The Taichung Agan () was a Taiwanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

team belonging to the

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 ...

(TML). It was based in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

and took the

Taichung Baseball Field The Taichung Baseball Field () is a multi-purpose stadium in North District, Taichung, North District, Taichung, Taiwan. Built in 1935 during the Taiwan under Japanese rule era, this stadium has been repeatedly refurbished and currently can seat ...

(and occasionally the

Hsinchu CKS Baseball Stadium Hsinchu Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium in North District, Hsinchu, North District, Hsinchu, Hsinchu City, Taiwan. It hosted occasional games for Taichung Agan and Taipei Gida in the defunct Taiwan Major League. The stadium is now the b ...

) as its home throughout its history. After TML's collapse in early 2003 the Agan was absorbed by 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 ...

's Macoto Cobras. Its most notable sponsor was the Acer Corporation, which sponsored this team in its last 2002 season. The team's mascot, ''Agan'', was derived from the Taiwanese aboriginal language of Tsou.

Team history

The Agan finished last in the league's debut season of 1997, going 41-53. Mitch Lyden (.350, 27 HR, 72 RBI) was second in the league in average and possibly second in homers as the offensive star. The pitching was led by

Al Osuna Alfonso Osuna, Jr. (born August 10, 1965), is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1990 to 1994 and 1996. He played for the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres The San Diego Padre ...

(8-6, 2.50), who had the best ERA in the league. The Agan remained last with a 40-66 season in 1998. Lyden's production dropped drastically (.278, 6 HR) and

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 ...

(7-4, 2.52) was the top hurler, finishing third in the league in ERA. The Agan improved drastically in 1999, going 40-42-2 to finish second in the TML, then they beat the

Taipei Gida Taipei Gida () was a Taiwanese professional baseball team that existed from 1997 to 2002. It was one of the four Taiwan Major League (TML) teams and was based in Taipei, Taiwan. Its historical sponsors included local Sampo Corporation and Macoto B ...

4 games to 2 in the championship. Hsu (15-6, 2.83) was third in ERA during the regular season and then was the MVP of the championship series.

Brad Strauss Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

came over from the

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 ...

during the season and won the batting title at .387. Agan wore out though, and fell back to last in 2000 (35-46-3).

Koji Muto Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

(6-6, 2.74) was the top starter while

Tung Tsung-hui Tung may refer to: People * Madison Tung, a U.S. Air Force Officer, wrestler, and Rhodes Scholar * Ho-Pin Tung, a dutch race car driver of Chinese descent. * Lola Tung, an actress known for her acting debut on drama series The Summer I Turned Pr ...

(.330) was fourth in the TML in average. Taichung pulled a worst-to-first with a dazzling 43-16-1 record in 2001 and they beat Taipei Gida 4 games to 2 in the finals. Tung (.331) was again third in average, while

Huang Chin-chih Huang Chin-chih (; born 1 January 1978) is a Taiwanese baseball player who was the last MVP of the Taiwan Major League and is currently a pitching coach with the Chinatrust Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Amateur career H ...

(7-3, 1.62) led the league in ERA and Hsu Chu-chien (7-2, 2.64) was fifth. Richard Bell (2-2, 22 Sv, 1.62, 69 K, 34 H in 55 IP) was the league's top reliever. As the TML merged with the

after 2002, it was Agan's last season and they again steamrolled the competition with a 47-24-1 record and toppling the Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala 4 to 1 in the best-of-7 finals. Huang Chin-chih(16-2, 2 Sv, 1.46) led the league in wins and ERA and Muto (8-3, 2.26) was second in ERA. Ned Darley (2-0, 14 Sv, 1.13) again gave the team an effective foreign closer.

Roberto Mejía Roberto Antonio Mejía Díaz (born April 14, 1972) is a Dominican former professional baseball second baseman. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball between 1993 and 1997, and one season in the Korea Baseball Organizatio ...

led the league in hitting (.332), stole 20 bases and was second in homers (14) and RBI (62). The only better slugger was

Chia-Hsian Hsieh Hsieh Chia-hsien (; born 8 April 1976 in Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese professional baseball player. Originally drafted by the Taiwan Major League's Taichung Agan in 1998, after TML's merger into CPBL he has been playin ...

, who homered 19 times, drove in 64 and was second with a .321 average. With three titles, the Agan were the most successful team in TML history, though they finished last in their other three seasons.

References

{{CPBL Defunct baseball teams in Taiwan Sport in Taichung