Китайская Профессиональная Бейсбольная Лига (Тайвань)

Китайская Профессиональная Бейсбольная Лига (Тайвань)

Links
www.CPBL.com.tw Facebook Instagram YouTube Wikipedia

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; Chinese: 中華職業棒球大聯盟; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Zhíyè Bàngqiú Dàliánméng) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of the 2024 season, the CPBL consists of six organizations, all of which have teams in the main league and farm league.

The CPBL consists of Major (Chinese: 一軍; lit. 'first/primary corps') and, since 2006, Minor (Chinese: 二軍; lit. 'second/reserve corps') leagues, with the Minor league team rosters consist of developmental and injury-recovering players.

CPBL TV is CPBL's official paid live-streaming and video-on-demand platform. It receives signals from each team's broadcasting partners and is available worldwide.

History

Baseball was first introduced to Taiwan during Japanese rule, and gained popularity when the national little league baseball teams won numerous Little League World Series championships in the 1970s and 1980s. The national baseball team also performed exceptionally well in many international competitions. However, the development of baseball in Taiwan was limited due to the lack of a professional league, and therefore many players were reluctant to commit to the sport.

The idea of forming a professional baseball league in Taiwan was first suggested by local Brother Hotel's chairman Hung Teng-sheng (洪騰勝). He formed his amateur Brother Hotel baseball team in 1984, and intended to professionalize his team and form a professional league within a few years. Throughout 1988 and 1989, Hung visited numerous Taiwanese businesses, trying to convince them to form professional baseball clubs. Most of his requests were rejected, but Wei Chuan Corporation, Mercuries Chain Stores, and Uni-President Corporation all supported the idea and formed teams. The Chinese Professional Baseball League was established on October 23, 1989, with Hung Teng-sheng acting as secretary-general. Because of his contribution to professional baseball in Taiwan, Hung is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the CPBL." Chung Meng-shun (鍾孟舜) designed every original logo of the four founding teams.

Expansions in the 1990s

With the popularity rise in the first few years, the Jungo Bears and China Times Eagles joined in 1993. The Koos Group Whales joined in 1997. The league consisted of seven teams in the 1997 season which is the maximum in CPBL history.

Game-fixing scandals and decline in popularity

The Black Eagles Incident in 1997 resulted in a major popularity decline. The China Times Eagles became defunct after the 1997 season. The Wei Chuan Dragons and Mercuries Tigers also became defunct after the 1999 season, prior to which the Dragons had won all championships from 1997 to 1999.

Merger with Taiwan Major League

In 1997, the newly founded Taiwan Major League began to compete with the CPBL. The two leagues were often competing with each other, but eventually, the TML merged with the CPBL.

Recent expansions

In May 2019, Commissioner John Wu announced that CPBL had reached agreement with Ting Hsin International Group to join the league by reactivating a former team, the Wei Chuan Dragons. The Dragons participated in the minor league in 2020, and returned to the major league in 2021.

After Tsai Chi-chang became commissioner in 2021, he proposed that Kaohsiung serve as the location for a new team since it was the only major city in Taiwan without a CPBL team at the time. In February 2022, Tsai announced that the sixth team would either be formed by Chunghwa Telecom or Taiwan Steel Group. It was later announced that the expansion team would be by Taiwan Steel Group. The proposed team name is TSG Hawks, and their home field would be Chengcing Lake Stadium in Kaohsiung.

2020 season and COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening day of the 31st CPBL season on March 14 was delayed. It was originally brought earlier compared to previous seasons to accommodate the final qualifying tournament of 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

On 1 April, the CPBL announced that the season would begin from 11 April as the Rakuten Monkeys hosted the Chinatrust Brothers with the games being playing without live fans. This received international coverage because other major baseball leagues such as the MLB in North America, the NPB in Japan, and the KBO in South Korea, which were still severely impacted by the virus outbreak were unable to confirm the dates of their respective season openings. The annual CPBL All-Star Game was cancelled for the first time to accommodate to the compact schedule.

Китайская профессиональная бейсбольная лига (Китайская республика) (中 844; 887;業棒球大 879;盟, CPBL, китайский: 中華 887;業棒球大 879;盟) — бейсбольная лига в Китайской республике (Тайване). Лига была основана 19 октября 1989 года и является одной из крупнейших профессиональных спортивных лиг на острове.

В лиге на данный момент выступают 5 команд:

* Брэйвз из Таоюаня
* Драконы из Тайчжун (Чжунъюаньский институт науки и технологий)
* Элефантс из Гаосюна
* Судьи из Тайбэя
* Обезьяны из Нового Тайбэя

Сезон в CPBL обычно начинается в апреле и заканчивается в сентябре. Каждая команда играет 120 игр за сезон. Команды, занявшие первые два места в регулярном сезоне, автоматически выходят в плей-офф, а остальные четыре команды разыгрывают оставшиеся два места в плей-офф. Плей-офф проходит в формате до двух побед. Победитель плей-офф становится чемпионом CPBL.

CPBL является одной из самых популярных спортивных лиг на Тайване. Матчи лиги транслируются по телевидению и радио на весь остров. Лига также имеет большую армию болельщиков в других странах Азии, особенно в Китае, Японии и Южной Корее.

CPBL сыграла важную роль в развитии бейсбола на Тайване. Многие игроки CPBL выступали за сборную Китайской республики на международных турнирах. Лига также помогла развитию бейсбольной инфраструктуры на Тайване. По всей стране были построены новые стадионы и тренировочные базы.

CPBL является важным элементом спортивной культуры Тайваня. Лига пользуется большой популярностью среди болельщиков и является одним из самых популярных видов спорта на острове.