Uni-President Lions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Uni-President Lions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Chinese Professional Baseball League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Tainan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ballpark | Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year Founded | 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Nan-ba-tien (南霸天) Shih-tzu-chun (獅子軍) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League championships | 1991 2nd Half 1993 2nd Half 1995 1st Half 1995 2nd Half 1996 1st Half 2000 2nd Half 2001 1st Half 2004 1st Half |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taiwan Series championships | 1991, 1995, 1996, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colors | Green and orange | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uniforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Uni-President Lions (統一獅) are a professional baseball team based in Tainan, Taiwan. It is owned by the Uni-President Corporation, Taiwan's largest food conglomerate. It has a strong fan base in southern Taiwan, especially around the Tainan area. The Lions are nicknamed Shih-tzu-chun (獅子軍, Lions Corps) by fans and Nan-ba-tien (南霸天, Overlord of the South) by others.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Lions organization was founded in 1989, as one of the four founding members of the Chinese Professional Baseball League of Taiwan. Because the corporation did not have its own amateur baseball team like the others, the bulk of the team was formed by players from the Taipower(台電), an amateur baseball team based in nearby Kaohsiung. The Lions did not do well in their first year of professional baseball, but eventaully became one of the dominating team in the league. The Lions won a total of four league championships: 1991, 1995, 1996, and 2000. They also ranked first in the year of 1997, but could not participate in the Taiwan Series due to a loophole in the regulation.
In 1997, the Lions led the league with 58-7-31, surpassing the now defunct Wei Chuan Dragons (46-4-46) and China Times Eagles (41-4-51), ranked third and fourth respectively. However, the regulation dicated that the Taiwan Series should be played by the team that leads the league in the first half-season and the team in the second half-season. It was assumed that if a team leads the league in the whole year, it should have ranked first in both half-seasons, and thus allowed to participate in the championship series. The loophole became obvious when the Dragons(ranked seventh in the first half but first in the second half) and the Eagles(ranked first in the first half and seventh in the second half) got their tickets to Taiwan Series, and the Lions could not do anything about it. The loophole was fixed in the following year.
The impact of the formation of Taiwan Major League on the Lions was relatively light, although they lost their star pitcher Kuo Chin-Hsing to the new competitor. The game-fixing scandal in the same year, however, was a major blow to the Lions. The Lions had to suspend several players due to allegation of their involvement in the scandal, and shut down the team expansion project which was part of the formation of the CPBL minor league.
In 1999, the Lions signed a contract with the government of Tainan City, making Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium as their official home stadium. The Lions were the first team to have an official home stadium in CPBL followed by Sinon Bulls, another professional baseball team of CPBL based in Taichung.
In early 2006, the Lions announced the revival of the minor league project, and began the expansion of the team. There are currently a major team and a minor team in the organization.
[edit] International
In 1996, the Lions participated in the Asia-Pacific Super Baseball Game, winning the championship by defeating Daiei Hawks(1:0) and Hanhwa Eagles(3:1).
In 2005, the Kia Tigers of KBO traveled to Taiwan and held three friendly matches with the Lions. The Lions lost all three games(0:2, 3:8, 0:1).
In 2006, the Red Sox organization of MLB offers the Lions to have their coaching staff participate in the Red Sox spring training, and agreed to send some of their minor league players to strengthen the Lions' lineup. The Lions have also regularly sent some of their prospect players to the spring training camp of Yomiuri Giants of NPB in the past years.
[edit] Regular Season Records
The seasons marked orange are the seasons that the Lions won the Taiwan Series. Also note that there are no half-seasons in 1998 and 1999.
