Professional baseball in Taiwan started with the founding of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 1989. At its 1997 peak, Taiwan had two leagues and 11 professional teams. The competing Taiwan Major League ran from 1997 until its absorption by the CPBL in 2003.
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a select number of regional home games in cities across Hokkaidō, including Hakodate, Asahikawa, Kushiro, and Obihiro. The team's name comes from its parent organization, Nippon Ham, a major Japanese food-processing company.
The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), Korea Baseball Organization League, and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) — along with the CEB European Champion Cup holder and the host city, to bring the number of teams up to six.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of the 2023 season, the CPBL consists of six organizations, all of which have teams in the main league and farm league.
Bradley Richard Thomas is a former Australian professional baseball pitcher. He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and in the Korea Baseball Organization for the Hanwha Eagles and Chinese Professional Baseball League for the Brother Elephants and Chinatrust Brothers. He bats and throws left-handed. Thomas now runs Tickled Pink Travel a pole dancing service on luxury cruise ships with his wife, Kara.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) playoffs included the three top teams from the regular season and crowned a champion with the Taiwan Series through the month of October, 2006. The winner represented Taiwan in the Konami Cup in Japan with the champions from Japan, South Korea, and an all-star team from China to determine an Asian champion in November.
The first Konami Cup Asia Series was held in November 2005 with four teams participating. The champions from the domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan along with a team of all stars from China's domestic league took part in the competition. All games were held in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The tournament was sponsored by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association and Konami. The Chiba Lotte Marines defeated the Samsung Lions in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Outfielder Benny Agbayani was named the MVP of the series.
The 2006 IBAF Intercontinental Cup was held in Taichung, Taiwan from November 9 through the 19th. Eight countries contested the tournament, which was played at Taichung Baseball Field and the newly built Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. The participating countries were Cuba, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines in addition to the hosts from Chinese Taipei (Taiwan). The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation.
Thomas Brad "Trey" Hillman is an American professional baseball coach. He has also served as the manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League, the Kansas City Royals in the American League and the SK Wyverns in the KBO League. Therefore, he is the only person to have served as manager in these three countries. He has also been a coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and the Miami Marlins.
In 2006 the Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Pacific League defeating the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League in the Japan Series.
The third annual Konami Cup Asia Series was held in November 2007 with four teams participating. The champions from the domestic leagues in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan along with an all-star team from China took part in the competition. The tournament was sponsored by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association and Konami Corporation. All games were held in Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan. The Chunichi Dragons defeated the SK Wyverns in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Infielder Hirokazu Ibata was named the MVP of the series.
The 2008 Asia Series was contested on November 13–16 by the champions of Nippon Professional Baseball's Japan Series, the Korea Baseball Organization's Korean Series, Chinese Professional Baseball League's Taiwan Series, and the championship of the China Baseball League of the People's Republic of China. In 2008, it was the first time that the champion of the China Baseball League participates in instead of the all-star team China Stars. The winning team will receive ¥50 million yen, the second place team will receive ¥30 million yen, and the other teams will receive ¥10 million yen each. All games were held in Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan. The Saitama Seibu Lions defeated the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the title game to win the championship for Japan. Outfielder Tomoaki Satoh was named the MVP of the series.
Shih Chih-wei is a retired Taiwanese baseball player. He played for the amateur Taiwan Cooperative Bank baseball team before being drafted by the La New Bears of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 2004.
Shinnosuke Abe is a Japanese former professional baseball player who spent his entire 19-year career with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants, serving as the team's captain from 2007 to 2014. He has twice been named the MVP of the Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series, in 2007 and 2010.
The 2009 Nippon Professional Baseball season is the 60th season since the NPB was reorganized in 1950
The 2008 Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters season was the 63rd season of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters franchise. The Fighters played the majority of their home games at Sapporo Dome in the city of Sapporo, as well as at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo as members of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League. The team was led by Masataka Nashida on his first season as team manager.
The 2011 Japan Series was the 62nd edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff matched the Chunichi Dragons and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the respective champions of the Central League's and the Pacific League's Climax Series (postseason). The Series began on Saturday, November 12, 2011 and was a rematch of the 1999 Japan Series, which the Hawks won, four games to one.
Dai-Kang Yang is a Taiwanese professional baseball outfielder for the Lake Country DockHounds of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He previously played as an outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The Asia Winter Baseball League is a professional baseball league hosted in Taiwan with 2012 as its inaugural season. Making use of the warm and dry winter climate in West Taiwan, the short term league aims to offer young baseball players additional training experience and continued exposure in off-season games. It is the de facto successor to the now defunct Asia Series.
Wang Po-jung, nicknamed "The King (Dawang)", is a Taiwanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played for the Lamigo Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) from 2015 through 2018.
