Brother Elephants
Encyclopedia
The Brother Elephants are a professional baseball
team in Taiwan
. It was originally established as an amateur
team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City
, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball League
(CPBL) in 1989. Brother Hotel's chairman Hung Teng-sheng (洪騰勝) also acted as CPBL's secretary-general from 1989 until now, and is respected as "father of the CPBL".
The Brother Elephants team has worn yellow uniforms throughout its history, and makes New Taipei its home city, with a training field in Longtan
Township, Taoyuan County.
in the now demolished Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium
with a full house of 14,350 in attendance. Interestingly, the two teams are also the only two remaining original teams of the CPBL.
With its long history from the amateur era plus a successful marketing strategy and management, the Brother Elephants has long been the most popular Taiwanese baseball team, also winning six, CPBL championships, more than any other team. Its current roster includes two local batting stars Chen Chih-yuan and Peng Cheng-min
, both of whom participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics
. Cola Yeh, a former Brother Elephant's player, later moved to New Zealand and started his own baseball club, the Cola Yeh Baseball team. He coached the New Zealand
Little League Baseball team.
Despite having the best season-long record for the 2004 season, the Elephants were unable to participate in the Taiwan Series
because they had won neither half season. This resulted in the expansion of the playoffs to three teams beginning in 2005, where the team with the best season-long record among non-champions for the season would gain a wildcard berth, thus preventing a similar occurrence in the future.
In mid-season of 2008, GM Hung Je-he revealed the possibility of sale or disbanding of the organization if the financial deficit continues after the 2009 season.
The 2009 season saw great promise. Brother Elephants were triumphant in winning the second half of the season. Unfortunately, the team was affected deeply by the game fixing scandal which resulted in expulsion of many team players and the coach.
The 2010 season saw Brother Elephants coming third in the first half of the season.
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....
team in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. It was originally established as an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball League
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League , or CPBL, is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003...
(CPBL) in 1989. Brother Hotel's chairman Hung Teng-sheng (洪騰勝) also acted as CPBL's secretary-general from 1989 until now, and is respected as "father of the CPBL".
The Brother Elephants team has worn yellow uniforms throughout its history, and makes New Taipei its home city, with a training field in Longtan
Longtan, Taoyuan
Longtan is a rural township in southern Taoyuan County, Taiwan Province. Longtan is home to the headquarters of the Republic of China Army....
Township, Taoyuan County.
History
On March 17, 1990 the Brother Elephants played the first historical CPBL game against the Uni-President LionsUni-President Lions
The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions are a professional baseball team based in Tainan City, Taiwan. The organization is named after the Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerate whose sub-company Uni-President Baseball Team Company oversees operations of the team...
in the now demolished Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium
Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium
Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium was a baseball park located in the Songshan District of Taipei, Taiwan. It was opened in 1959, and hosted numerous major baseball games over the years, including the CPBL's first game in 1990 between Uni-President Lions and Brother Elephants...
with a full house of 14,350 in attendance. Interestingly, the two teams are also the only two remaining original teams of the CPBL.
With its long history from the amateur era plus a successful marketing strategy and management, the Brother Elephants has long been the most popular Taiwanese baseball team, also winning six, CPBL championships, more than any other team. Its current roster includes two local batting stars Chen Chih-yuan and Peng Cheng-min
Peng Cheng-min
Peng Cheng-min, , is a Taiwanese baseball player who currently plays first base for the Brother Elephants of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. During the 2001-2002 seasons he was designated hitter for the team. Starting in 2003, he began his four-season tenure in right field...
, both of whom participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics
Baseball at the 2004 Summer Olympics
-Preliminary round:The top four teams advanced to the semifinals. To determine the seed ranking of teams tied in the standings, the result of the two teams' game against each other was used. Japan therefore received first place due to the win over Cuba. In the semi-finals, Japan played...
. Cola Yeh, a former Brother Elephant's player, later moved to New Zealand and started his own baseball club, the Cola Yeh Baseball team. He coached the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Little League Baseball team.
Despite having the best season-long record for the 2004 season, the Elephants were unable to participate in the Taiwan Series
Taiwan Series
Taiwan Series is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It is usually played in October, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the CPBL Seasonal Championship Series , and was renamed the Taiwan Series after the merger of the Chinese Professional Baseball...
because they had won neither half season. This resulted in the expansion of the playoffs to three teams beginning in 2005, where the team with the best season-long record among non-champions for the season would gain a wildcard berth, thus preventing a similar occurrence in the future.
In mid-season of 2008, GM Hung Je-he revealed the possibility of sale or disbanding of the organization if the financial deficit continues after the 2009 season.
The 2009 season saw great promise. Brother Elephants were triumphant in winning the second half of the season. Unfortunately, the team was affected deeply by the game fixing scandal which resulted in expulsion of many team players and the coach.
The 2010 season saw Brother Elephants coming third in the first half of the season.
