swing to hit it out, and I am now a bit tired,” Giambi said about his efforts for the night.
In another setting with media, Giambi thanked the Taiwanese public, saying: “You have so many passionate fans here, and they love their baseball. It has been a wonderful experience. Thank you all for treating me like a family member. I will definitely come back to Taiwan again.”
Rodriguez shared Giambi’s sentiment, saying that he would like to return to Taiwan.
“I really enjoyed my stay and had a great time here in Taiwan,” Rodriguez said. “I see people love baseball here. As long as the game is being played, we can expect to see more Taiwanese players in the US major leagues.”
Before the Home Run Derby, the two former MLB stars signed autographs for fans and then headed over to a section near third base reserved for charity organizations, where they also autographed baseballs for groups of physically and mentally disabled children.
Earlier yesterday, the starting lineup for the CPBL All-Star Legend Star Game featured current and retired local baseball superstars, with most of the retirees active during CPBL’s first decade after its founding in 1989.
For the shortened three-inning contest, Lin “Old Monster” Chung-chiou, of the now-defunct Mercuries Tigers, and Lee “Mr Baseball” Chu-ming, of the then-Chinatrust Brother Elephants, led the Legend White Team, which was skippered by the Tigers’ inaugural manager, Lin Shin-chang.
The Legend Red Team was headed by Wei Chuan Dragons pitcher Huang “Golden Arm” Ping-yang and slugger Lo Shi-shin.
Despite only playing three frames, the old-timers piled on the hits and scored a total of 11 runs, with the White Team edging out the Red Team 6-5.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said