1996 CPBL

The 1996 Chinese Professional Baseball League season was the 7th season for the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the last before the league's first major game-fixing scandal. It also marked the year before the Taiwan Major League formed to challenge the CPBL, giving it a sense of an end of era in two ways (in retrospect). Luis Iglesias set a home run mark that would stand for 11 years. The Jungo Bears became the Sinon Bears for the first half of the year and then the Sinon Bulls in the second half. It was also a year for foreign relievers: Mike Garcia set a new save record and led in strikeouts despite his relief role while Rob Wishnevski led in ERA despite being a reliever. The Uni-President Lions topped the Wei Chuan Dragons in the 1996 Taiwan Series.

Standings

1. Uni-President Lions, 34-15-1 first half; 26-22-2 second half
2. Wei Chuan Dragons, 25-23-2 first half; 30-20 second half
3. China Times Eagles, 28-20-2 first half; 28-21-1 second half
4. Brother Elephants, 29-19-2 first half; 23-24-3 second half
5. Mercuries Tigers, 16-33-1 first half; 23-24-3 second half
6. Sinon Bears/Sinon Bulls, 14-36 first half; 14-33-3 second half

Awards

The CPBL MVP went to Chin-Hsing Kuo, who was 20-4 with a 2.57 ERA for the Lions, leading in wins and winning his second straight MVP. The Rookie of the Year went to Tai-Shan Chang of the Dragons, who hit .333/.355/.565 while setting a rookie record with 72 RBI to kick off a very productive career.

Gold Gloves

• P - Yi-Hsin Chen, Elephants
• C - I-Chung Hong, Elephants
• 1B - Wen-Chung Chang, Bulls
• 2B - Fu-Lien Wu, Elephants
• SS - Kuo-Chong Lo, Lions
• 3B - Hector Roa, Lions
• OF - Chuan-Chia Wang, Bulls
• OF - Kai-Fa Chen, Tigers
• OF - Kuei-Chang Tseng, Eagles

Best Ten

• P - Chin-Hsing Kuo, Lions
• C - Chi-Chen Tseng, Lions
• 1B - Kuang-Huei Wang, Elephants
• 2B - Chung-Yi Huang, Bulls
• SS - Epy Guerrero Jr., Elephants
• 3B - Luis Iglesias, Tigers
• OF - Chuan-Chia Wang, Bulls
• OF - Sil Campusano, Dragons
• OF - Kuei-Chang Tseng, Eagles

Offensive Leaders

• Average: Luis de los Santos, Elephants .375
• Home Runs: Luis Iglesias, Tigers 31
• RBI: Iglesias, 90
• Stolen Bases: Cesar Hernandez, Lions 36

Pitching Leaders

• ERA: Rob Wishnevski, Elephants 1.67
• Wins: Chin-Hsing Kuo, Lions 20
• Saves: Mike Garcia, Dragons 29
• Strikeouts: Garcia, 183