Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
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| Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions Established 1989 |
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Chinese Professional Baseball League (1990–present) |
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| Asia Series titles (0) | ||
| Taiwan Series titles (5) | 1991 • 1995 • 1996 • 2000 2007 |
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| Playoffs berths (12) | 1991 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 |
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| Owner(s): Uni-President Corporation | ||
| Manager: Lu Wen-sheng | ||
| General Manager: Lin Tseng-hsiang | ||
The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions (traditional Chinese: 統一獅) are a professional baseball team based in Tainan, Taiwan. It is owned by the Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerate whose sub-company Uni-President Baseball Team Company manages all affairs for the team. It has a strong fan base in southern Taiwan, especially in the Tainan area. The Lions are nicknamed Shih-tzu-chun (traditional Chinese: 獅子軍, Lions Corps) by fans, and are sometimes referred as Nan-ba-tien (traditional Chinese: 南霸天, Southern Overlord) by commentators. The team's motto is "Clean, decisive, determined, progressive" (乾乾淨淨、勇猛果斷、緊咬不放、積極進取).
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[edit] History
[edit] Amateur Era
The team was first established as amateur Uni-President Baseball Team (traditional Chinese: 統一棒球隊) in 1989, for the purpose of training and preparation for eventual professionalization in the next year. The corporation had in mind to draw players from Taipower Baseball Team, an amateur baseball team based in nearby Kaohsiung that has been producing some of the best players in Taiwan, but this idea was soon met with difficulties.
Uni-President originally offered Lin Chia-hsiang (traditional Chinese: 林家祥) the position as team manager for the newly established team, hoping his status as head coach of Taipower could ensure players' willingness to join the new team. Lin accepted at first, and agreed to recruit players within Taipower for Uni-President. However, due to uncertainties in a professional career, players were reluctant to leave Taipower and join the new baseball team, and Lin could only secure a few players and was far below the 15 players minimum requirement of the amateur league. Lin then turned down the offer, leaving Uni-President searching for a replacement for the head coach position. Uni-President eventaully contacted Cheng Kuen-chi (traditional Chinese: 鄭昆吉) and offered him the position. Cheng, a former coach of Taipower who was respected by many players, accepted the offer and became the first manager of Uni-President. Cheng then used his connection to convince players to join the team, and the team barely past the minimum requirement after Brother baseball team lent two players to Uni-President.
Following its establishment, the team participated in two amateur series in 1989. However, unlike Brother and Wei Chuan, who had a long history in amateur baseball, over half of the players on Uni-President's roster were discharged players from Taipower, the team morale was low and team chemistry was not very well. This problem caused the Lions great pain in their first years of professional baseball. The team was professionalized in 1990, the year CPBL was founded.
[edit] Early years
The team was professionalized on January 1, 1990, following the establishment of CPBL. The mascot that was chosen for Uni-President was Lions, hence the team was renamed Uni-President Lions. The Lions played the opening game of CPBL on March 17, 1990 against Brother Elephants in the now demolished Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium; the Lions defeated the Elephants 4-3, scoring their first victory in professional baseball.[1] However, the Lions performed poorly in the first half-season, place fourth with a losing streak of eight games following their first victory. The Lions managed to show some improvements in the second half-season, placed second in the second half and third in overall standing.
The season of 1991 saw significant improvements in the Lions' performance. The Lions placed first in the second half-season, and advanced to the playoff to play Wei Chuan Dragons, which they defeated four games to two and won their first seasonal title. However, the next three years saw the dominance of the Elephants, who won three consecutive seasonal titles from 1992 to 1994, and defeated the Lions four game to two in the 1993 playoffs. It was around this time that the Lions and Elephants developed a long-lasting rivalry.
In the season of 1995, the Elephants suffered when CPBL increased the tours from three games to four games. The Elephants, lacked a decent pitching staff, could not have an efficient rotation going while the Lions benefited from its strong pitching staff with the so-called Four Aces that helped the Lions dominated the league. The Lions won both half-seasonal titles and was declared the seasonal champion. The Lions would again win the seasonal title in 1996, defeated the Dragons four games to two in the playoffs.
[edit] Black Eagles Scandal and TML
The 1997 season was not a smooth sails as many has expected, the Lions started out with some of their most prominent players left, and Also, the Black Eagles Scandal in mid-season of 1997 was a major blow to the Lions and the league in general. The Lions had to suspend several players due to allegation of their involvement in the scandal, and shut down the team expansion project which was part of the formation of the CPBL minor league. However, the Lions performed extremely well despites these impacts, and was only prevented from winning the season title by regulation.
