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The Rakuten Monkeys (), formerly First Financial Holdings Agan (, abbreviated ), La New Bears () and then the Lamigo Monkeys (), are a professional baseball team in the
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) 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 20 ...
(CPBL) in Taiwan. Owned and administered by the Kaohsiung-based shoe-producing La New Corporation and then the Japan-based
electronic commerce and online retailing company
Rakuten, the Monkeys qualified for the
playoffs in 2006 for the first time in team history, and by finishing with the best record for the whole season, gained an automatic berth in the
Taiwan Series
Taiwan Series () is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). It is usually played in late October or early November, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the ''CPBL Seasonal Championship Series'' () ...
.
The team played their home games at
Chengcing Lake Baseball Field
The Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium located in Niaosong District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on the side of Chengcing Lake. The stadium opened in 1999 and has been the home of Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala (1999–2002), First Finan ...
in
Kaohsiung County (now part of
Kaohsiung City
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohs ...
) from 2004 to 2010. In the 2011 season, their home stadium was moved to
Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium
The Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium (), originally known as Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium () until Rakuten acquired the naming rights in 2022, is a multi-use stadium located in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The stadium opened in 2010 and has a c ...
. Accordingly, the team's name was changed to the Lamigo Monkeys, and the current owner Rakuten maintains the "Monkeys" name.
History
First Financial Holdings Agan (2003)
First known as the First Securities Agan, the team was owned by the First Financial Holding Corporation, a government-funded financial holding service institute. Its then-chairman Chen Chien-lung was a keen political supporter of President
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
, and, upon the president's request, immediately agreed to take over one of the two former
TML TML may refer to:
* Taiwan Major League, former Taiwan baseball league
* TML Entertainment, record label established for the Canadian band Triumph
* Toronto Maple Leafs, Canadian pro ice hockey team
* TransducerML, transducer markup language
* T ...
teams after TML was merged into CPBL in January 2003. Since Macoto Bank had already decided to take-over the
Macoto Gida, Chen Chien-lung took over the Agan as promised. The majority of Agan's player came from
Taipei Gida and
Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala
The Rakuten Monkeys (), formerly First Financial Holdings Agan (, abbreviated ), La New Bears () and then the Lamigo Monkeys (), are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. Owned and administer ...
, and not from the
Taichung Agan The Taichung Agan () was a Taiwanese professional baseball team belonging to the Taiwan Major League (TML). It was based in Taichung and took the Taichung Baseball Field (and occasionally the Hsinchu CKS Baseball Stadium) as its home throughout its ...
, which carried the same mascot and were the champions of the final season of TML. Agan played its home games at
Chengcing Lake Baseball Field
The Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium located in Niaosong District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on the side of Chengcing Lake. The stadium opened in 1999 and has been the home of Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala (1999–2002), First Finan ...
.
After Chen Chien-lung's sudden resignation due to allegation of
insider trading in August 2003, the First Financial Holding Corporation no longer showed willingness in running the team. The Agan finished the 2003 season placing fifth overall, and did not win any of the 20 games against
Brother Elephants
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
, the
Taiwan Series
Taiwan Series () is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). It is usually played in late October or early November, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the ''CPBL Seasonal Championship Series'' () ...
champions of that season.
La New Bears (2004–2010)
Just before the 2004 season, Kaohsiung County Magistrate
Yang Chiu-hsing
Yang Chiu-hsing (; born 15 May 1956) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a Minister without Portfolio in the Executive Yuan and Magistrate of Kaohsiung County.
Kaohsiung County Magistracy
Yang was elected as the Magistrate of Kaohsiung County a ...
invited the La New Corporation, a footwear manufacturer to sponsor the then-vacant
Chengcing Lake Baseball Field
The Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium located in Niaosong District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on the side of Chengcing Lake. The stadium opened in 1999 and has been the home of Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala (1999–2002), First Finan ...
, which was under the management of Kaohsiung County after the disbandment of
Taiwan Major League
The Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball (TML; ) was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) b ...
. La New Corporation eventually agreed and, in addition, offered to buy the First Financial Holdings Agan, whose management had been struggling in the past season. On December 16, 2003, La New completed the process with First Financial Holdings and renamed the team La New Bears. In the first two years of their existence, the Bears did not perform well. But after several additions to the roster through drafts and the minor league, the Bears turned the team around, eventually winning the
2006 Taiwan Series
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) playoffs included the three top teams from the regular season and crowned a champion with the Taiwan Series through the month of October, 2006. The winner represented Taiwan in the Konami Cup in Jap ...
title.
Lamigo Monkeys (2011–2019)
After several years of futile effort to manage the Kaohsiung market, the team relocated to
Taoyuan County
Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangjiang To ...
(now Taoyuan City) and changed its name to Lamigo Monkeys in January 2011. Lamigo is a subsidiary of La New Corporation that operates a wellness center, restaurants as well as a travel agency in northern Taiwan. Since Lamigo is based in northern Taiwan, the team was moved to Taoyuan County and play their home games at
Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium
The Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium (), originally known as Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium () until Rakuten acquired the naming rights in 2022, is a multi-use stadium located in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The stadium opened in 2010 and has a c ...
. Their new name in Chinese, ''taoyuan'' (桃猿), is a homophone to their new home county. Despite the name change, La New Corporation retained its direct ownership of the team. In 2012, the Monkeys won their first seasonal title after the name change when they defeated
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...
four games to one in
Taiwan Series
Taiwan Series () is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). It is usually played in late October or early November, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the ''CPBL Seasonal Championship Series'' () ...
. In July 2019, the organization announced that the team would be sold. In September 2019, negotiations with
Rakuten to acquire the team closed successfully. With the sale, Rakuten became the first foreign company to own a Chinese Professional Baseball League team. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Rakuten Monkeys (2020–present)
The team name was formally changed to the Rakuten Monkeys on 17 December 2019. New uniforms were also revealed, similar in design to the
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...
uniforms.
In 2020, fans were not allowed to attend sporting events in Taiwan due to the
coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
. The Rakuten Monkeys decided to place robotic mannequins in the stands to simulate the appearance of fans at their games.
Records
Regular seasons
Playoffs
Asia Series
Roster
List of managers
Retired numbers
* 10 – The number is reserved for the fans, as the tenth player on the field.
* 52 – The number is retired in honour of
Chin-Feng Chen
Chen Chin-feng (; born 28 October 1977) is a retired baseball outfielder who was the first Taiwan-born player playing in Major League Baseball in 2002. Chen is a Taiwanese aborigine of Siraya tribal ancestry.
Career
In 1999 in the Cal League ...
since September 2016.
* 9 – The number is retired in honour of
Wang Po-Jung.
See also
*
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) 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 20 ...
References
External links
Official website
{{authority control
2003 establishments in Taiwan
Baseball teams established in 2003
Rakuten
Chinese Professional Baseball League teams
Sport in Taoyuan City