By Richard Wang, WBSC Baseball – Asia Correspondent
TAICHUNG, Taiwan – The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) celebrated its 26th All-Star Weekend, which also featured a Legends Game and Homerun Derby at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium this past weekend.
WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari — who was in Taiwan to open the WBSC 2015 U-12 Baseball World Cup that is currently being staged in Tainan — attended the CPBL All-Star festivities and commended Taiwan’s top sports league for its continued growth and potential expansion.
CPBL is an Associate Member of international body WBSC.
The first-ever CPBL Legends Game was held, gathering 30 retired CPBL star players and coaches for a three inning showcase version of the game.
The Legends Game received overwhelming attention and was among the top highlights of the All-Star Weekend.
Retired MLB stars Ivan Rodriguez and Jason Giambi (1992 Barcelona Olympian) were invited by CPBL to Taiwan to participate in the Homerun Derby — treating the crowd to long-range home runs. (Visit CPBL TV to see the Homerun Derby)
“Baseball is really becoming a worldwide game,” Giambi told reporters in Taiwan.
2015 Season: Leading up to the All-Star break, the Lamigo Monkeys won the CPBL first half to guarantee themselves a spot in the best-of-seven Taiwan Series.
A teaser video for the new global baseball competition, WBSC Premier12, was run on the giant screen at Intercontinental Stadium, one of the six venues of the Premier12, which is set to launch this November in Japan and in Taiwan.
