林安可。(資料照。特約攝影侯禕縉/攝)
2020年,在全球因疫情蔓延,職業運動紛紛停擺的情況下,中華職棒領先全球開打。儘管是閉門比賽,統一獅、中信兄弟、樂天桃猿、富邦悍將仍絞盡行銷腦,要讓棒球迷能在這棒球寒冬中感受絲絲溫暖。
The year 2020, when coronavirus outbreak brought global sports to a halt, Chinese Professional Baseball League became the first professional baseball league to start the season. While the games played without fan, Uni-President Lions, CTBC Brothers, Rakuten Monkeys, Fubon Guardians are still trying their best to keep fans warm during the baseball winter.
統一7-ELEVEn獅
主場位在府城台南的統一獅為中職元老球隊於1989年成立,至今拿下共9次總冠軍頭銜。台南球場外野的烤肉席一直深受球迷喜愛。今年獅隊結合地方推出印有「Tainan」字樣的主場球衣,更邀請台南吉祥物魚頭君加入應援行列。防疫期間更推出了5局中場點歌時間與線上觀眾互動。
在新任總教頭「大餅」林岳平的帶領下,目前戰績暫居第二。林岳平過去也在獅隊效力13年,職棒場上最激情的個人演出發生在2008年總冠軍賽第5戰,以後援身分面對兄弟象,並用雙殺化解危機後向對手休息室振臂歡呼,引發象隊球員不滿,險些發生全武行。「大餅」被工作人員拉出場前,也對象隊球迷做出割喉手勢,引發賽後象迷包圍獅隊巴士一事。
獅隊本季一大看點特別為新秀林安可,4月30日擊出生涯首支滿貫砲幫助球隊拿下勝利,更演出連4戰開轟追平「大王」王柏融新人年紀錄,角逐新人王的氣勢看漲。獅隊投手則以職棒生涯邁入第17年的老將「嘟嘟」潘威倫最受矚目。38歲的他在今年成為中華職棒史上第一位基本薪資累計破億元大關的選手。特別的是,他到4月15日先發前一天才和球團談妥薪水,以2年平均月薪50萬完成續約。
Uni-President Lions
Based in Tainan, Uni-President Lions, one of CPBL’s founding teams, was first established in 1989. They have won 9 championships in franchise history, is the most decorated team in CPBL history.
Fans love the barbecue area in the outfield stand of Lions’ home stadium Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium. This year the team wears new home jersey that have the name of the home city Tainan on the chest, and invites city mascot Sababoy join the cheerleading squad.
Under the new manager Lin Yueh-Ping (林岳平), Lions currently sits second in the league. Lin played 13 seasons for Lions. the most emotional moment of his player career occurred in the fifth game of the 2008 Taiwan Series, facing Brother Elephants (former name of CTBC Brothers) as a relief pitcher, he pumped his fist toward the opponent’s dugout after induced a double play to end the game , infuriated the Elephants players, nearly caused a bench-clearing brawl. As he was escorted off the field, Lin made a slit throat gesture toward the Elephants fans. Elephants fans later attacked the Lions team bus after the game.
One hitter to pay attention to is Lin An-Ke (林安可), he hit his first career grand slam on April 30, and the next day, he tie a CPBL rookie record set by Wang Po-Jung (王柏融) for four consecutive games with a home run.
As for the pitcher, the focus is on the 17-season veteran Pan Wei-Lun (潘威倫). This year, the 38 years old pitcher became the first player in CPBL history to ever earned over 100 millions New Taiwan dollars basic salary during his career. He signed a new contract the day before his first start of the season, he will earn a average monthly salary of 500 thousands NTD over the next 2 years.
中信兄弟
中信兄弟前身的兄弟象為聯盟元老球隊之一,成立於1984年。2009年球隊多位球星涉及假球簽賭事件重創球隊形象,造成當時的經營者兄弟飯店無力經營,於2013年轉手給現在的中國信託,定名為中信兄弟,將主場安排於台中洲際棒球場。每次主場賽事除了刺激精彩的比賽內容,場邊吉祥物小翔更是大搏版面。
熱身賽成績亮眼的中信兄弟開季遇上傷兵問題,新任總教練邱昌榮大膽使用新秀江坤宇鎮守游擊,在代打調度上啟用棄投從打的杜家明,以奇兵為球隊帶來新氣象。象隊投手以高薪聘請的洋投米蘭達(Ariel Miranda)最受關注。擁有大聯盟及日職資歷的米蘭達,目前出賽3場,以2成08防禦率加上祭出31次三振之姿暫居防禦率王及三振王。
CTBC Brothers
CTBC Brothers, formerly known as Brother Elephants, is one of the four founding teams of the league. Established in 1984, they have won 7 championships since the league started in 1990. In 2009, several star players involved in the match fixing scandal, the image of the team took a huge blow, then owner Brother Hotel decided to sell the franchise to CTBC in 2013, thus changed the team name to CTBC Brothers, and chose to play home games at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Besides the exciting play on the field, their mascot Sean the elephant will grab your eyes with his special performance on the stand.
After good performance in the pre-season game, Brothers was hit by injury problem after season started. Rookie manager Chiu Chang-Jung (丘昌榮) took a chance on rookie Jiang Kun-Yu (江坤宇) to start at shortstop, and use pitcher-turned-infielder Du Jia-Ming (杜家明) in pinch-hit situation.
Highly-paid Cuban pitcher Ariel Miranda is getting the most attention in the pitching staff. Formerly played in the MLB and NPB, he has started 3 games so far this season, his 2.08 ERA and 31 strikeouts is leading the league.
(實習記者杜芳玟)