At the end of 1997 season, the Lions led the league with 58-7-31, while the Dragons (46-4-46) and the Eagles (41-4-51) were placed third and fourth respectively. However, the regulation dictated that the playoffs should be played by the team that led the league in the first half-season and the team in the second half-season. It was assumed that if a team leads the league in the whole year, it should have placed first in both half-seasons, and thus allowed to participate in the championship series. The loophole became obvious when the Dragons, which placed seventh in the first half but first in the second half, and the Eagles, who placed first in the first half and seventh in the second half, got a berth in the playoffs. The loophole was fixed in the following year, but the Lions lost their dominance to the Dragons, who went on to win three consecutive seasonal titles.
[edit] CPBL-TML Merger
The merger of the two leagues brought the number of teams in CPBL from four to six, but did not present any serious challenge to the Lions. The Lions managed to best the two new teams in the season of 2003, but failed to secure a berth in the Taiwan Series. The Lions were praised for its stable performance over the years, and is considered one of the most dominating team in the league.
On February 22, 2008, Uni-President Corporation submitted a name-change request to CPBL to change the name of the team to Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. 7-Eleven in Taiwan is a subsidiary of Uni-President Corporation, and the the Lions expects closer corporation between the two. The request was granted before the season began.
[edit] Organization
[edit] Minor league
The Lions were credited as the first organization to form a minor league team. As early as 1990, when CPBL was still in its early years, the Lions were making preparation for establishment of a minor league team by hiring coaches and scout talented players for the project. The minor league team, however, was disbanded due to lack of opponent and players. In 1997, the Lions again formed a minor league team, but it met the same fate as its predecessor due to the game-fixing scandal and the decline in attendance. No further expansion was made until after the CPBL-TML merger took place.
In late 2003, after the merger of the two competing league, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association began to cooperate with CPBL to form a minor league by sending alternative players to be trained by and filled the roster of member teams of CPBL. At first, the Lions were very supportive of this project, but later backed out due to financial reasons. However, in early 2006, the Lions announced the revival of the minor league project, and began the expansion of the team. The roster consists of contract players, alternative service trainees, and other amateur players that were lent to the Lions. There are currently a major league team and a minor league team in the organization, with separate coaching staff, medical staff, transportations, and games schedule in accordance with CPBL minor league. However, the effectiveness of the minor league is still being debated, since CPBL has not adopt a system efficient for such operation.
[edit] Foreign cooperation
The Lions had participate in many friendly series, both CPBL-hosted and Lions-hosted, and gain much valuable experiences through these games, many of which ended in the Lions' defeat. The Lions have also been working with other organization in Asia and North America to improve the performance of the organization, collaborators includes Yomiuri Giants of NPB's Central League and Red Sox organization of MLB.
In January 2008, Uni-President Corporation announced strategic cooperation with Rakuten, Inc. of Japan, and expressed interests in having an exhibition game between the Lions and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, the professional baseball team owned by Rakuten, Inc., before the 2008 season. Rakuten has declined the proposal, citing insufficient time for preparation as the reason. Rakuten has also hinted a possible exhibition game after the season.
[edit] Notable Achievements
The Lions are the holders of many CPBL records. The most well-known is the winning streak of 17 games, which took place in 2006 season. The Lions also hold the record as the team with the most wins and home runs throughout its history, both of which are followed closely by Brother Elephants.
[edit] Records
| Qualified for Playoffs | Taiwan Series Championship | Asia Series Championship |
[edit] Regular Seasons
| Season | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Place |
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| Uni-President Lions | |||||
| 1990 | 37 (16/21) | 49 (29/20) | 4 (0/4) | .430 (.356/.512) | 3 (4/2) |
| 1991 | 46 (21/25) | 34 (20/14) | 10 (4/6) | .575 (.512/.641) | 1 (2/1) |
| 1992 | 41 (20/21) | 45 (23/22) | 4 (2/2) | .477 (.465/.488) | 3 (3/2) |
| 1993 | 54 (25/29) | 34 (20/14) | 2 (0/2) | .614 (.556/.674) | 1 (3/1) |
| 1994 | 48 (22/26) | 38 (20/18) | 4 (3/1) | .558 (.524/.591) | 2 (3/2) |
| 1995 | 62 (32/30) | 36 (17/19) | 2 (1/1) | .633 (.653/.612) | 1 (1/1) |
| 1996 | 60 (34/26) | 37 (15/22) | 4 (1/3) | .619 (.694/.542) | 1 (1/3) |