Records
| Qualified for Playoffs | Taiwan Series Taiwan Series Taiwan Series is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. It is usually played in October, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the CPBL Seasonal Championship Series , and was renamed the Taiwan Series after the merger of the Chinese Professional Baseball... Championship |
Asia Series Asia Series The Asia Series is an international baseball tournament in East Asia that was first held between November 10 and November 13, 2005, in Tokyo. The tournament was sponsored by Konami corporation from 2005 to 2007 and was known as the Konami Cup in that period.It is played among the annual champions... Championship |
Regular Seasons
| Season | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother Elephants | |||||
| 1990 | 34 (17/17) | 49 (25/24) | 7 (3/4) | .410 (.405/.415) | 4 (3/4) |
| 1991 | 38 (21/17) | 49 (23/26) | 3 (1/2) | .437 (.477/.395) | 3 (3/4) |
| 1992 | 51 (27/24) | 35 (17/18) | 4 (1/3) | .593 (.614/.571) | 1 (1/1) |
| 1993 | 52 (28/24) | 36 (16/20) | 2 (1/1) | .591 (.636/.545) | 2 (1/2) |
| 1994 | 64 (34/30) | 24 (11/13) | 2 (0/2) | .727 (.756/.698) | 1 (1/1) |
| 1995 | 48 (25/23) | 51 (25/26) | 1 (0/1) | .485 (.500/.469) | 4 (4/3) |
| 1996 | 52 (29/23) | 43 (19/24) | 5 (2/3) | .547 (.604/.489) | 4 (2/4) |
| 1997 | 45 (23/22) | 44 (20/24) | 7 (5/2) | .506 (.535/.478) | 3 (3/5) |
| 1998 | 33 | 69 | 3 | 0.324 | 6 |
| 1999 | 37 | 53 | 4 | 0.411 | 5 |
| 2000 | 38 (21/17) | 48 (21/27) | 4 (3/1) | .442 (.500/.386) | 4 (3/4) |
| 2001 | 44 (17/27) | 39 (23/16) | 7 (5/2) | .530 (.435/.628) | 2 (3/1) |
| 2002 | 53 (25/28) | 33 (17/16) | 4 (3/1) | .616 (.595/.636) | 1 (1/1) |
| 2003 | 63 (27/36) | 31 (20/11) | 6 (3/3) | .670 (.574/.766) | 1 (3/1) |
| 2004 | 54 (26/28) | 45 (23/22) | 3 (1/2) | .545 (.531/.560) | 3 (3/2) |
| 2005 | 47 (25/22) | 49 (23/26) | 4 (2/2) | .490 (.521/.458) | 4 (3/6) |
| 2006 | 40 (20/20) | 59 (29/30) | 1 (1/0) | .404 (.408/.400) | 6 (5/6) |
| 2007 | 49 (24/25) | 50 (25/25) | 1 (1/0) | .495 (.490/.500) | 3 (4/4) |
| 2008 | 52 (24/28) | 42 (23/19) | 4 (3/6) | .548 (.511/.587) | 3 (3/3) |
| 2009 | 54 (21/33) | 63 (38/25) | 3 (1/2) | .462 (.356/.569) | 4 (4/1) |
| 2010 | 61 (25/36) | 57 (33/24) | 2 (2/0) | .517 (.431/.600) | 2 (2/1) |
| 2011 | 60 (28/32) | 60 (32/28) | 0 (0/0) | .500 (.467/.533) | 3 (3/2) |
| Total | 1069 | 1029 | 75 | .510 | -- |
Playoffs
| Season | First Round | Taiwan Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Losses | Opponent | Wins | Losses | |
| Brother Elephants | ||||||
| 1992 | No playoffs. The Elephants won the championship by virtue of winning both half-seasons. | |||||
| 1993 | No first round. | Uni-President Lions Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions are a professional baseball team based in Tainan City, Taiwan. The organization is named after the Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerate whose sub-company Uni-President Baseball Team Company oversees operations of the team... |
4 | 2 | ||
| 1994 | No playoffs. The Elephants won the championship by virtue of winning both half-seasons. | |||||
| 2001 | No first round. | Uni-President Lions Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions are a professional baseball team based in Tainan City, Taiwan. The organization is named after the Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerate whose sub-company Uni-President Baseball Team Company oversees operations of the team... |
4 | 3 | ||
| 2002 | No first round. | Chinatrust Whales Chinatrust Whales The Chinatrust Whales , formerly Koos Group Whales , were a Taiwanese professional baseball team. Originally founded as an amateur team in 1991, this club became professional and joined the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 1997. It is administered by the Chinatrust Financial Holding... |
4 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | No first round. | Sinon Bulls Sinon Bulls Despite a nice start, this club had been performing poorly throughout its short history, mainly due to the controversial leading styles of Jungo Corporation's then chairman Chen I-ping... |
4 | 2 | ||
| 2008 2008 Chinese Professional Baseball League playoffs The 2008 Taiwan Series was played by the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, team that placed first in the all-season standing, and the Brother Elephants, wild card winner who advanced to Taiwan Series by defeating La New Bears in the Playoff Series... |
La New Bears La New Bears The Lamigo Monkeys , formerly First Financial Holdings Agan and then the La New Bears , are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan... |
3 | 0 | Uni-President Lions Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions are a professional baseball team based in Tainan City, Taiwan. The organization is named after the Uni-President Corporation, one of Taiwan's largest conglomerate whose sub-company Uni-President Baseball Team Company oversees operations of the team... |
3 | 4 |
| 2009 | No first round. | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2010 | No first round. | Sinon Bulls Sinon Bulls Despite a nice start, this club had been performing poorly throughout its short history, mainly due to the controversial leading styles of Jungo Corporation's then chairman Chen I-ping... |
4 | 0 | ||
| Total | Combining the first round and Taiwan Series | 26 | 15 | |||