Kuo Tai-yuan (; ja, かくたいげん (Kaku Taigen); born 20 March 1962) is a Taiwanese retired

NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, and currently a baseball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. With 117 wins accumulated during his 13 seasons pitching for the Seibu Lions, Kuo set the record of being the international player who achieved the most wins in NPB history, and is widely regarded as the greatest Taiwanese pitcher before Chien-Ming Wang (Kuo,

Hong-Chih Kuo Hong-Chih Kuo (; born July 23, 1981 in Tainan, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese retired professional baseball pitcher who last pitched for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He had previously played in Major League ...

and

Chin-Lung Hu Chin-Lung Hu (born February 2, 1984, Chinese 胡金龍 ''Hú Jīnlóng'') is a Taiwanese professional baseball shortstop for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He previously played in Major League Baseball ( ...

are Tainan City natives).

Career

Amateur

Kuo was born in

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of hist ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Originally a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, he started to pitch in high school and immediately became well known for his high quality fastball and slider. In the 1983

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

versus

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

match in Asian Baseball Championship, Kuo did not allow a run to score during 17 consecutive innings, while his fastballs clocked up to 154 km/h (96 mph). He finally won the game and helped Chinese Taipei qualify for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. In the 1984 Olympics preliminary round against the United States, Kuo pitched up to 158 km/h (98 mph) and allowed only 2 runs (one earned run) during his complete game effort, earning the nickname "The Oriental Express". However, Chinese Taipei eventually lost to Team USA, which was studded with

Will Clark William Nuschler Clark Jr. (born March 13, 1964) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, an ...

, Mark McGwire, and the like. Kuo later pitched in the semifinal round against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, allowing one run in 4.2 innings. Kuo's excellent performance drew special attention from the Seibu Lions, and he signed with the club after the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Seibu Lions

As a rookie, Kuo immediately gained a position in Seibu Lion's starting rotation and

no-hit In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

the Nippon Ham Fighters on June 4, 1985, less than 2 months after his debut, and is the first international player to achieve so in the

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

history. Kuo's other notable achievements during his NPB career included: *A streak of 10 consecutive wins during the 1989 season *A streak of 9 consecutive complete games, and was elected as the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the Pacific League in the 1991 season *A streak of 3 consecutive

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s in the 1992 season *Highest winning percentage in the 1988 and 1994 seasons Career Statistics: Kuo retired at the end of 1997 season after he suffered long time wound which cost him a vacant season. Shortly after Kuo's retirement a poll in the Seibu Lions' official website unanimously voted Kuo as the most popular international player in the Seibu Lions history.

Professional Baseball in Taiwan

After retiring from Seibu Lions, the Taiwan Major League(TML) hired Kuo as "senior technical consultant" until the league's collapse in early 2003. Meantime he introduced his former Seibu teammates

Takehiro Ishii Takehiro Ishii (石井丈裕, born October 25, 1964) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Japan national baseball team in 1988, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions and the Nippon-Ham Fig ...

and Hisanobu Watanabe to join TML, originally as players and later as coaches. He also acted as go-between to help then young

Hsu Ming-Chieh Hsu Ming-Chieh (), born December 1, 1976 is a baseball pitcher currently playing for Chinese Professional Baseball League's Lamigo Monkeys in Taiwan. He previously played for Nippon Professional Baseball's Saitama Seibu Lions and Orix Buffaloes ...

and Chang Chih-chia join Seibu Lions, following his steps. After a disappointing 2003 in which he was temporarily jobless and suffered marital crisis (as revealed in the "Personal Life" section later), in 2004 he started to head coach the Macoto Cobras until the end of 2005 season. During his 2 seasons with the Cobras Kuo accumulated a 93 wins, 97 losses, and 17 ties performance. In the 2005

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 Cobras were swept by the

Sinon Bulls In Greek mythology, Sinon (Ancient Greek: Σίνων, from the verb "σίνομαι"—''sinomai'', "to harm, to hurt") or Sinopos, was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War. Family Sinon was the son of Aesimus, son of Autolycus. He was th ...

0-4 and Kuo resigned right after the fiasco, addressing that "I would like to spend more time with my family". He later introduced Macoto Cobras players

Lin En-yu Lin En-yu, (; born 25 March 1981), is a former Taiwanese professional baseball pitcher. After serving in Chinese Taipei's National Training Team in 2003 and 2004, he was drafted by the Macoto Cobras of the Chinese Professional Baseball League i ...

and

Lin Ying-Chieh Lin Ying-chieh (; born 1 May 1981) is a Taiwanese baseball player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( ...

to join

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 c ...

Chinese Taipei national baseball team

On February 15, 2007, Kuo was appointed as the head coach of the

Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei baseball team () is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederat ...

by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. His tasks included the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

and

2007 Asian Baseball Championships The 24th Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Taichung, Taiwan in November and December 2007. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The winner of the tournament will gain automatic entry into the Baseball at the 2008 ...

. However the Chinese Taipei national baseball team performed poorly in both tournaments and he was relieved from the post on December 15, 2007.

Basic Information

*Number: 12 (1984~86), 18 (1987~97), 88 (since 2004) *Height: 180 cm *Weight: 72 kg *Bats/throws: R/R

Personal life

Kuo married Taiwanese model and actress Chang Chiung-tzu (張瓊姿, also credited as Zhang Qiuzi by Chinese media) in December 1993. After their marriage, Chang temporarily gave up her acting career in Taiwan to live with Kuo in Japan until his retirement late in 1997. Together, they had 2 daughters, born in 1997 and 1999.

References

Kuo and Chang's mutual announcement about their marriage (in Traditional Chinese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuo, Tai-Yuan 1962 births Living people Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Taiwan Baseball players from Tainan Seibu Lions players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in Japan Nippon Professional Baseball coaches World Baseball Classic managers Macoto Cobras managers Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions managers Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions coaches