| 1997 | 58 (28/30) | 31 (16/15) | 7 (4/3) | .652 (.636/.667) | 1 (2/2) |
| 1998 | 57 | 45 | 3 | .563 | 2 |
| 1999 | 56 | 37 | 0 | .602 | 2 |
| 2000 | 44 (17/27) | 43 (27/16) | 3 (1/2) | .506 (.386/.659) | 2 (4/1) |
| 2001 | 49 (27/22) | 37 (14/23) | 4 (4/0) | .570 (.659/.489) | 1 (1/3) |
| 2002 | 32 (18/14) | 54 (24/30) | 4 (3/1) | .372 (.429/.318) | 4 (4/4) |
| 2003 | 54 (24/30) | 39 (23/16) | 7 (3/4) | .581 (.511/.652) | 3 (4/2) |
| 2004 | 54 (28/26) | 40 (18/22) | 6 (4/2) | .574 (.543/.542) | 1 (1/3) |
| 2005 | 48 (24/24) | 49 (26/23) | 3 (0/3) | .495 (.480/.511) | 3 (5/3) |
| 2006 | 48 (28/20) | 45 (18/27) | 7 (4/3) | .516 (.609/.426) | 2 (2/5) |
| 2007 | 58 (27/31) | 41 (23/18) | 1 (0/1) | .586 (.540/.633) | 1 (2/2) |
| Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | |||||
| 2008 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Totals | 906 | 734 | 75 | .552 | -- |
[edit] Playoffs
| Season | First Round | Taiwan Series | ||||
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| Opponent | Wins | Losses | Opponent | Wins | Losses | |
| Uni-President Lions | ||||||
| 1991 | No first round. | Wei Chuan Dragons | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1993 | No first round. | Brother Elephants | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1995 | No playoffs. The Lions won the championship by virtue of winning both half-seasons. | |||||
| 1996 | No first round. | Wei Chuan Dragons | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1998 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 1 | 2 | Eliminated. | ||
| 1999 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 1 | 2 | Eliminated. | ||
| 2000 | No first round. | Sinon Bulls | 4 | 3 | ||
| 2001 | No first round. | Brother Elephants | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2004 | No first round. | Sinon Bulls | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2005 | Macoto Cobras | 1 | 3 | Eliminated. | ||
| 2006 | Sinon Bulls | 3 | 0 | La New Bears | 0 | 4 |
| 2007 | Macoto Cobras | 3 | 0 | La New Bears | 4 | 3 |
| 2008 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Total | Combining the first round and Taiwan Series | 33 | 33 | |||
[edit] Asia Series
| Year | Round Robin | Chaniponship Round | ||||
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| Wins | Losses | Standing | Opponent | Result | ||
| Uni-President Lions | ||||||
| 2007 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Eliminated | ||
| Total | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | ||
[edit] Roster
[edit] Current Roster
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| Pitchers
11 Catchers 2 |
Infielders
1 Outfielders 7 |
Manager
70 Coaches 39 0 |
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[edit] List of Managers
| Manager # | Manager Name | Years | Games | Wins | Losses | Ties | Playoffs | Champions |
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| 1 | Cheng Kuen-chi (鄭昆吉) | 1990 - 1993 | 360 | 178 | 162 | 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Yataro Oishi (大石弥太郎) | 1994 - 1996 | 290 | 170 | 111 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Lin Chia-Hsiang (林家祥) | 1997 - 1998 | 193 | 110 | 73 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| (Acting) | Yukihiko Machida (町田行彥) | 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| (Acting) | Osamu Inoue (井上 修) | 1998 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Tseng Chih-chen (曾智偵) | 1999 - 2002 | 353 | 178 | 164 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| (Acting) | Masashi Takenouchi (竹之内雅史) | 2000 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Hsieh Chang-heng (謝長亨) | 2003 - 2005 | 250 | 132 | 105 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Yutaka Ohashi (大橋 穣) | 2005 - 2007 | 167 | 76 | 81 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| (Acting) | Lo Kuo-chang (羅國璋) | 2007 | 33 | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Lu Wen-sheng (呂文生) | 2007 - Present | 50 | 31 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| -- | Total | 1990 - Present | 1764 | 936 | 753 | 75 | 12 | 5 |
[edit] Notable Former Players
Izzy Alcantara - famous for video footage in which he kicked the catcher after being thrown at.
José Canó - father of Robinson Canó, Yankees second baseman.
Eric Cyr - on the forty-men roster of Canadian national team for 2006 WBC and representing Canada in 2008 Olympic Games.
Mark Grant - current commentator for San Diego Padres.
Hsieh Chang-heng (謝長亨) - former manager of the Lions.
Kuo Yuen-chih (郭源治) - famous Taiwanese baseball player whose jersey number 33 is a retired number for Taiwanese national team.
Lo Min-ching (羅敏卿) - current head coach for minor league Lions.
José Núñez - shared the Professional Baseball in Taiwan's record of winning most games in a single season (22 wins in 1993) with Brother Elephants's Chen Yi-Hsin.
Tsao Chun-yang (曹竣崵) - the first-ever player win the both Best Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in his rookie season of CPBL(1999), now plays for Brother Elephants.
Tseng Chih-chen (曾智偵) - former manager and assistant general manager.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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