Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Taiwanese baseballer Lin Wei-chu flew back to Osaka, Japan Friday, hoping to shake off an up-and-down 2009 season and win a starting outfielder position with Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in the new season.
Lin, 31, said his approach the new season would be "back to square one" after a 2009 season plagued by problematic adjustments to a new manager and a slump.
"My goal for the new season will be winning the starting position either in right field or center field, and hitting 15 homeruns, " he said. If he makes the starting list, he said, he has full confidence to duplicate a successful year like 2007.
"I think I rushed it a little bit last year trying to adjust to a new manager and ended up with a sub-par performance, " he said.
Taiwanese baseball is known to produce quality pitchers, as most players signed by foreign leagues are pitchers, such as former Yankee Wang Chien-ming. Lin, however, is one of the few overseas Taiwanese players who does not make a living on the mound.
He also took the road less traveled. Unlike most players who chase their American dream in the U.S. Major League, he chose Japan at an early age.
Arriving in Yanagawa High School, Fukuoka, Japan, as an 18-year-old high schooler in 1997, Lin quickly established his reputation as a powerful left-handed power hitter. He later enrolled in Kinki University and was selected at No. 7 by Hanshin in the 2002 draft.
While Lin blasted a homerun in his first at-bat with the Hanshin minor league team and made debut in the big league in 2004, it was not until 2007 that he became a regular starter. He turned in the best performance that year with a .292 batting average and 15 homeruns in 115 games.
In 2009, Lin appeared in only 56 games, registering a. 208 batting average and only six homeruns, mostly as a pinch hitter.
Things will be better in the upcoming season, he said, as he will be able to participate the full spring training after missing the camp last year when he joined the Taiwanese national team for the World Baseball Classic.
Lin said he did not think last season was a lost year for him.
Moreover, he said he finally felt comfortable with his right shoulder, which was surgically repaired two years ago.
"I was just in a slump, but I was pretty much injury-free, which means I could at least work myself out of the slump and spend more time thinking. That is not the case when you are injured and cannot even practice, " he said.
Despite living in Japan for 12 years, Lin said Taiwan is always home for him.
"I am still very Taiwanese, and I'm proud of being Taiwanese. My eyes always light up whenever my teammates and friends in Japan talk about Taiwan, " he said, adding that he would represent Taiwan in international competitions in a heartbeat if invited and available.
Lin lamented the game-fixing scandal that has brought Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) into such disrepute.
"The most negative impact of the scandal is not on the league. It is how the scandal could shatter every boy's dream of playing professional baseball in Taiwan, " he said.
Known as a hard worker, Lin still practiced every day during his two-week stay in Taiwan and said he feels strange if he does not practice because he assumes everyone else practices.
It is his diligence, dedication and the way he carries himself that make local fans appreciate Lin in a special way compared to other players.
Nevertheless, Lin has never lost his humility.
"I'm not famous at all. When I practiced on a baseball field in Taichung, it seemed nobody knew who I was, " he laughed.