2004 Taiwan Series

The 2004 Taiwan Series was the first Taiwan Series won by the Sinon Bulls.

The Bulls had gone 25-22-3 in the 2004 CPBL regular season then won the second half at 27-21-2 under manager Rong-Hua Liu. They had two players make the Best Ten: 2B Chung-Yi Huang (.312/.397/.455) and 3B Tai-Shan Chang (.337/.406/.550, a league-leading 21 homers and 94 RBI). Chao-Hang Cheng (.279/.323/.406) stole a league-best 31 bases. The staff was led by Chien-Fu Yang (15-6, Sv, 1.77) and included Chi-Hsien Ho (6-4, 3 Sv, 3.32), Osvaldo Martínez (12-5, 12 Sv, 3.40) and Yung-Chih Kuo (7-9, 3.40).

The Uni-President Lions won the first half at 28-18-4 and came close in the second (26-22-2), while being managed by Chang-Heng Hsieh. They were led by CPBL MVP Mike Garcia (7-1, 0.71, a league-leading 26 Sv). Chih-Wei Shih (.293/.372/.384, 19 SB) was Rookie of the Year while SS Sen Yang (.293/.372/.384) and DH Min-Ching Lo (.291/.367/.448) made the Best Ten. Lien-Hung Chen hit .302/.364/.420. Wei-Lun Pan (12-8, 2.14) and Jose Alberro (8-11, 3.05) were the top starting pitchers.

The Series began November 6 with a 4-1 Bulls win, Yang tossing a gem as the Lions were held to three hits. Yang got the win over Alberro while Jeff Andra notched a save. Chien-Ming Chang drove in the game-winner. The next day, the Bulls won a 3-1 decision, Martínez outdueling Pan while Andra saved it. Tai-Shan Chang got the game-winning RBI.

On November 9, the Lions won their first with a 14-5 victory, Don Lemon beating Kuo. Lo drove in the winner; Lo and Kuo-Ching Kao homered for Sinon while Chien-Ming Chang and Huang went deep for the Bulls. On the 10th, the Lions tied the Series with a 3-1 win as Alberro beat Yang in a reversal of game 1, Garcia getting the save. The Lions took a 3-2 Series lead on the 11th as Garcia beat Andra in a 4-2 decision. Chao-Hang Cheng homered for the Bulls.

Sinon stayed alive on November 13 with a 3-2 win, as Ho got the win, Lemon the loss and Andra his third save. Chun-Chang Yeh drove in the winner, while Hung-Yuan Lin homered for the Lions. On the 14th, the Bulls beat the Lions 8-6. Yang got the win (and would be named Taiwan Series MVP) and Garcia took the loss. Chia-Hao Chang drove home the winner while Kao went deep in a losing cause. The Lions were plagued by five errors to give the Series a record 17 (the mark would be broke in 2009).

Source: 2004 Taiwan Series