Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions

The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (Chinese: 統一7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn獅), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Taiwan, and homefielded primary at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium.

Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions
統一7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn獅
Information
LeagueChinese Professional Baseball League
LocationTainan City
BallparkTainan Municipal Baseball Stadium
Year founded1989 (1989)
Taiwan Series championships
Former name(s)
  • Uni-President (1989–1990)
  • Uni-President Lions (1990–2007)
  • Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions (2008–present)
Playoff berths1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
Retired numbers1, 56
Ownership
ManagerLin Yueh-ping
General ManagerSu Tai-an
Websitewww.uni-lions.com.tw
Uniforms
Home
Away
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
Traditional Chinese統一7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn獅
Simplified Chinese統一7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn狮

The organization is owned by Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerates, whose subsidiary Uni-President Baseball Team Company oversees operations of the team. The Lions are the only CPBL team owned by the same parent company and played continuously since CPBL's founding season in 1990.

History

Amateur era

The team was first established as amateur Uni-President Baseball Team (Chinese: 統一棒球隊) in 1989 for the purpose of training and preparation for eventual professionalization in the next year. The corporation originally intended to recruit players from Taipower Baseball Team, an amateur baseball team based in nearby Kaohsiung, but faced many difficulties in the process.

Uni-President originally offered Lin Chia-hsiang (Chinese: 林家祥) the position of team manager, hoping that his status as Taipower's head coach would ensure players' willingness to join the new team. Lin accepted at first, and agreed to aid the effort of recruiting players. However, due to uncertainties in a professional career, players were reluctant to leave Taipower for the new team, and Lin could only secure a few players and was far below the 15 players minimum requirement of the amateur league. Lin then turned down the offer, leaving Uni-President searching for a replacement for the manager position. Uni-President eventually contacted Cheng Kuen-chi (Chinese: 鄭昆吉) and offered him the position. Cheng, a former coach of Taipower who was respected by many players, accepted the offer and became the first manager for Uni-President. Cheng then used his connection to convince players to join the team, and Uni-President barely met the minimum requirement after Brother baseball team lent players to Uni-President. The team then participated and performed modestly in two amateur series in 1989.

Early years

The team was professionalized on January 1, 1990, following the establishment of CPBL. Uni-President chose Lions as its mascot, and hence the team was renamed Uni-President Lions. The Lions played the opening game of CPBL on March 17, 1990 with Brother Elephants in the now demolished Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium, defeated the Elephants, and scored their first victory in professional baseball.[1] However, the Lions performed poorly in their first professional season, placed third and only saved by Brother Elephants's even poorer performance.

The season of 1991 saw significant improvements in the Lions' performance. The Lions were able to advance into the playoffs and play Wei Chuan Dragons, who they defeated four games to two and won their first title. The next three years saw the dominance of the Elephants, who won three consecutive seasonal titles from 1992 to 1994, and defeated the Lions in the 1993 playoffs. It was during these years that the Lions and Elephants developed a long-lasting rivalry. The Lions again won the titles in 1995 and 1996.

Black Eagles scandal and the 1997 season

The 1997 season was not smooth sailing as many has expected; the Lions started out losing some prominent players to the rival Taiwan Major League. Also, the game-fixing scandal in mid-season of 1997, known as the Black Eagles scandal, was a major blow to the CPBL in general in that the average attendance dropped significantly, and teams were either forced out of the market or had to scale back on the budget and shut down some expansion projects over the next few years.

Furthermore, at the end of 1997 season, the Lions led the league with 58–7–31, while the Dragons (46–4–46) and the Eagles (41–4–51) were placed third and fourth respectively. However, the regulation dictated that the playoffs should be played by the team that led the league in the first half-season and the team in the second half-season. It was assumed that if a team leads the league in the whole year, it should have placed first in both half-seasons, and thus allowed to participate in the championship series. The loophole became obvious when the Dragons, placed seventh in the first half but first in the second half, and the Eagles, placed first in the first half and seventh in the second half, got a berth in the playoffs. The loophole was fixed in the following year.

Present

The team was officially renamed Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in 2008. 7-Eleven in Taiwan is franchised by President Chain Store Corporation, a subsidiary of Uni-President Enterprises Corporation; each entity now owns roughly half of the shares of the Lions.

Organization

Minor league

The Lions were credited as the first organization to form a minor league team. As early as 1990, when CPBL was still in its early years, the Lions were making preparation for establishment of a second team by hiring coaches and scouting talented players for the project. The reserve team, however, was disbanded due to lack of opponent and players. In 1997, the Lions again formed a reserve team, but it met the same fate as its predecessor due to the game-fixing scandal and the decline in attendance. No further expansion was made until after the CPBL-TML merger took place.

