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Asia Winter Baseball League Will Play Again in 2023 at Taichung Stadium

 Leif Skodnick - World Baseball Network  |    Aug 28th, 2023 10:04am EDT

The Asia Winter Baseball League operated by the Chinese Professional Baseball League will restart this November in Taichung, Taiwan at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium following the regular seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korean Baseball Organization and the Chinese Professional Baseball League. 

No exact date has been announced for the start of the Asia Winter Baseball League. The league has previously operated from early November through mid-December. 

Two major international regional senior events will also take place during the Asia Winter Baseball League season, the U-24 Asian Professional Baseball Championship in the Tokyo Dome from November 16-19 and the Asian Baseball Championship from December 3-9 in Taiwan at the Taipei Dome. 

The Asian Professional Baseball Championship will have Japan, Australia, Chinese Taipei, and Korea participate in the event. The Asian Baseball Championship will have Japan, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, Korea, and China participating. 

According to CPBLStats.com, the Chinese Professional Baseball League secretary general stated the Korean Baseball Organization will not send a team to participate in the Asia Winter Baseball League this year. 

The league will include two Nippon Professional Baseball teams, a CPBL farm team, the TSG Hawks from the CPBL, who will participate in the 2024 season for the first time, the Chinese Taipei U-23 team, and the Japan Amateur Baseball Association All-Star team with players from Japan’s industrial leagues. 

The TSG Hawks will start their first season in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2024 after operating a minor league team during the 2023 season. 

The Asia Winter Baseball League does not affect the World Baseball Rankings since it is a club event operated by the Chinese Professional Baseball League. 

The league last operated in 2019 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, with the Japanese Amateur Baseball Association beating the NPB Red Team 4-2 in the championship game. 

The Asia Winter Baseball League began in 2012 and was always hosted in Taichung save for the 2018 season, which was played in Douliu, Taiwan. 

On Dec. 14, 2022, the CPBL announced the Asia Winter Baseball League would return along with the Asian Professional Championship Series during that time frame. 

During previous seasons of the Asia Winter Baseball League, the Euro All-Stars fielded a team in 2015 and 2016, and the World Baseball Softball Confederation All-Star Team played during the 2017 season. 

The Asia Winter Baseball League will give teams an opportunity to evaluate players for their upcoming seasons in the minor leagues and active rosters of their main clubs in the Korean Baseball Organization, Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2024 season prior to the start of their training camps in mid-January.

Year Champion Runner Up Third Place Fourth Place
2012 NPB CPBL White CPBL Red Dominican Republic
2013   KBO           NPB CPBL Dominican Republic
2014 League Did Not Operate
2015       Chinese Taipei NPB KBO         CPBL
2016 NPB West NPB East Chinese Taipei    KBO
2017 NPB East KBO     JABA         CPBL
2018 NPB East CPBL     JABA           KBO
2019     JABA         NPB Red   Wei Chuan Dragons CPBL
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Leif Skodnick - World Baseball Network