2016 Taiwan Series

The 2016 Taiwan Series featured the Chinatrust Brothers against the EDA Rhinos. EDA won its only Taiwan Series title; the team had announced a sale to Fubon in September.

Teams

Chinatrust Brothers

Managed again by Fu-Lien Wu (who had led them to two straight Series only to fall each time), Chinatrust was 33-27 in the first half (first place) and 35-23-2 (second place) in the second half. The Brothers were led on offense by Chih-Hsien Chiang (.402/.455/.738, 30 HR), who finished second in the 2016 CPBL in average, 3rd in homers and tied for 4th with 104 RBI in a hitter-friendly year. Chih-Hung Hsu hit .357/.457/.603 and Chih-Sheng Lin (.336/.420/.648, 34 HR, 107 RBI) was second in RBI and tied for the lead in homers. Bryan Woodall (6-2, 3.98) and Nick Additon (2-1, 4.30) pitched well but did not qualify for the ERA title. Kai-Wen Cheng (9-8, Sv, 4.53) was second in ERA while Nate Long (11-3, 4.62) tied for third in wins.

EDA Rhinos

The Rhinos were guided by Chun-Chang Yeh. They were 27-33 in the first half but won the second half at 34-25-1. Kuo-Hui Kao (.286/.368/.617, 34 HR, 104 RBI) tied for the home run lead and tied for 4th in RBI while Che-Hsuan Lin hit .345/.435/.570. The staff was led by Mike Loree (13-11, 3.98, first in wins and ERA) and Fu-Te Ni (6-6, 8 Sv, 4.78, 4th in ERA).

Games

• October 22: The Brothers pounded ERA and win leader Loree in a 8-7 win, as Woodall allowed one run in 7 before the bullpen had a rough 8th. DH Cheng-Min Peng was 3 for 3 and C Da-Hong Cheng had a three-run double for the victors, while Hung-Wen Chen retired four of five batters for the save, taking over for the struggling middle relief. 1B Yi-Chuan Lin went deep twice in a losing cause while Che-Hsuan Lin was 4 for 5.
• October 23: Chinatrust rolled to another win, 9-2, getting another strong start from an American (Long allowed one run in 7) while roughing up another American hurler (Jared Lansford gave up 6 runs in 3). DH Peng's 3-run homer off Lansford was the big blow; he won game MVP for the second straight day, a rarity in Series history. CF Chih-Hao Chang scored three runs for the Brothers.
• October 25: The Rhinos charged back with a 9-8 win. 2B/3B Chih-Sheng Lin set a Series record with a three-homer game and drove in six but it is not enough in a loss. Hua-Wei Lo got the win in relief of Scott Richmond (6 R in 4 1/3 IP) while Ni got the save despite allowing two runs in the 9th. Additon took the loss (7 R, 2 ER in 4 IP) while SS Kai-Lun Chen was 3 for 5 with a run and two RBI for EDA.
• October 26: EDA pulls off a 10-1 rout to tie the Series. Rookie Yi-Chih Huang allows one run in five (5 H, 1 BB, 0 K) and four relievers pitch shutout ball the rest of the way (4 H, 1 BB). 2B Wei-Ting Lin leads the Rhinos with a 4-for-5 day, two runs and a RBI. Woodall takes the loss despite a good game (2 R, 1 ER in 6 IP) but his bullpen surrenders 8 in the final two frames for the lopsided final score. The attendance stood at 69,510 after four games, a Series record.
• October 27: The Rhinos win another lopsided game, 11-1, to take the Series lead. Loree pitches well (5 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 R in 6 IP) but the five relievers who follow him are even better (0 H, 1 BB, 2 K in 3 IP). LF Chin-Lung Hu scores three while CF Che-Hsuan Lin drives in three. Long is the losing hurler.
• October 29: EDA became the second team to win a Taiwan Series from down 2 games to 0, following the Wei Chuan Dragons in 1997. The Brothers began quickly when RF Cheng-Wei Chang and CF Chih-Hao Chang reached, then DH Chih-Hsien Chiang hit a three-run homer off Lansford. Lansford and four relievers would register 27 outs after that without another run. Meanwhile, Additon blanked EDA for three innings before giving up one in the 4th when 1B Yi-Chuan Lin drove in LF Chi-Lung Hu. Additon then tossed three more shutout frames.

The Brothers maintained their 3-1 lead into the 9th when they turned to closer Hung-Wen Chen to try to even the Series. CF Che-Hsuan Lin and PH Chien-Ming Chang both singled, though. Chen retired Yi-Chuan Lin but RF Hsiao-Yi Kao singled in Che-Hsuan Lin and 2B Wei-Ting Lin singled home Chien-Ming Chang to tie it. C Kun-Sheng Lin then hit into a crucial error by 1B Cheng-Min Peng for the game-winning run. Sheng-Hsiung Huang got the first two outs in the bottom of the 9th but Cheng-Wei Chang hit a hard shot into the hallway; Che-Hsuan Lin made a diving catch but on a video replay, it was ruled a hit. Huang then got Chih-Hao Chang to end the game. Rookie Hua-Wei Lo got the win for his second of the Series after three wins in the regular season.

Che-Hsuan Lin was named Series MVP, the first former major leaguer so honored since Luther Hackman in 2009.