Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Star slugger Lin An-ko (\u6797\u5b89\u53ef), who has officially joined the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), said he looks forward to facing Taiwanese players.<\/p>\n
“Gu Lin Ruei-yang (\u53e4\u6797\u777f\u716c), Hsu Jo-hsi (\u5f90\u82e5\u7199) and Sung Chia-hao (\u5b8b\u5bb6\u8c6a), I look forward to playing against them all” in Japan, the four-time Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) all-star said at a press event in Taipei Friday.<\/p>\n
“To me, Uni-Lions is more than a team, but a family and an important place where I began (my career),” Lin said of his former club, Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, while also thanking Seibu Lions for recognizing his game.<\/p>\n
Despite joining the Japanese franchise as a batter, Uni-Lions manager Lin Yueh-ping (\u6797\u5cb3\u5e73) called him a “handful” who wanted to both pitch and bat when he was first registered as a pitcher for the 2019 CPBL mid-season draft.<\/p>\n
“I knew he had consulted with overseas franchises and wanted to develop as a two-way player,” Lin Yueh-ping said at the event. “However, our assessment at the time was that if his goal was to play abroad, it would take significantly longer to reach that level as a pitcher than as a hitter.”<\/p>\n
Saying Lin An-ko was “capable of crushing home runs even without batting practice,” Lin Yueh-ping expressed satisfaction that the player eventually embraced the team’s vision after the 2020 season, when Lin claimed the CPBL home run title in his debut season.<\/p>\n
During Friday’s event, Lin An-ko donned his new No. 73 jersey, assisted by Seibu Lions President and CEO Tsuyoshi Okumura and senior advisor Tetsuya Shiozaki.<\/p>\n
Shiozaki said that the organization is committed to helping Lin acclimate to Japan as quickly as possible, expressing full confidence in his ability to secure a spot on the top-team roster.<\/p>\n
However, Shiozaki noted it is still too early to determine if the team will release Lin to represent Taiwan’s national team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic this March.<\/p>\n
He declined to reveal specific contract figures, but confirmed the commitment is long-term.<\/p>\n
“What I can say is that we expect Lin to play in Japan for many years,” Shiozaki said. “Consequently, the contract is a multi-year deal rather than just one or two years.”<\/p>\n
(By Chao Yen-hsiang) <\/p>\n
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