Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Still reeling from the aftershock of a league-wide game-fixing scandal, Taiwan's professional baseball league opens the 2010 season Saturday in Taipei with only one goal -- to win back the fans.
The defending champion Uni-President Lions, who are eyeing their fourth straight league title, are scheduled to meet the Brother Elephants in the opening game at Taipei's Tienmu Stadium, with President Ma Ying-jeou scheduled to throw out the first ball. But the focus of the season will not be on wins and losses.
Entering its 21st year, the four-team league hopes to build on the success and fanfare of the just-concluded exhibition series with the Los Angeles Dodgers last week to escape from the shadow of the game-fixing scandal, in which more than 30 current and former players, coaches and staff were expelled from the league.
"With a theme of 'Baseball with Heart, ' the league hopes to regain fan support and encouragement, which is much needed at this critical time, " said Chao Shou-po, the commissioner of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL).
From 1990, the league's first year, to 2009, Taiwan prosecutors have launched five investigations on baseball game-fixing, involving a total of roughly 100 local and foreign players.
Baseball has remained Taiwan's national pastime, however, as some fans showed unwavering support and Taiwan's national team was still relatively competitive in international competitions during the period.
Those still in the league realize they don't have to look far for a brand new start. The only place where they can prove themselves is on the field.
"Life is boring without baseball, " Lions manager Lu Wen-sheng said, adding that the players have no option but to play hard to reward "a lot of fans who never left us when the league hit bottom." It will be a long and difficult season for the Brother Elephants, the perennial fan favorite that lost almost 20 players to the scandal and has had trouble putting together a five-man starting rotation. The La New Bears have had similar problems after losing about 10 players.
"I've told the players that I could care less about our record this year. The most important thing is to work hard and play your heart out on the field so the fans get their money's worth, " said Elephants manager Chen Jui-cheng.
The league will be counting on big-name players, such as a pair of star hitters -- Peng Cheng-min of the Elephants and Chen Chin-feng of the Bears -- to lead by example and keep the fans interested.
"If I was a fan, I might not be going to the games as well (after the scandal). Hopefully, the dedication and hard work of players will some day bring these fans back to the ballparks, " Peng said in a pre-recorded video shown at the press conference.
Chen, who became Taiwan's first player to ever perform in the U.S. Major Leagues with the Dodgers in 2002 but spent most of his time in the minors before returning home in 2006, said in the video that the only thing players can do is play hard, because it's their job.
Teams and the league office have also taken measures to make sure game-fixing at the behest of gambling syndicates will not reoccur.
The Kaohsiung-based Bears used an unusual way to motivate its players, hanging a large banner on the outfield wall of its home field Chengching Lake Stadium with the Chinese character for "shame" and a fuzzy picture of a pitcher implicated in the scandal.
Elephants manager Chen led all of his players to a temple in an annual pre-season ritual and asked everyone to vow before the temple gods that they would not throw games.
The league office has resorted to strict regulations to keep players in check. All CPBL players are required to place 10 percent of their monthly wages in an escrow account with a contracted bank and will get their money back only after retirement, Commissioner Chao said.
If the players are involved in game-fixing, the money will be confiscated, he said.
The players association has also authorized prosecutors to access their call detail records if needed.
A total of 240 games will be played in the 2010 regular season from March 20 to Sept. 26. Uni-President beat Brother 4-3 in the best-of-seven 2009 Taiwan Series to clinch its third consecutive title. The fifth investigation into game-fixing was launched a day after the seven-game series concluded. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls