I didn’t expect another post about baseball on my blog after writing one about Ruei-Yang Gu Lin, but here it is. 

I started writing this post on November 25, 2024, one day after Team Taiwan, aka Chinese Taipei, defeated Samurai Japan in WBSC’s Premier 12 and won the championship.

In retrospect, 2024 was the most memorable year for me as a baseball fan in Taiwan who has watched the sport for as long as I can remember. In this article, I’ll explain why it’s the case for English-speaking readers who might not be familiar with the baseball scene in Taiwan.  

The Addition of the Sixth Team

Due to repetitive match-fixing scandals in the past, only four teams remained in the CPBL, the professional baseball league in Taiwan, during the league’s darkest period in 2008. The situation was so dire that some teams even gave away Louis Vuitton handbags to attract people to games.

Since then, things have significantly improved thanks to 1) the introduction of new laws and 2) the establishment of the Taiwan Professional Baseball Players Association (TPBPA).

Fast forward in time: 

• In 2019, Wei Chuan Dragons, one of the league’s funding teams, returned to the league after leaving it for 20 years.
• In 2024, TSG Hawks joined the lineup, making itself the sixth team. 

More teams mean more opportunities for players to demonstrate their skills and make the game more entertaining. Moreover, each team’s parent company has a market cap of billions of USD—it can afford to pay salaries that weren’t imaginable in the league’s early days when an SMB backed each team. Lastly, TSG Hawks’ home is in Kaohsiung City, the largest city in Southern Taiwan, which helps to attract more baseball fans. 

By the numbers, TSG Hawks has attracted more than 7,758 attendees per game in 2024, ranking second among six teams, only behind CTBC Brothers. 

Taipei Dome Made Profitable Teams

Before the Taipei Dome, no indoor baseball venue existed in Taiwan. 

As you might know, Taiwan is a subtropical island, so it’s hot and humid. To make matters worse, thunderstorms in the afternoon in summer have canceled many games. 

Baseball fans here have long longed for an indoor venue. Fun fact: the birth of the Taipei Dome resulted from fans chanting, “We want a dome,” during a championship match that the premier of Executive Yuan, the executive branch of the Taiwanese government, attended in 1991. 

After decades of construction and numerous scandals, the Taipei Dome finally began operations in early 2024, transforming Taiwan’s baseball landscape. Its opening has significantly boosted baseball attendance, with the average attendance per game reaching an all-time high of 7684 and most teams seeing over a 20% increase in per-game ticket sales. 

Ranking	Team	Num. of Attendees	Avg. Attendees per Game	YoY Growth	Max Num. of Attendees	Minimum Num. of Attendees
1	CTBC Brothers	1,229,227	10,243	▲49.1%	40,000	3,117
2	TSG Hawks	931,072	7,758	–	28,018	3,044
3	Wei Chuan Dragons	895,844	7,465	▲28.37%	40,000	3,220
4	Fubon Guardians	881,741	7,347	▲29.33%	34,506	3,044
5	Rakuten Monkeys	809,067	6,742	▲6.85%	28,618	3,117
6	Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions	785,821	6,548	▲22.99%	32,988	3,114

Furthermore, higher ticket prices for indoor games have substantially increased revenue per attendee. According to reports, ticket sales alone generate as high as $100M for CTBC Brothers, potentially making them the first profitable club in CPBL’s history combined with other revenue streams. Yes, you read that right. Baseball clubs, in general, have been money-losing businesses in Taiwan. Each franchise’s parent company treats them as tax shields or marketing costs.

According to an interview in 2009 with the former president of Uni-President, the parent company of Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, each franchise in CPBL could lose between $400,000 and $4.5M annually. However, one thing worth pointing out is that the total attendance number grew by over 200% in 2024 compared to 2009. 

Foreign Cheerleaders

Seeing this subtitle, you might be thinking, “Huh?”  Yeah, I know. 

Nowadays, baseball games in Taiwan feature a unique element: cheerleaders performing on infield stages during games, a practice made famous by Lamigo Monkeys (now Rakuten Monkeys) learning from South Korean baseball. 

These team-employed cheerleaders have personalized theme songs and dance moves for each player, serving as significant revenue generators through merchandise sales and game attendance. Believe it or not – some people attend games just to take pictures of cheerleaders or follow their move sets while standing beside their seats. These cheerleaders’ influence extends beyond the ballpark, with many appearing on TV shows and securing sponsorship deals. 

This practice has evolved significantly, as evidenced by Rakuten Monkeys’ signing of KBO League star cheerleader Dahye Lee in 2023. In 2024, Lee is now a star in Taiwan with numerous brand endorsements and has attended countless local shows despite a limited understanding of Mandarin.  

As of 2024, international cheerleaders have become commonplace. Every team features at least one foreign performer who previously worked for teams in South Korea or Japan, led by Fubon Guardians with three. 

Nostalgic All-Star Game

The dome fell into an expectant hush as the ninth inning began winding down. Two outs, and just one more to conclude the 2024 All-Star Game on July 21st. That’s when the stadium camera caught something unusual – Yi-Chung Hung, the legendary manager with the most wins in CPBL history, sitting in the dugout with an unmistakable glint in his eye. As his image appeared on the massive screen above, the dome erupted with a chant that seemed to shake the very foundations: “Hung Yi-Chung! Hung Yi-Chung!”

Yi-Chung Hung (洪一中)

Yi-Chung Hung is the legendary and highly-respected coach with the most wins as a manager in the CPBL’s history. He used to play catcher for Brother Elephants, the predecessor of the CTBC Brothers, in the CPBL. He is now the manager of the TSG Hawks. 

In that electric moment, Chin-Feng Chen, his former player and now a manager himself, rushed to assist his old mentor over the dugout fence, their roles momentarily reversed as student supported teacher. The simple act drew an even louder roar from the crowd, the sound bouncing off the dome’s curved ceiling and washing over the field like a wave.

Even through my phone’s broadcast, I could feel the electricity in the air as the 63-year-old former catcher emerged, his eyes sparkling with boyish enthusiasm. The stadium lights caught the silver in his hair, but his step had the lightness of a much younger man. Each deliberate stride toward home plate carried the weight of CPBL history, the sharp clicks of his cleats against the concrete dugout floor giving way to the soft crunch of baseline chalk.

He picked up the bat, his weathered hands gripping it with familiar ease. The practice swings that followed were slower than his playing days, but the form remained perfect – muscle memory carved from thousands of at-bats. The sharp whistle of bat cutting through air brought knowing nods from the older fans in the crowd.

Then came a new chant, building from a whisper to a roar: “Wang Chien-Ming! Wang Chien-Ming!” The name echoed through the dome like a prayer, calling forth memories of countless mornings when Taiwanese fans had huddled around TVs, watching their ace dominate in Yankee pinstripes in 2006 and 2007. The rhythmic thunder of feet stamping in the stands accompanied each repetition of his name. Wang, now the CTBC Brothers’ pitching coach, stood in his team’s dugout, a slight smile playing across his face. The chants grew more insistent until Wang finally nodded and began his walk to the mound, each step drawing fresh cheers.

Chien-Ming Wang (王建民)

Chien-Ming Wang was the pitcher for New York Yankees in MLB from 2005 to 2009. He had 19 wins in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting in 2006. Back then, Wang was so famous that even owners of any mom-and-pop shop in Taiwan knew who Wang was. It might sound wild, but the stock market in Taiwan during that time rose when he had a win that day and fell when he had a loss.
He’s now the pitching coach for CTBC Brothers.

Under the dome’s artificial twilight, time seemed to stand still as Wang took the ball, his first time toeing a CPBL rubber. His warm-up pitches brought gasps from the crowd, the sharp pop of ball meeting catcher’s mitt echoing through the suddenly hushed stadium. Even if the velocity wasn’t quite what it had been in the Bronx, each pitch carried the unmistakable movement that had made him famous. Throughout the stands, phones were raised like fireflies at dusk – everyone desperate to capture this impossible moment.

The first pitch was pure theater. Wang’s familiar wind-up, the same one that had graced highlight reels during those magical 19-win seasons, unfolded in slow motion. Hung, representing every Taiwanese baseball fan’s dreams, extended his arms and connected. The sharp crack of the bat sent the ball bouncing toward second base. The fielder, perhaps caught up in the moment’s magnitude, let the ball skip past him into center field. The crowd exploded as Hung, running with all the dignity a baseball legend could muster, reached first base safely.

Before the cheers could even die down, another figure emerged from the dugout, bat in hand. Chin-Feng Chen, Taiwan’s first MLB position player and arguably its greatest power hitter, began his warm-up swings. 

Chin-Feng Chen (陳金鋒)

Chin-Fend Chen played for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2002 to 2005 and was the first Taiwanese to play and have a hit in the MLB. After returning to Taiwan in 2006, Chen joined La New Bears, the predecessor of Rakuten Monkeys, where Yi-Chung Hung coached him. During his career in Taiwan, he had broken many records, including:

• Three consecutive home runs (tie the record). 
• Most home runs in a half-season as a domestic player.
• The fastest player who has 100 HRs.

He’s considered one of the best (if not the best) sluggers we ever had in Taiwan. He’s now the manager of Fubon Guardians. 

The stadium buzzed with anticipation – this was baseball poetry, the kind of matchup fans would tell their grandchildren about – as they had never faced each other. Taiwan’s most dominant pitcher facing its most feared slugger, a meeting that had only existed in “what if” conversations until now. The air conditioning seemed to halt as everyone held their breath.

Wang’s second pitch, perhaps carrying too much adrenaline, ran inside and caught Chen. But instead of tension, the moment dissolved into pure joy. Players from both dugouts spilled onto the field, phones in hand, jostling for position in an impromptu photo session. Veterans who had watched Wang’s Yankees starts on TV now stood arm-in-arm with him, capturing selfies. Young players who had grown up idolizing Chen gathered around him, their faces beaming. Hung stood on first base, laughing and waving others over to join the celebration, the base bag beneath his feet momentarily becoming the center of Taiwan’s baseball universe.

In the stands, older fans wiped away tears while explaining to their children why this moment mattered so much. The stadium lights reflected off the dome’s ceiling, creating a warm glow that felt like afternoon sunshine. For a few precious minutes, past and present merged on the field, three generations of Taiwanese baseball creating a memory that would be talked about for decades to come. The dome’s artificial lighting had created a timeless bubble, separating this magical moment from the regular world outside – a perfect stage for legends to play one more time.

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While this magical All-Star Game moment captured the essence of CPBL’s rich history and bright future, 2024 had even more emotional moments in store for baseball fans in Taiwan. From the addition of the TSG Hawks to the opening of the Taipei Dome, and this unforgettable night when legends returned to the field, the domestic scene was thriving. Yet among these celebrations, we also witnessed the end of two remarkable eras.

In Part Two, we’ll first honor the retirements of two beloved local heroes who shaped a generation of baseball in Taiwan. Then, we’ll see how their spirit lived on as Team Taiwan achieved what many thought impossible at the WBSC Premier 12. We’ll also witness a historic first as Gu Lin becomes our first pitcher posted to NPB, and explore how recent developments in the free agent market might reshape CPBL’s future. As we look ahead to 2025, these moments from 2024—both the fond farewells and exciting new beginnings—have woven themselves into the rich tapestry of Taiwanese baseball.

Stay tuned.