Kao Chih-kang, ' onMouseout='HidePop("35166")' href="/topics/Taichung_County">Taichung County

Taichung County

Taichung County was a county in central Taiwan, the Republic of China, that surrounded but did not include Taichung City. The name Taichung means "central Taiwan"...

 (now part of Taichung City), Taiwan

Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...

, Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

), is a Taiwanese professional baseball

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....

 player (position: catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

). After brief amateur

Amateur

An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....

 career in the Taiwan Cooperative Bank

Taiwan Cooperative Bank

The Taiwan Cooperative Bank is a publicly listed bank headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan. Originally formed by the Japanese during the Taiwan under Japanese rule in 1923, TCB was taken over by the Republic of China government since 1946 and has been prospering...

 he was drafted by the 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...

 of 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...

 in early 2005 and stayed in this team to date. Kao is widely regarded as the best Taiwanese catchers of his generation, and has been a frequent member of the Chinese Taipei national baseball team since 2001.

Kao is best known for hitting the game winning RBI in the Chinese Taipei versus South Korea

Korea national baseball team

The Korea national baseball team , nicknamed "Blue Bogy ", is the national baseball team of the Republic of Korea . It has participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, it won the gold medal in a final victory against Cuba...

 match in the 2003 Asian Baseball Championship

Asian Baseball Championship

The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia . It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions as the qualification games for the Baseball at the Summer...

 series. This victory qualified the Taiwan national baseball team for the 2004 Olympics.

He has competed at both the 2004

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...

 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 13 to August 23. All games were played at Wukesong Baseball Field, a temporary venue constructed at the Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center...

.