TAINAN, Taiwan – Today's game has been rained out. I have noticed that it rains almost every six hours here. It's crazy the amount of rain. I have been told that it is normal, so I have been going with the flow. Since I got here, I have watched two games, two off days and three rain outs.
Like I said, A LOT of rain.
During the rain-outs the team stays and gets their work in. In America I remember the second it was officially rained out we took off! Of course some guys stayed and did some work, but the difference here is the whole team stayed and made sure everyone ran lifted and got their work in.
With my days and nights still a little messed up, I find myself waking up at all hours in the night. My body just has not settled in yet but I am getting to bed early and waking up early.
With the off day here are some interesting facts about the league:
There are only four teams in Taiwan in the C.P.B.L. (Chinese Professional Baseball League)
- Uni-lions (My team)
- Brother Elephants
- Lamigo Monkeys
- Eda Rhinos
Two teams in the south and two in the north, but no team is more than 4 1/2 hours away by bus and two hours away by high-speed rail.
The season is 120 games, broken up into halves.
If you win the first half, you're automatically in the playoffs. If you win both first and second half you advance to the championship series with a 1-0 lead in the best of seven format.
If a different team wins each half, the best overall record goes to the championship. The second and third place records will play a best of five series for the right to play in the championship.
The All Star break is 14 days long. The reason for the long break is that there are so many rain-outs (like today) that the league gives a buffer for those make-up games to be played. I like this system as opposed to having double headers all the time. Think of snow days in the public school system.
Mondays are all off days and sometimes Tuesday is off, as well.
Starters will pitch once every six or seven days.
Sadly, pitchers do not hit.
I am sure there is more to the league but I am still learning.
Seth McClung pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2007-2009, but broke into the Major Leagues with Tampa Bay in 2003. The West Virginia native is now a pitcher in Taiwan.
McClung, a popular player during his time in Milwaukee, remains connected to Brewers fans through this blog on OnMilwaukee.com.
"Big Red" will cover baseball in a way only a player can, but he'll talk about other sports, too. The 6 foot, 6 inch flamethrower will write about life outside the game, too.
