CPBL logo (1000logos)
On Monday, the CPBL announced that the two All-Star games will be held from July 20- 21 at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan.
The 40,000-seat Taipei Dome opened in December 2023, after construction began in October 2011. According to the Taipei Times, the highest attendance for a CPBL All-Star game was 18,181 in 2013 at Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
In March, an exhibition game between Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yomiuri Giants and the CTBC Brothers broke the attendance record for a professional baseball game in Taiwan, with 37,890 fans in the stands at the Taipei Dome.
Two Standout Players Released in CPBL
According to CPBL STATS on X, the Fubon Guardians have released starting pitcher Keyvius Sampson, and the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions have terminated the contract of infielder Huang Yung-Chuan.
Sampson, a former pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds in Major League Baseball, was off to a poor start for the Guardians in 2024. The 33-year-old went 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA in five games with Fubon, allowing 24 hits in 23.1 innings. Sampson led the Korea Baseball Organization with 195 strikeouts in 2018 for the Hanwha Eagles.
CPBL STATS reports that the Lions terminated the contract of Huang Yung-Chan, the team’s top prospect, for violating the organization’s code of conduct. The Lions announced Huang failed to return from leave on May 11 after he departed from the team on May 3. Huang, 20, hit .381 with two doubles in seven games before his contract termination.
TSG Hawks Chiang Chen-Yen New Leader in ERA
Despite the TSG Hawk’s struggles in their first season in the CPBL, starting pitcher Chiang Chen-Yen has been a prominent bright spot. He currently leads all CPBL pitchers with a 1.78 ERA.
Chiang Chen-Yen was traded from the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions to the TSG Hawks in January for pitcher Kuo Chun-lin, who has a 4.26 ERA in five games in his first season with the Lions.
“Chiang Chen-Yen has been on our radar for a long time now,” Hawks GM Liu Tung-yang told ETtoday in January. “Although he hasn’t been given much 1st team opportunity in 2023, he still has the capability to be a starting pitcher.”
This Day in Taiwanese Baseball History
On May 15, 2020, the CPBL increased the number of fans allowed at games from 1,000 to 2,000 with approval from the Taiwan CDC.
The restriction on fans was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CPBL STATS reported in May 2020 that with the 1,000-fan increase, family members were permitted to sit next to one another, and organizations could sell pre-prepared meals at their respective stadiums.
CPBL Standings as of Wednesday, May 15
