2007 Taiwan Series

The 2007 Taiwan Series began on October 20. It is a rematch of 2006, with the Uni-President Lions facing the La New Bears. Last year, the Bears won in a 4-game sweep. The Lions got revenge in 2007 with a win in 7 games. It was the fifth title for the Lions. The Series MVP was Nelson Figueroa, a pitcher for the Lions who had three of their four wins. Figueroa was the first non-Asian to be named MVP of a Taiwan Series and second foreigner, following Japan's Tetsu Yofu by six years.

Teams

La New Bears

The Bears had gone 58-42 and won the second half title. The first major leaguer from Taiwan, DH Chin-Feng Chen (.382, 26 HR, 66 RBI), had won the batting title while RF Raul Gonzalez batted .336 and CF Long-Yi Huang (.281) led the CPBL with 27 stolen bases. Gary Rath (12-5, 3.52), Kevin Huang (9-5, 2.26, 12 Sv) and Yu-Wei Hsu (9-3, 2.70) led the staff. Unfortunately, Rath was out for the Series with an injury.

Uni-President Lions

The Lions were 58-41 for the best record in the league despite winning neither half. They led the league with 625 runs. MVP 1B Kuo-Ching Kao (.358, 20 HR, 89 RBI) and 3B Tilson Brito (.313, 33 HR, 107 RBI) led the offense, with Brito setting home run and RBI records. RF Fu-Hao Liu hit .338. The rotation was led by Wei-Lun Pan (16-2, 2.26) and Peter Munro (14-7, 2.03) while late addition Nelson Figueroa had gone 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

Games

• October 20: Lions CF Sung-Hsien Yang went 3 for 4 and drove in three to help pace his team to a 10-2 rout. Figueroa allowed just 2 runs in 7, on a 2-run homer by Kit Pellow, while Huang was ineffective for the defending champions.
• October 21: The Lions win again (7-3), as Munro allows 3 runs in 7 innings despite allowing 11 baserunners. Hsu only lasted four innings for the Bears, surrendering four runs. Chin-Feng Chen hit a 2-run homer in the first for La New but the Lions roared back with five runs in the 4th and 5th innings. Tai-Chi Kuo (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI) and rookie star Wu-Hsiung Pan (4 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBI) led the offense for the Lions.
• October 23: Wei-Lun Pan struck out 8 in six innings and allowed 3 runs as the Lions ace took their first loss of the Series, falling to Andrew Lorraine. 2B Chih-Tsung Chiang went 2 for 5 with a homer and 3 RBI to pace the Bears in the 7-6 victory. The big damage came in the 7th when the Bears scored four runs. Of the 12 hits by the Bears, just one (Chiang's homer) went for extra bases.
• October 24: The Lions move within a game of the title with a 11-4 rout. Figueroa scattered 9 hits over 7 innings, striking out nine and allowing just one run. Kuo-Ching Kao cracked a first-inning grand slam and the Lions added five more runs in the 5th. Chih-Sheng Lin was 4 for 4 in a losing effort.
• October 25: The defending champions stay alive in a game which featured six home runs, with the Bears coming out ahead, 8-5. They trailed 5-4 going into the 8th but rallied to win. Mac Suzuki allowed 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief for the win. For the Lions, PH Po-Chao Yang hit a 3-run homer. For the Bears, the homers came from CF Long-Yi Huang, RF Chien-Wei Tsai, SS Chih-Sheng Lin and DH Chin-Feng Chen.
• October 27: The Bears win once more, 6-5, to force game seven. Wei-Lun Pan struggled once more, allowing 11 hits and six runs in eight innings. Brito hit his first two homers of the Series, but it was no match for the Bears' top star. Chin-Feng Chen smacked a 3-run homer off of Pan in the first and added a two-run shot in the fifth as a one-man powerhouse. Wen-Hsiung Hsu pitched scoreless ball in the 8th and 9th to save the game for La New.
• October 28: Figueroa won his third game of the Series, striking out 8 and allowing 2 runs and 5 hits in a complete game to seal the Series for the Lions. The 6 through 8 hitters in the Lions lineup - Lien-Hung Chen, Sen Yang and Tai-Chi Kuo - all had clutch hits in a 3-run fourth that led the Uni-President outfit to their 4-2 victory. Andrew Lorraine took the loss for the Bears as their comeback bid failed. Chen doubled in one run and would have had a second RBI on the play but a runner was thrown out at home.

Sources: Taipei Times, Taiwan Baseball Blog