1998 Taiwan Series

The 1998 Taiwan Series was the sixth Taiwan Series. The defending champion Wei Chuan Dragons squared off with the Sinon Bulls (making their Series debut) in a series that went the distance.

The Bulls had the best record in the 1998 CPBL regular season (58-45-2) under manager Jun-Lang Wang. They had four players picked to the Best Nine: P Mark Kiefer (17-10, 3.09, the win leader), 1B Jay Kirkpatrick (the CPBL MVP after a .387/.516/.732 season in which he ad 31 HR and 102 RBI to take the Triple Crown), 2B Chung-Yi Huang (.314/.383/.456) and SS Ron Maurer (.305/.393/.459, 31 2B). Other key pitchers were Osvaldo Martínez (13-10, 3.17, a league-leading 143 K), Julio Solano (4-1, 14 Sv, 2.79) and Tim Fortugno (3-5, 10 Sv, 3.21).

The Dragons, managed by Sheng-Chieh Hsu had gone 56-48-1 in the regular season. They had finished third then beat the Uni-President Lions in a best-of-3 playoff. They had two Best Nine picks in 3B Tai-Shan Chang (.323/.392/.535, 78 RBI) and OF Chiung-Lung Huang (.354/.414/.432). Chin-Mao Chen (.328/.419/.479) also hit well and Bernie Tatis (.292/.378/.433, 98 R) led with 65 steals. José Canó (8-8, 3.16), Gab Ozuna (8-7, 3.55) and Mike Garcia (6-7, 3.01, a league-leading 26 Sv) gave them a staff that also relied heavily on foreign import players.

Games

Game 1

November 3 at Taichung Baseball Field (4,272)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	6	10	0
Sinon Bulls	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	7	1

Dragons: Ángel Moreno (W, 1-0) - Todd Revenig (S, 1)

Bulls: Mark Kiefer (L, 0-1) - Tim Fortugno - Alvin Brown

Home Run Masahiro Taijun (1), Chuan-Chia Wang (1), Ron Maurer (1)

Game One took place November 3, when the Dragons won, 6-2. Ángel Moreno‎ got the win over Kiefer, with Todd Revenig notching the save. Masahiro Taijun drove in the winning run, homered and was named Game MVP while Maurer and Chuan-Chia Wang homered for the losing team.

Game 2

November 4 at Taichung Baseball Field (6,439)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	3	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	7	14	1
Sinon Bulls	3	0	0	1	0	0	8	0	X	12	15	1

Dragons: Pablo Reyes - Felipe Castillo - Mike Garcia (L, 0-1) - Dwayne Henry - Chun-Chieh Chen

Bulls: Jody Treadwell - Jimmy Myers - Julio Solano - Alvin Brown (W, 1-0)

Home Run Sheng-Chieh Hsu (1), Tai-Shan Chang (1)

Sinon tied it with a 12-7 romp. Chang-Hao Hu drove in the winner while Sheng-Chieh Hsu and Tai-Shan Chang both went deep for the Dragons. Alvin Brown got the win and Garcia the loss.

Game 3

November 6 at Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (6,425)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sinon Bulls	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	4	10	1
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	X	5	6	1

Bulls: Osvaldo Martínez - Tim Fortugno - Jimmy Myers (L, 0-1)

Dragons: José Canó - Pablo Reyes (W, 1-0) - Todd Revenig (S, 2)

The Dragons won game 3, 5-4, on the 6th, as Pablo Reyes beat Jimmy Myers, Revenig getting a second save. Chun-Chang Yeh was named game MVP.

Game 4

November 7 at XinZhuang Baseball Stadium (7,500)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sinon Bulls	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	9	0
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2

Bulls: Mark Kiefer (W, 1-0)

Dragons: Gabriel Ozuna (L, 0-1) - Felipe Castillo

Sinon won game 4 behind a gem from game MVP Kiefer, in a 4-0 victory. Ozuna took the loss while Che-Tsung Wu drove in the winner.

Game 5

November 8 at Taichung Baseball Field (9,900)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	7	3
Sinon Bulls	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	X	6	11	1

Dragons: Ángel Moreno (L, 4-1) - Todd Revenig

Bulls: Alvin Brown (W, 2-0) - Jimmy Myers (S, 1)

The Bulls won a 6-1 contest, Brown beating Moreno and Myers saving it. Bert Heffernan drove in the winner while Wen-Bin Chen was named game MVP. The Dragons came back to win the last two, though.

Game 6

November 10 at XinZhuang Baseball Stadium (4,730)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sinon Bulls	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	5	12	1
Wei Chuan Dragons	1	2	0	0	1	0	4	0	X	8	13	0

Bulls: Jody Treadwell (L, 0-1) - Osvaldo Martínez - Tim Fortugno

Dragons: José Canó (W, 1-0) - Dwayne Henry - Mike Garcia (S, 1)

Canó got the decision in a 8-5 win while Jody Treadwell took the loss and Garcia notched a save. Chin-Mao Chen drove in the winner and Sheng-Chieh Hsu was named game MVP (he would go on to be named Taiwan Series MVP after hitting .198 in the regular season).

Game 7

November 11 at Taichung Baseball Field (9,900)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Wei Chuan Dragons	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	5	8	1
Sinon Bulls	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	2

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

Bulls: Mark Kiefer - Jimmy Myers - Tim Fortugno (L, 0-1) - Alvin Brown

Home Run Chin-Mao Chen (1), Bert Heffernan (1)

In the finale, Wei Chuan won by a 5-2 score, Dwayne Henry beating Fortugno as import pitchers wound up with all the decisions. Chin-Mao Chen homered, drove in the winner and was named game MVP and Heffernan went deep in a losing effort.

Primary Source: Taiwan Baseball Wiki