In late 2003, after the merger of the two competing league, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association assisted CPBL in forming a minor league by sending alternative service players to be trained by and filled the roster of member organizations of CPBL. The Lions were supportive of this project initially, but later backed out due to financial reasons. In early 2006, the Lions announced the revival of the minor league project, and began the expansion of the team. The roster consisted of reserve players, alternative service players, and non-contract players. Alternative service players and non-contract players are restricted to play exclusively on the second team. As of the 2013 season, the team is made up exclusively of contracted players.

Foreign cooperation

The Lions have been working with other organization in Asia and North America to improve the performance of the organization; collaborators includes Yomiuri Giants of NPB's Central League and Red Sox organization of MLB. Also, the Lions have participated in many friendly exhibition games with teams from other professional organizations.

Notable achievements

The Lions are the holders of many CPBL records. The most well-known is the winning streak of 17 games in the 2006 season. The Lions are currently holding the records as the team with the most wins, home runs, and Taiwan Series titles throughout its history.

Records

Qualified for playoffs Taiwan Series Championship

Regular seasons

Season Wins Losses Ties Pct. Place
Uni-President Lions
1990 37 (16/21) 49 (29/20) 4 (0/4) .430 (.356/.512) 3 (4/2)
1991 46 (21/25) 34 (20/14) 10 (4/6) .575 (.512/.641) 1 (2/1)
1992 41 (20/21) 45 (23/22) 4 (2/2) .477 (.465/.488) 3 (3/2)
1993 54 (25/29) 34 (20/14) 2 (0/2) .614 (.556/.674) 1 (3/1)
1994 48 (22/26) 38 (20/18) 4 (3/1) .558 (.524/.591) 2 (3/2)
1995 62 (32/30) 36 (17/19) 2 (1/1) .633 (.653/.612) 1 (1/1)
1996 60 (34/26) 37 (15/22) 3 (1/2) .619 (.694/.542) 1 (1/3)
1997 58 (28/30) 31 (16/15) 7 (4/3) .652 (.636/.667) 1 (2/2)
1998 57 45 3 .563 2
1999 56 37 0 .602 2
2000 44 (17/27) 43 (27/16) 3 (1/2) .506 (.386/.659) 2 (4/1)
2001 49 (27/22) 37 (14/23) 4 (4/0) .570 (.659/.489) 1 (1/3)
2002 32 (18/14) 54 (24/30) 4 (3/1) .372 (.429/.318) 4 (4/4)
2003 54 (24/30) 39 (23/16) 7 (3/4) .581 (.511/.652) 3 (4/2)
2004 54 (28/26) 40 (18/22) 6 (4/2) .574 (.543/.542) 1 (1/3)
2005 48 (24/24) 49 (26/23) 3 (0/3) .495 (.480/.511) 3 (5/3)
2006 48 (28/20) 45 (18/27) 7 (4/3) .516 (.609/.426) 2 (2/5)
2007 58 (27/31) 41 (23/18) 1 (0/1) .586 (.540/.633) 1 (2/2)
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
2008 67 (34/33) 33 (16/17) 0 (0/0) .670 (.680/.660) 1 (1/2)
2009 63 (34/29) 54 (24/30) 3 (2/1) .538 (.586/.492) 1 (1/2)
2010 54 (25/29) 63 (34/29) 3 (1/2) .462 (.424/.500) 3 (4/2)
2011 65 (37/28) 52 (22/30) 3 (1/2) .556 (.627/.483) 2 (1/3)
2012 71 (41/30) 48 (19/29) 1 (0/1) .597 (.683/.508) 1 (1/2)
2013 62 (30/32) 55 (29/26) 3 (1/2) .530 (.508/.552) 1 (2/1)
2014 58 (32/26) 55 (24/31) 7 (4/3) .513 (.571/.456) 2 (2/4)
2015 49 (26/23) 69 (33/36) 2 (1/1) .415 (.441/.390) 4 (4/4)
2016 55 (29/26) 65 (31/34) 0 (0/0) .458 (.483/.433) 3 (2/4)
2017 57 (23/34) 61 (35/26) 2 (2/0) .483 (.397/.567) 2 (3/2)
2018 64 (35/29) 55 (25/30) 1 (0/1) .538 (.583/.492) 2 (2/2)
2019 48 (25/23) 70 (34/36) 2 (1/1) .407 (.424/.390) 4 (4/4)
2020 58 (26/32) 61 (34/27) 1 (0/1) .487 (.433/.542) 3 (3/1)
2021 64 (32/32) 51 (26/25) 5 (2/3) .557 (.552/.561) 2 (2/1)
2022 48 (31/17) 69 (27/42) 3 (2/1) .410 (.534/.288) 4 (3/5)
2023 62 (34/28) 55 (24/31) 3 (2/1) .530 (.586/.475) 2 (1/4)

Playoffs

Season First round Taiwan Series
Opponent Wins Losses Opponent Wins Losses
Uni-President Lions
1991 Did not play Wei Chuan Dragons 4 3
1993 Did not play Brother Elephants 2 4
1995 No playoffs. The Lions won the championship by virtue of winning both half-seasons.
1996 Did not play Wei Chuan Dragons 4 2
1998 Wei Chuan Dragons 1 2 Eliminated
1999 Wei Chuan Dragons 1 2 Eliminated
2000 Did not play Sinon Bulls 4 3
2001 Did not play Brother Elephants 3 4
2004 Did not play Sinon Bulls 3 4
2005 Macoto Cobras 1 3 Eliminated
2006 Sinon Bulls 3 0 La New Bears 0 4
2007 Macoto Cobras 3 0 La New Bears 4 3
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
2008 Did not play Brother Elephants 4 3
2009 Did not play Brother Elephants 4 3
2011 Did not play Lamigo Monkeys 4 1
2012 Did not play Lamigo Monkeys 1 4
2013 Did not play EDA Rhinos 4 0
2017 Chinatrust Brothers 1 3 Eliminated
2018 Fubon Guardians 3 1 Lamigo Monkeys 2 4
2020 Did not play Chinatrust Brothers 4 3
2021 Did not play Chinatrust Brothers 0 4
2023 Rakuten Monkeys

Asia Series

Year First stage Championship round
Wins Losses Standing Opponent Result
Uni-President Lions
2007 1 2 3 Eliminated
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions
2008 2 1 2 Saitama Seibu Lions 0–1 (L)
2011 1 2 3 Eliminated
2013 1 1 Canberra Cavalry 4–14 (L)

Roster

Nelson Figueroa played for the Lions in 2007 and between 2013 and 2014.
Boof Bonser played for the Lions between 2013 and 2014.

Current roster

Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions roster
Players Coaches

Pitchers

Catchers

  • 15 Kuo Chun-wei
  • 31 Lin Dai-an
  • 36 Ko Yu-min
  • 46 Lo Wei-chieh
  • 65 Chen Chung-yu
  • 74 Chang Chao-yuan

Infielders

  •  2 Lin Tzu-hao
  •  3 Shih Kuan-yu
  •  5 Kuo Fu-lin
  •  7 Huang En-tzu
  • 10 Hsu Che-yun
  • 13 Chen Yung-chi
  • 25 Teng Chih-wei
  • 35 Pan Chieh-kai
  • 39 Lin Tzu-chieh
  • 44 Huang Shao-yi
  • 53 Ho Heng-yu
  • 62 Wu Chieh-jui
  • 64 Lin Ching-kai
  • 66 Chen Chung-ting
  • 67 Yao Yu-hsiang
  • 68 Kao Kuo-ching

Outfielders

  •  6 Tang Chao-ting
  •  8 Luo Guo-long
  •  9 Li Cheng-ling
  • 14 Chiu Chih-cheng
  • 24 Chen Chieh-hsien
  • 27 Chiang Liang-wei
  • 28 Cheng Kai-wen
  • 32 Su Chih-chieh
  • 33 Lin Chun-han
  • 49 Wu Kuo-hao
  • 52 Chang Wei-sheng
  • 55 Pan Wu-hsiung
  • 77 Lin An-ko

Manager

Coaches

Second team coaches

  • 98 Kao Chien-san (manager)
  • 47 Lai Po-kai (assistant pitching)
  • 61 Chu Yuan-chin (base and fielding)
  • 72 Kao Cheng-hua (strength)
  • 81 Cheng Po-jen (pitching)
  • 88 Chen Lien-hung (batting)
  • 89 Lin Wei (catching)
  • 91 Chuang Ching-he (fielding)

Roster updated on 20 October 2021

List of managers

No. Name Years Playoffs Championships
1 Cheng Kuen-chi 1990–1993 2 1
2 Yataro Oishi 1994–1996 2 2
3 Lin Chia-hsiang 1997–1998 1 0
Acting Yukihiko Machida 1997
Acting Osamu Inoue 1998
4 Tseng Chih-chen 1999–2002 3 1
Acting Masashi Takenouchi 2000
5 Hsieh Chang-heng 2003–2005 1 0
6 Yutaka Ohashi 2005–2007 2 0
Acting Lo Kuo-chong 2007
7 Lu Wen-sheng 2007–2011 4 4
8 Nakajima Terushi 2012–2013 1 0
Acting Lo Kuo-chong 2013
9 Chen Lien-hung 2013–2015 1 1
10 Kuo Tai-yuan 2016 0 0
11 Huang Kan-lin 2017–2019 2 0
Acting Hsu Sheng-chieh 2018
Acting Liu Yu-chen 2019
12 Lin Yueh-ping 2020–present 3 1
Acting Kao Chih-kang 2022

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.