Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Taiwan announced Tuesday its 24-man national baseball team roster for the upcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, dashing hopes that Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Kuo Hong-chih would join the squad.
The major league team rejected the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association's request to release Kuo, but agreed to let infielder Hu Chin-lung play for the team, which will defend the gold medal it won in Doha, Qatar four years ago, Taiwan national team manager Yeh Chih-hsien said Tuesday in a press conference.
After a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the national team selection committee, Yeh unveiled a final roster in which half of the members play in overseas leagues -- the United States minor league system and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Nine players came from the local Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) , including five from the Sinon Bulls, which won the pennant in the first half of the season. Only two amateurs were recruited.
"We try to recruit the best players available for the Asian Games without thinking too much about other tournaments, " Yeh said, referring to roster problems Taiwan could face in a pair of tournaments to be played in Taiwan before the Asian Games.
The 2010 Intercontinental Cup will be held in October, and a two-game series between the 2010 CPBL champion and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) title team will take place Nov. 4-5. The Asian Games are scheduled for Nov. 13-19.
In addition to Kuo, notable omissions from the squad included two sluggers -- Lin Wei-chu of Japan's Hanshin Tigers and the La New Bears' Chen Chin-feng, Taiwan's core hitter in the past decade.
Yeh said Chen decided to sit out the tournament because he was experiencing the worst slump of his career, while Lin was left out because of his lower batting average against left-handed pitchers.
The team will try its best to defend the title, Yeh said, adding that "the infield defense needs a little tweak" before the tourney. Yeh noted that he could still make minor adjustments to the roster if players are injured.
The complete 24-man roster is as follows:
Pitchers (10) : Cheng Hung-wen (Chicago Cubs) , Yang Yao-shun (Softbank Hawks) , Huang Chih-lung (Yomiuri Giants) , Lin Yi-hao (Yomiuri Giants) , Hsu Ming-chieh (Seibu Lions) , Hsiao Yi-chieh (Hanshin Tigers), Yang Chien-fu (Sinon Bulls), Lin Ying-chieh (Sinon Bulls), Pan Wei-lun (Uni-President Lions), Chen Kuan-yu (Taiwan Beer)
Catchers (3): Chen Chun-shiou (Cleveland Indians), Kao Chih-kang (Uni-President Lions), Lin Kun-sheng (National Preparatory Team)
Infielders (7) : Hu Chin-lung (LA Dodgers) , Chen Yung-chi (Pittsburgh Pirates), Lee Pin-yen (Softbank Hawks) , Peng Cheng-min (Brother Elephants) , Lin Yi-chuan (Sinon Bulls) , Chang Tai-shan (Sinon Bulls), Lin Chih-sheng (La New Bears)
Outfielders (4) : Lin Che-hsuan (Boston Red Sox) , Lo Kuo-hui (Seattle Mariners) , Yang Tai-kang (Nippon-Ham Fighters) , Chang Chien-ming (Sinon Bulls) (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc