Tai-Yuan Kuo
Encyclopedia
Kuo Tai-yuan, is a retired Taiwanese NPB baseball pitcher
and currently a baseball coach
. With 117 wins accumulated during his 13 seasons in the Seibu Lions
, Kuo set the record of being the international player who achieves most wins in the NPB history, and is widely regarded as the greatest Taiwanese pitcher before Chien-Ming Wang
(Both of them plus Hong-Chih Kuo
and Chin-Lung Hu
are all Tainan City natives).
. Originally a shortstop
, he started to practice pitching in high school and immediately became well-known for his high quality fastballs. In the 1983 Chinese Taipei versus South Korea
match in Asian Baseball Championship
, Kuo did not allow a run to score during 17 consecutive innings, while his fastballs clocked up to 154 km/h (96 mph). He finally won the game and helped Chinese Taipei qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics
.
In the 1984 Olympics preliminary round against the U.S.
, Kuo pitched up to 158 km/h (98 mph) and allowed only 2 runs (one earned run
) during his complete game effort, rightfully earning the nickname "The Oriental Express". However, Chinese Taipei eventually lost to team USA, which was studded with Will Clark
, Mark McGwire
and the like. Kuo later pitched in the semifinal round against Japan match, allowing one run in 4.2 innings. Kuo's excellent performance drew special attention from the Seibu Lions
, and he signed with the club after the 1984 Summer Olympics.
the Nippon Ham Fighters on June 4, 1985, less than 2 months after his debut, and is the first international player to achieve so in the Pacific League
history. Kuo's other notable achievements during his NPB career included:
Career Statistics:
Kuo finally retired by the end of 1997 season after he suffered long time wound which cost him a vacant season. Shortly after Kuo's retirement a poll in the Seibu Lions' official website unanimously voted Kuo as the most popular international player in the Seibu Lions history.
(TML) immediately hired Kuo as "senior technical consultant" until the league's collapse in early 2003. Meantime he introduced his former Seibu teammates Takehiro Ishii and Hisanobu Watanabe
to join TML, originally as players and later as coaches. He also acted as go-between to help then young Hsu Ming-Chieh and Chang Chih-chia join Seibu Lions, following his steps.
After a disappointing 2003 in which he was temporarily jobless and suffered marital crisis(as revealed in the "Personal Life" section later), in 2004 he started to head coach the Macoto Cobras until the end of 2005 season. During his 2 seasons with the Cobras Kuo accumulated a 93 wins, 97 loses, and 17 ties performance. In the 2005 Taiwan Series
the Cobras were swept by the Sinon Bulls
0-4 and Kuo resigned right after the fiasco, addressing that "I would like to spend more time with my family". He later introduced Macoto Cobras players Lin En-yu and Lin Ying-Chieh to join Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
.
. His tasks included the 2007 Baseball World Cup
and 2007 Asian Baseball Championships. However the Chinese Taipei national baseball team performed poorly in both tournaments and he was exempted from the post on December 15, 2007.
revealed Chang's extramarital affair with local fitness coach Pan Ruo-di (潘若迪) in May 2003. For several years this couple had been in separation and were repeatedly reported to have agreed to divorce
, until their mutual announcement that they had mended their relationship and would not divorce early in 2007.
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
and currently a baseball coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
. With 117 wins accumulated during his 13 seasons in the Seibu Lions
Seibu Lions
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based west of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Group...
, Kuo set the record of being the international player who achieves most wins in the NPB history, and is widely regarded as the greatest Taiwanese pitcher before Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang is a Taiwanese Major League Baseball pitcher. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees for the 2000 season, and played for the Staten Island Yankees...
(Both of them plus Hong-Chih Kuo
Hong-Chih Kuo
Hong-Chih Kuo is a Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Kuo made his debut in , he became the fourth MLB player from Taiwan ....
and Chin-Lung Hu
Chin-Lung Hu
Hu Chin-lung is a Taiwanese professional baseball player. He is currently an infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. Hu, along with his countryman Fu-Te Ni , has the shortest surname in Major League Baseball history...
are all Tainan City natives).
Amateur
Kuo was born in Tainan City, TaiwanTaiwan
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...
. Originally a shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
, he started to practice pitching in high school and immediately became well-known for his high quality fastballs. In the 1983 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 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...
, Kuo did not allow a run to score during 17 consecutive innings, while his fastballs clocked up to 154 km/h (96 mph). He finally won the game and helped Chinese Taipei qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
.
In the 1984 Olympics preliminary round against the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Kuo pitched up to 158 km/h (98 mph) and allowed only 2 runs (one earned run
Earned run
In baseball, an earned run is any run for which the pitcher is held accountable . Any runner who tags his base and reaches home plate is scored against the pitcher as an earned run...
) during his complete game effort, rightfully earning the nickname "The Oriental Express". However, Chinese Taipei eventually lost to team USA, which was studded with Will Clark
Will Clark
William Nuschler Clark, Jr. is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball best known for his years with the San Francisco Giants from to .Will was known by the nickname of "Will the Thrill"...
, Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
and the like. Kuo later pitched in the semifinal round against Japan match, allowing one run in 4.2 innings. Kuo's excellent performance drew special attention from the Seibu Lions
Seibu Lions
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based west of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Group...
