2010 CPBL

The 2010 Chinese Professional Baseball League almost never happened. The league had dwindled from a peak of eight teams down to four in 2009, three of them collapsing due to gambling scandals. One of those remaining four, the 2009 Taiwan Series runner-up Brother Elephants, was hit by a major scandal that came to light in the off-season, robbing them of their manager and several stars. They recovered to win the first-half pennant, while the 2009 victor Uni-President Lions would finish with the league's worst record. The Elephants owed their resurgence in part to a trio of foreign hurlers who captured all the major pitching departments - American Carlos Castillo led in wins (14) and ERA (2.17), American Ryan Cullen in saves (34) and Puerto Rican Orlando Román in strikeouts (142).

Two players set a career marks. Veteran slugger Tai-Shan Chang became the first CPBL player to reach 1,000 RBI, while Cheng-Min Peng became the fastest to 1,000 hits on route to his 5th batting championship. Chao-Hao Tseng of the Bears appeared in 70 games, a new CPBL record.

Standings

1. Sinon Bulls, 29-30-1 first half; 36-23-1 second half (Manager: Sheng-Ming Hsu)
2. Brother Elephants, 36-24 first half; 25-33-2 second half (Manager: Jui-Chen Chen)
3. La New Bears, 24-35-1 first half; 31-27-2 second half (Manager: Rong-Tsong Tsai)
4. Uni-President Lions, 29-29-2 first half; 25-34-1 second half (Manager: Wen-Sheng Liu)

Awards

The CPBL MVP was Cheng-Min Peng, the Brother Elephants first baseman who was the batting champion. Ching-Ming Wang won the Rookie of the Year award after going 10-3.

Gold Gloves

• P - Wei-Lun Pan, Lions
• C - Chih-Kang Kao, Lions
• 1B - Cheng-Min Peng, Elephants
• 2B - Chiang-Ho Chen, Elephants
• SS - Sheng-Wei Wang, Elephants
• 3B - Shih-Hao Huang, Elephants
• OF - Fu-Hao Liu, Lions
• OF - Chien-Ming Chang, Bulls
• OF - Cheng-Wei Chang, Elephants

Best Ten

• P - Carlos Castillo, Elephants
• C - Da-Hung Cheng, Bulls
• 1B - Cheng-Min Peng, Elephants
• 2B - Chiang-Ho Chen, Elephants
• SS - Chao-Hang Cheng, Bulls
• 3B - Shih-Hao Huang, Elephants
• OF - Fu-Hao Liu, Lions
• OF - Chen-Yu Chung, Bears
• OF - Chien-Ming Chang, Bulls
• DH - Tai-Shan Chang, Bulls

Offensive Leaders

• Average: Cheng-Min Peng, Elephants, .357
• Home Runs: Chih-Sheng Lin, Bears, 21
• RBI: Chih-Sheng Lin, 79
• Stolen Bases: Fu-Hao Liu, Lions, and Da-Hung Cheng, Bears, 31

Pitching Leaders

• ERA: Carlos Castillo, Elephants, 2.17
• Wins: Castillo, 14
• Saves: Ryan Cullen, Elephants, 34
• Strikeouts: Orlando Román, Elephants, 142