2010 Taiwan Series

The 2010 Taiwan Series featured the six-time champion Brother Elephants, versus the two-time champion Sinon Bulls. The Elephants won their 7th title, tying the Uni-President Lions for the most, with the first Taiwan Series sweep in four years. 35-year-old Jui-Chen Chen became the youngest winning manager in Series history. Jim Magrane won the Taiwan Series MVP by going 2-0, the fourth straight time that award went to an American hurler, following Nelson Figueroa (2007) and Luther Hackman (2008 an 2009).

Teams

Brother Elephants

The Elephants lost the 2009 Taiwan Series in seven games, but were riddled by a gambling scandal in the off-season that cost their manager and several players their careers. They rebounded thanks to two strong bats and some excellent import pitching. They won the first-half title at 36-23. Cheng-Min Peng won his fifth batting title (.357/.451/.481) while Ssu-Chi Chou (.298/.353/.406) smacked 29 doubles. Carlos Castillo (14-5, 2.17) led the league in wins and ERA, Orlando Román (12-7, 3.03) was second in wins and led with 142 strikeouts, Jim Magrane (11-9, 2.25) was second in ERA and Ryan Cullen (8-3, 34 Sv, 1.93) led in saves. They were managed by Jui-Chen Chen.

Sinon Bulls

The Bulls won the 2010 CPBL second-half title at 33-20-7. Their big bats were 2003 MVP Tai-Shan Chang (.313/.374/.470, second in the league with 16 homers, third in average) and 2009 MVP Yi-Chuan Lin (.330/.374/.453, second in average). Chien-Fu Yang (11-5, 2.33, third in ERA and wins) and Itsuki Shoda (11-5, 2.81) were the top two starters while another Japanese hurler, Shingo Takatsu (1-2, 26 Sv, 1.88) was an excellent closer. They were managed by Sheng-Ming Hsu.

Games

• October 16: Elephants 3, Bulls 2. Jim Magrane tossed a gem for the win, pitching shutout ball for 7 2/3 innings before finally surrendering a Sinon score. In the meantime, Kuan-Jen Chen started the scoring in the third off Itsuki Shoda with a RBI single. In the 6th, rookie OF Cheng-Wei Chang hit a RBI double for one of two more scores off Shoda. Cheng finished with three hits and two important defensive plays. With two outs and two on in the 8th, Orlando Román relieved to face reigning MVP Yi-Chuan Lin. Lin merely flied out to quash the really.

• October 17: Elephants 3, Bulls 1. At Douliou Baseball Stadium, the Elephants again relied on pitching and defense (three double plays for a second straight day) to stop Sinon. Chien-Fu Yang and Carlos Castillo traded goose eggs in a fine duel until the 6th. In that inning, an error by RF Chien-Ming Chang on a routine fly let in one run. In the 8th, a miscue by veteran 3B Tai-Shan Chang scored another. In the bottom of the inning, Sinon battled back as Hsien-Ming Yu scored on a sacrifice fly. It was the only run allowed by Castillo, who tossed a complete game for the win. Also in the bottom of the 8th, Elephants RF Chih-Hao Chang robbed Sinon of a homer with a catch over the wall.

• October 19: Elephants 3, Bulls 0. For the third straight game, the Sinon offense was firing on almost-empty while the Elephants scored another three runs. Orlando Román went the distance with a 3-hit shutout. Ying-Chieh Lin matched Orlando until the 5th, when Chih-Hao Chang doubled and veteran backstop Chun-Chang Yeh singled him in; Sinon had let Yeh go in the off-season after 10 years with them and this was nice revenge.

• Rain shut down the Series for several days.

• October 23: Elephants 6, Bulls 1. Sinon got to Jim Magrane in the first on hits by Chien-Ming Chang and Da-Hong Cheng before Yi-Chuan Lin hit a sacrifice fly. Magrane would allow nothing further in dominating the rest of the way in a complete game win. In the bottom of the first, Juan Pena gave up a 3-run homer to Ssu-Chi Chou, who took game MVP honors. Shih-Hao Huang smacked a 2-run insurance double off Itsuki Shoda in the third, but Magrane didn't need the help.