, and he signed with the club after the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Seibu Lions
As a rookie, Kuo immediately gained a position in Seibu Lion's starting rotation and miraculously no-hitNo-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
the Nippon Ham Fighters on June 4, 1985, less than 2 months after his debut, and is the first international player to achieve so in the Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
history. Kuo's other notable achievements during his NPB career included:
- Achieved a streak of 10 consecutive wins during the 1989 season
- Achieved a streak of 9 consecutive complete games, and was elected as the most valuable playerMost Valuable PlayerIn sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
of the Pacific League in the 1991 season - Achieved a streak of 3 consecutive shutoutShutoutIn team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s in the 1992 season - Highest winning percentage in the 1988 and 1994 season
Career Statistics:
| Year | Club | Games | IP | W | L | Saves | Complete Games | Shutouts | Walk | K | Earned Run Earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run for which the pitcher is held accountable . Any runner who tags his base and reaches home plate is scored against the pitcher as an earned run... |
ERA Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine... |
| 1985 | Seibu Lions | 15 | 117.2 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 52 | 75 | 33 | 2.52 |
| 1986 | Seibu Lions | 39 | 108.1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 105 | 35 | 2.91 |
| 1987 | Seibu Lions | 22 | 158 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 40 | 81 | 53 | 3.02 |
| 1988 | Seibu Lions | 19 | 149.1 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 23 | 76 | 40 | 2.41 |
| 1989 | Seibu Lions | 26 | 198.1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 49 | 117 | 72 | 3.27 |
| 1990 | Seibu Lions | 18 | 119.1 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 44 | 84 | 47 | 3.54 |
| 1991 | Seibu Lions | 24 | 184.1 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 30 | 108 | 53 | 2.59 |
| 1992 | Seibu Lions | 23 | 168 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 44 | 108 | 45 | 2.41 |
| 1993 | Seibu Lions | 22 | 133.1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 88 | 52 | 3.51 |
| 1994 | Seibu Lions | 27 | 130 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 55 | 86 | 72 | 4.98 |
| 1995 | Seibu Lions | 22 | 163 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 115 | 46 | 2.54 |
| 1996 | Seibu Lions | 14 | 52.1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 26 | 43 | 7.39 |
| 1997 | Seibu Lions | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Total | 272 | 1682.1 | 117 | 68 | 18 | 92 | 24 | 464 | 1069 | 591 | 3.16 |
|---|
Kuo finally retired by the end of 1997 season after he suffered long time wound which cost him a vacant season. Shortly after Kuo's retirement a poll in the Seibu Lions' official website unanimously voted Kuo as the most popular international player in the Seibu Lions history.
Professional Baseball in Taiwan
After retiring from Seibu Lions, the Taiwan Major LeagueTaiwan Major League
The Taiwan Major League was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over CPBL broadcasting rights...
(TML) immediately hired Kuo as "senior technical consultant" until the league's collapse in early 2003. Meantime he introduced his former Seibu teammates Takehiro Ishii and Hisanobu Watanabe
Hisanobu Watanabe
Hisanobu Watanabe is the manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He played baseball for most of his pitching career with the Lions...
to join TML, originally as players and later as coaches. He also acted as go-between to help then young Hsu Ming-Chieh and Chang Chih-chia join Seibu Lions, following his steps.
After a disappointing 2003 in which he was temporarily jobless and suffered marital crisis(as revealed in the "Personal Life" section later), in 2004 he started to head coach the Macoto Cobras until the end of 2005 season. During his 2 seasons with the Cobras Kuo accumulated a 93 wins, 97 loses, and 17 ties performance. In the 2005 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...
the Cobras were swept by the 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...
0-4 and Kuo resigned right after the fiasco, addressing that "I would like to spend more time with my family". He later introduced Macoto Cobras players Lin En-yu and Lin Ying-Chieh to join Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
The is a baseball team founded in 2004; it played its first season in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005. It is simply called Rakuten . The team was created to fill the void left by the merger of the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes, after the 2004 season due to financial difficulties,...
.
Chinese Taipei national baseball team
On February 15, 2007, Kuo was appointed as the head coach of the Chinese Taipei national baseball team by the Chinese Taipei Baseball AssociationChinese Taipei Baseball Association
The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, or CTBA was established on February 28, 1973. The Chinese translation of the English name is: traditional chinese: 中華台北棒球協會, hanyu pinyin: Zhōnghuá Táiběi bàngqiú xiéhuì...
. His tasks included the 2007 Baseball World Cup
2007 Baseball World Cup
The XXXVII International Baseball Federation Baseball World Cup was held in the Republic of China from November 6 through November 18, 2007. Four stadiums hosted...
and 2007 Asian Baseball Championships. However the Chinese Taipei national baseball team performed poorly in both tournaments and he was exempted from the post on December 15, 2007.
Basic Information
- Number: 12 (1984~86), 18 (1987~97), 88 (since 2004)
- Height: 180 cm
- Weight: 72 kg
- Bats/throws: R/R
Personal life
Kuo married Taiwanese model and actress Chang Chiung-tzu (張瓊姿, also credited as Zhang Qiuzi by Chinese media) in December 1993. After their marriage, Chang temporarily gave up her acting career in Taiwan to live with Kuo in Japan until his retirement late in 1997. Together, they had 2 daughters born in 1997 and 1999. However their relationship was badly damaged when Apple Daily (Taiwan)Apple Daily (Taiwan)
The Apple Daily is a tabloid-style newspaper printed in Taiwan and owned by Hong Kong-based Next Media. Next Media is based in Hong Kong and also prints the Apple Daily . The publication is well known internationally for its animated news stories on pop culture outside Taiwan.-History:Apple Daily ...
revealed Chang's extramarital affair with local fitness coach Pan Ruo-di (潘若迪) in May 2003. For several years this couple had been in separation and were repeatedly reported to have agreed to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, until their mutual announcement that they had mended their relationship and would not divorce early in 2007.