1997 Taiwan Series

The 1997 Taiwan Series was the 5th Taiwan Series. It was an unusual Series in that both teams finished last in the 7-team league in one of the halves and both were .500 or under for the 1997 CPBL regular season. The Wei Chuan Dragons (managed by Sheng-Ming Hsu) were 15-31-2 in the first half then jumped to 31-15-2 to win the second half. The China Times Eagles, meanwhile, were 30-16-2 in the first half then were hit by the Black Eagle gambling scandal that resulted in most of the team being suspended and fell to 11-35-2 in the second half (Hsin-Chang Lin managed them in the Series). Neither team even had a player named to the Best Ten though the Dragons did have CPBL MVP Mike Garcia, the ERA and save leader and stolen base leader Bernie Tatis.

Games

Game 1

October 18 at Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (7,367)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	0
China Times Eagles	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	X	5	11	0

Dragons: Gabriel Ozuna (L, 0-1) - Dwayne Henry

Eagles: Mariano De Los Santos (W, 1-0)

Home Run Shi-Hsing Lo (1)

In game one, the Eagles won, 5-1, with Mariano De Los Santos getting the win over Gabriel Ozuna. Shi-Hsing Lo homered for the Dragons.

Game 2

October 19 at XinZhuang Baseball Stadium (7,500)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0
China Times Eagles	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	3	8	2

Dragons: Todd Revenig - Jim Austin (L, 0-1) - Mike Garcia

Eagles: Rafael Montalvo (W, 1-0) - Danilo Leon (S, 1)

Home Run George Canale (1)

On October 19, the Eagles stunningly won again, 3-2, with Rafael Montalvo beating Jim Austin and Danilo Leon notching a save. George Canale homered in a losing cause.

Game 3

October 21 at Taichung Baseball Field (5,107)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
China Times Eagles	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4
Wei Chuan Dragons	2	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	X	7	14	2

Eagles: Jose DeLeon - Delfino Mejia (L, 0-1) - Mark Zappelli

Dragons: Wen-Po Huang (W, 1-0) - Dwayne Henry

Home Run George Canale (2), Chin-Mao Chen (1)

Wei Chuan won their first on October 21 with a 7-2 victory, as Wen-Po Huang getting the win and Jose DeLeon the loss. Chin-Mao Chen and Canale went deep for the Dragons.

Game 4

October 22 at Taichung Baseball Field (5,423)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
China Times Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	2	6	0

Eagles: Mariano De Los Santos (L, 1-1) - Danilo Leon

Dragons: Gabriel Ozuna (W, 1-1) - Dwayne Henry - Mike Garcia (S, 1)

They tied it with a 2-0 win on the 22nd, Ozuna beating De Los Santos and Garcia saving it while Tatis drove in the game-winner.

Game 5

October 23 at Kaohsiung Li De Baseball Stadium (5,217)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
China Times Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	1
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	X	2	6	1

Eagles: Rafael Montalvo (L, 1-1)

Dragons: Todd Revenig (W, 1-0) - Mike Garcia (S, 2)

On October 23, the Dragons went ahead with a 2-1 win, Garcia saving a victory for Todd Revenig while Montalvo lost and Tatis had another game-winning RBI.

Game 6

October 25 at Tainan Baseball Field (6,598)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	4	13	1
China Times Eagles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2

Dragons: Wen-Po Huang (W, 2-0)

Eagles: Jose Martinez (L, 0-1) - Rafael Montalvo - Mariano De Los Santos - Danilo Leon

The Series wrapped up on October 25 with a 4-0 Dragons shutout win. Huang got the win and took home Taiwan Series MVP honors while Jose Martinez was handed the loss. Manny Francois homered.

Source: 1997 Taiwan Baseball Wiki