| Season | First Half-Season | Second Half-Season | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Place | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Place | |
| 1990 | 16 | 29 | 0 | .356 | 4 | 21 | 20 | 4 | .512 | 2 |
| 1991 | 21 | 20 | 4 | .512 | 2 | 25 | 14 | 6 | .641 | 1 |
| 1992 | 20 | 23 | 2 | .465 | 3 | 21 | 22 | 2 | .488 | 2 |
| 1993 | 25 | 20 | 0 | .556 | 3 | 29 | 14 | 2 | .674 | 1 |
| 1994 | 22 | 20 | 3 | .524 | 3 | 26 | 18 | 1 | .591 | 2 |
| 1995 | 32 | 17 | 1 | .653 | 1 | 30 | 19 | 1 | .612 | 1 |
| 1996 | 34 | 15 | 1 | .694 | 1 | 26 | 22 | 2 | .542 | 3 |
| 1997 | 28 | 16 | 4 | .636 | 2 | 30 | 15 | 3 | .667 | 2 |
| 1998 | 57 | 45 | 3 | .563 | 2 | |||||
| 1999 | 56 | 37 | 0 | .602 | 2 | |||||
| 2000 | 17 | 27 | 1 | .286 | 4 | 27 | 16 | 2 | .628 | 1 |
| 2001 | 27 | 14 | 4 | .659 | 1 | 22 | 23 | 0 | .489 | 3 |
| 2002 | 18 | 24 | 3 | .429 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 1 | .318 | 4 |
| 2003 | 24 | 23 | 3 | .511 | 4 | 30 | 16 | 4 | .652 | 2 |
| 2004 | 28 | 18 | 4 | .543 | 1 | 26 | 22 | 2 | .542 | 3 |
| 2005 | 24 | 26 | 0 | .480 | 5 | 24 | 23 | 3 | .511 | 3 |
| 2006 | 28 | 18 | 4 | .609 | 2 | 20 | 27 | 3 | .426 | 5 |
[edit] Playoff Records
[edit] CPBL Playoffs
| Season | Preliminary Round | Championship Round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Losses | Opponent | Wins | Losses | |
| 1991 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 4 | 2 | |||
| 1993 | Brother Elephants | 2 | 4 | |||
| 1995 | ||||||
| 1996 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 4 | 2 | |||
| 1998 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 1 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 1999 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 1 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 2000 | Sinon Bulls | 4 | 3 | |||
| 2001 | Brother Elephants | 3 | 4 | |||
| 2004 | Sinon Bulls | 3 | 4 | |||
| 2005 | Macoto Cobras | 1 | 3 | - | - | - |
| 2006 | Sinon Bulls | 3 | 0 | La New Bears | 0 | 4 |
Note: The Lions won the championship in 1995 by virtue of winning both half-seasons.
[edit] Challenger Cup
| Season | First Round | Final Round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Losses | Opponent | Wins | Losses | |
| 1994 | China Times Eagles | 2 | 0 | Brother Elephants | 3 | 0 |
| 1995 | - | - | - | Mercuries Tigers | 1 | 3 |
Note: The Challenger Cup was actually an exhibition series, it was suspended after the 1995 season.
[edit] Coaches
[edit] Managers
| Manager # | Manager Name | Years | Games | Wins | Losses | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheng Kuen-chi (鄭昆吉) | 1990 - 1993 | 360 | 178 | 162 | 20 |
| 2 | Oishi Yataro (大石彌太郎) | 1994 - 1996 | 290 | 170 | 111 | 9 |
| 3 | Lin Chia-Hsiang (林家祥) | 1997 - 1998 | 194 | 111 | 73 | 10 |
| 4 | Inoue Osamu (井上修) | 1998 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Tseng Chih-chen (曾智偵) | 1999 - 2002 | 353 | 178 | 164 | 11 |
| 6 | Takenouchi Masashi (竹之內雅史) | 2000 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | Hsieh Chang-heng (謝長亨) | 2003 - 2005 | 250 | 132 | 105 | 13 |
| 8 | Ohashi Yutaka (大橋穰) | 2005 - Present | 150 | 72 | 68 | 10 |
[edit] Coaching Staff
| Position | Major Team | Minor Team |
|---|---|---|
| Manager | Ohashi Yutaka (大橋穰) | |
| Bench Coach | Inoue Osamu (井上修) | n/a |
| Hitting Coach | n/a | |
| Lo Min-ching (羅敏卿) | n/a | |
| Pitching Coach | Sakai Kojiro (酒井光次郎) | Wu Chun-liang (吳俊良) |
| Fielding Coach | Lo Kuo-chang (羅國璋) | n/a |
| Base Running Coach | n/a | |
| Strength & Cond. Coach | Isshiki Yu (一色優) | Chang Shen-chen (張聲鎮) |
[edit] Current Roster
[edit] Pitchers
|
[edit] Catchers
|
[edit] Infielders
[edit] Outfielders
|
[edit] Notable Former Players
Izzy Alcantara (蓋達)- José Canó (阿Q)
Eric Cyr (愛力克)
Kaku Genji (郭源治)
Mark Grant (許克勤)- José Nuñez (王漢)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Chinese Professional Baseball League (in Chinese)
- History of the Chinese Professional Baseball League
- Taiwanese Baseball Primer
- Uni-President Lions (in Chinese)
| Professional Baseball in Taiwan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Professional Baseball League | ||
| Brother Elephants | Uni-President Lions | Sinon Bulls |
| Chinatrust Whales | Macoto Cobras | La New Bears |
| Defunct Teams | ||
| China Times Eagles | Mercuries Tigers | Wei Chuan Dragons |
| Taipei Gida | Taichung Agan | Chiayi-Tainan Luka |
| Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala | Jungo Bears | First Financial Holdings Agan |
|
|
||
| Taiwan Series | Asia Series | Olympic Games | Asian Games | ||
| Baseball World Cup | Intercontinental Cup | Asian Cup Baseball | World Baseball Classic | ||
| Taiwan Major League | Chinese Taipei Baseball Team | Chinese Taipei Baseball Association | Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee | ||
