Taiwan News - A spokesman for the Detroit Tigers baseball team announced here Tuesday that left-handed Taiwanese pitcher Ni Fu-te has signed with the team and has declined an option to join the Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League's (CPBL) Brother Elephants. During a press conference held in Taipei, Kevin Hooker and Tigers' Taiwan area scout Allen Lin ended weeks of speculation as to whether or not the 26-year-old would remain in Taiwan or try his hand overseas. By signing with the Detroit Tigers, Ni becomes the first CPBL player to sign with an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team. He had also received offers from various other American and Japanese professional baseball teams, including the Seattle Mariners. Ni posted a 5-12 record last season for the Chinatrust Whales, with a 3.34 ERA. He was recently selected by the CPBL's Brother Elephants in a special draft consisting of players from teams that were dissolved in the wake of a gambling and game-rigging scandal. Plagued with a long history of game-fixing scandals, Taiwan's struggling professional league will play the 2009 season with only four teams.
Ni Fu-Te really had no choice. Who would ever want to play for the Brother Elephants if they had a choice not to? I mean what kind of a team name is that? The Brother Elephants is such a bad name that even the Minnesota Wild are blushing. Elephants are great animals but what does their brother have to do with it? Or is Brother a city? It's just a terribly confusing team name. And I'm sure he immediately crossed the Mariners off the list when he realized that everyone was going to think he was Japanese and ask him Ichiro questions all day and who wants that either? He had no other option but to come to the great city of Detroit. And make no mistake about it, Ni Fu-Te is immediately an important piece of the puzzle for the Tigers. Because up to this point their bullpen has not been a priority, and it currently looks like a who's who of AAA baseball.
Ni Fu-Te put up a 3.34 ERA in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, which is a total mystery. Who can trust any statistics that happen in a league that is so riddled with game-fixing that every team but FOUR dissolved. Four teams. How do you play a season with four teams? Anyway who knows what that 3.34 means. Were the fielders behind him intentionally booting grounders and botching flyballs? Were shortstops sailing throws way over the firstbaseman's head on purpose? Or were the opposing batters swinging and missing to keep their run totals down? Just an impossible situation to read. Kevin Hooker, the Tiger's Taiwan-area scout better be on the inside here and know every player and every play that is fixed. Because how the hell can you scout a league where every other player is throwing the game? You can't.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just as excited for the Ni Fu-Te era as the next guy, but how the hell was he evaluated? Either way I will not be surprised when Fu-Te is on the opening day roster.
Brother is the company's name. The mother company of the Elephants is Brother Hotel.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, 4 teams League is not bad for a small island which has 23 millions people.
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ReplyDeleteFor a small island, four teams is enough.
ReplyDeleteTo CPBL, Brother Elephants team is very significant. Can you imagine a baseball team has been supported by a small hotel for twenty years?
You should criticize things after you know it well.
Don't cricize until you really understand how CPBL works and, most important, why we Taiwan people love the teams. Brother is the name of a hotel in Taipei. It's team has the most fans among the 4 teams in Taiwan. So you mean those who like the Brothers are idiots. 兄弟象總冠軍!
ReplyDeleteDude, your first viewpoint (team's name) is very convincing
ReplyDeleteHow do they evaluate? well, you can still look at the pitches for one, and there's international competition.
ReplyDeleteThe CPBL started with 4 teams, the Elephants are one of them, teams dissolving isn't exactly a uncommon theme, of the original 4 only the Elephants and Uni (the parent company of 7-11 Taiwan) is still around. there have been a league split (that also disbanded.) and various teams appearing and dissapearing.
The China trust Whale dissolvement wasn't ENTIRELY because of the game fixing, that their parent company was you know.. a investment bank (I'd think if the owner of the Yankees were Lehman brothers they be in deep shit now too) and the CPBL draws have been poor for awhile (various reasons including game fixing, MLB becomming more popular etc..)
either way, Ni's a interesting case, I think he should at least be a useful loogy type, but with a chance of being a Jarrod Washburn type for a few years too maybe.
I would just also like to note that, if you look back into the early days of professional baseball in the US, teams, or even entire league dissolving is hardly uncommon either.
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