Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) All four teams of Taiwan's professional baseball league opened spring training with different goals for the new season which sees a team changing name and several United States minor leaguers returning home.
Lamigo Monkeys, formerly known as La New Bears, the defending champion Brother Elephants, Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions and Sinon Bulls started spring training camps in various locations across the country this past week during a cold spell with temperature hovering around 10 degrees Celsius.
A record four former U.S. minor leaguers will play in the league next season, which is scheduled to start in March.
Lamigo moved its home stadium from the southern port city of Kaohsiung to Taoyuan in northern Taiwan. Changes of the team's name and its home stadium were a marketing strategy by its management and did not involve ownership alteration.
The Monkeys, which opened its spring training in Kaohsiung Tuesday before moving the second part of the camp to Taoyuan, also welcomed technical advisor Chuang Sheng-hsiung, who pitched for the Japanese professional team Lotte from 1985-1995 and was known for his knuckleball, and Kuo Yen-wen, who played for the Cincinnati Reds from 2007-2010, hoping to win its first title since 2007.
The Elephants, which opened spring training Jan. 9, set its eyes on defending its title with the addition of 26-year-old Tseng Sung-wei, a right-hander who spent three years with the Cleveland Indians from 2007-2010 before heading home, and left-hander Cheng Chi-hung, who played for the Toronto Blue Jays for four years.
The Lions, which failed to advance to the Taiwan Series last season after winning three straight titles from 2007-2009, received a boost after selecting 27-year-old Chen Yung-chi, a power hitter who played with the Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates from 2004-2010, and trading for Chang Tai-shan, another well-known slugger who previously played for Sinon.
The Bulls, which was swept by the Elephants in the 4-game finals last season, brought back Liu Jung-hua, who took the team to two titles, as manager and opened its training camp in the central city of Taichung Jan. 4 before heading south to Pingtung for its second half of the pre-season preparation. (By Chris Wang) enditem/sc