2012 Taiwan Series

The 2012 Taiwan Series featured a rematch of the Uni-President Lions (2011 Taiwan Series champions) and the Lamigo Monkeys. This time, Lamigo wound up on top, winning 4 games to 1. The Taiwan Series MVP was Lamigo shortstop Chih-Sheng Lin.

Teams

Uni-President Lions

The Lions were led by Terushi Nakajima. They were 31-22-7 to win the first half but fell to 30-29-1 in the second half. They had batting champion Wu-Hsiung Pan (.388/.506/.596) and RBI leader Tai-Shan Chang (.333/.3870/.527, 36 2B, 17 HR, 96 RBI, also 3rd in home runs and 5th in RBI). Jon Leicester (12-5, 2.48) led the 2012 CPBL in ERA and was second in wins while Yuya Kamada (16-7, 3.15) led in wins and was third in ERA. Yueh-Ping Lin (1-4, 23 Sv, 4.50) tied for the lead in saves despite a relatively high ERA.

Lamigo Monkeys

The Monkeys were guided by Yi-Chung Hung. They won the second half title at 38-22 after a 29-27-4 first half. Their top batters were home run leader Chih-Sheng Lin (.317/.413/.579, 24 HR), Kuan-Jen Chen (.369/.431/.466, would have ranked 3rd if he had qualified for the batting title) and Yen-Wen Kuo (.299/.350/.484, 15 HR, 4th in the league in homers). Matt DeSalvo (11-6, 2.77) was second in the league in ERA and tied for third in wins as their top hurler.

Games

• October 13: Monkeys 4, Lions 1. The Monkeys burst to an early lead, scoring a first-inning run on three hits off Jon Leicester. SS Chih-Sheng Lin hit a solo homer in the third to make it 2-0. Mike Loree cruised through five shutout innings before giving up the first Lions tally, in the 6th, on a double by CF Fu-Hao Liu followed later by a sacrifice fly from LF Wu-Hsiung Pan. The game remained 2-1 until the 9th, when DH Hung-Yu Lin hit a two-run homer for insurance for Lamigo. Loree finished the win with only 3 hits and one run in 7 1/3 IP then Paul Phillips wrapped it up for the save. The game MVP was Chih-Sheng Lin, who was 3 for 4 with the homer.

• October 14: Monkeys 6, Lions 4. The Monkeys again started off strong, in front of 12,056 fans, scoring three first-inning runs off Eulogio De La Cruz. Chao-Hao Tseng gave them a good start, with one run in five innings. They were still up, 4-2, in the bottom of the 8th, when 3B Kuo-Ching Kao smacked a 2-run homer off closer Phillips to tie the game. The tie was short-lived, thanks to a 9th-inning triple by LF Kuan-Jen Chen to hand the loss to Wei-Hua Lee.

• October 16: Lions 9, Monkeys 3. A mix of old and new got the Lions their first win of the Series, as rookie 1B Chih-Wei Teng homered and drove in four to win gave MVP, while veteran hurler Wei-Lun Pan allowed two runs in six for the win. SS Yung-Chi Chen also did his share, scoring three times. In a losing effort, SS Chih-Sheng Lin was 2 for 3 with a homer, two runs and two RBI.

• October 17: Monkeys 7, Lions 5. Down 3-1 after 4 1/2 innings, Lamigo took control with a 5-run fifth to knock out 2012 CPBL win leader Yuya Kamada. Mike Loree improved to 2-0 on the Series and Paul Phillips got his second save. The game MVP was SS Chih-Sheng Lin, who was 2 for 4 with a double and 3 runs produced. LF Kuan-Jen Chen homered, scored twice and drove in two while 3B Chih-Ping Lin is 3 for 5. In a losing cause, LF Wu-Hsiung Pan is 3 for 5.

• October 18: Monkeys 3, Lions 2. Chao-Ho Tseng allowed two first-inning runs to the Lions but gave up nothing further and wound up with the decisive win, while Phillips notched his third aave, a two-inning deal. Jon Leicester took the loss, giving up 3 runs in 4 2/3 IP to go 0-2 after leading the league in ERA in the regular season. LF Kuan-Jen Chen was 2 for 4 with a double, two runs and a RBI to lead the Lamigo attack.

Sources

• Taipei Times
• CPBL
• Taiwanese Baseball Wiki