Taiwan defeated Japan 4-0 to win the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 final held at Tokyo Dome, Japan on the 24th. It was the first impressive victory that Taiwan, whose baseball is the national flag, won at major international baseball tournaments such as the Olympics, World Baseball Classic (WBC), and Premier 12.메이저사이트

The finals were similar to the opening round of Group B match between Taiwan and Korea. Just as Taiwan had two homers against starting pitcher Ko Young-pyo (33) at the match against Korea, Taiwan also had two homers against opposing starting pitchers in the match against Japan.

Japan's starting pitcher Shosei Toko (24) allowed the first homer in the top of the fifth inning and allowed a hit and a walk afterwards, but did not change the pitcher. It was just like the situation in which Korea did not replace the pitcher even after Ko Young-pyo allowed a hit again after the homer in the match against Taiwan. Eventually, Dogo immediately got a three-run homer and handed over the winning pitcher to Taiwan.

Taiwan, on the other hand, kept the Japanese batters scoreless. Starting pitcher Lin Yu-min (21), who also took the mound in the match against Korea, allowed four scoreless innings, while Zhang Yi (30, Pubon Titans) and Chen Kwan-yu (34, Rakuten Monkeys) also showed sharp ball control to secure Taiwan's victory.

Having stopped the Japanese national baseball team from winning 27 consecutive international competitions, the Taiwanese players have ample experience in overseas games. Lin Yu-min is a promising player with the Triple-A Reno Ace under the Arizona Diamondbacks of the U.S. Major League Baseball.

After Lin Yu-min, Jang-i, who tied up the Japanese lineup for three innings, moved to Japan after graduating from middle school in Taiwan and played baseball in high school and college, and joined Orix, a Japanese professional baseball team, in 2016. Jang-i, who grew up as a baseball player in Japan, blocked the opponent's batters by showing various kick motions that took away the timing of the opponent's batters like a Japanese pitcher in the final.

Chun Kwan-wi is also a Japanese pitcher who has played in Japanese pro baseball just like Jang. He is a left-hander who played for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and Chiba Lotte Marines before moving to the Rakuten Monkeys in Taiwanese pro baseball from 2021.

Jeon Je-hsien (30, 7-Eleven Lions), who won the MVP award by scoring three hits and three RBIs from five times at bat in the top of the fifth inning in the final against Japan, is also a Taiwanese batter. Born in Kyosei High School in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, Jeon grew up as a long-distance hitter in Japan. Although he was not selected in the Japanese professional baseball draft, he moved to Taiwan and became the Taiwanese batting champion in 2018 and 2020.

Taiwanese baseball critic Chen Shih-jung praised the role of Ji Il-pa in the Taiwanese team that won the Premier 12. "Jang Yi and Chen Kwan-wi, who have played great roles as bullpen pitchers, have excellent ball control and other skills that they have honed in Japan in the past," he said in an interview with the Taiwanese daily "Freedom Times" on Monday. "The coaching staff of the national team made good use of pitchers."

Catcher Lin Jia-jung, who saved Taiwan's momentum with a pre-emptive superior solo home run in the top of the fifth inning, was the first Taiwanese baseball player to enter the U.S. professional baseball through the draft. Having played as a baseball player in high school and college in the U.S., he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019 and is currently playing for a minor league team under Arizona.

Taiwan's professional baseball league has expanded to six teams recently, and is preparing a new chapter, but its players' average annual salary still falls short of 100 million won (approx. Even top-notch players are paid around 500 million won (approx. Taiwanese pro baseball players do not have players who earn more than 2 billion won (approx. For this reason, Taiwanese pro baseball players are bound for Japan or the U.S. early on.

Although they rarely succeed overseas, this trend has had a positive impact on the internationalization of Taiwanese baseball. Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that Taiwan's victory in the Premier 12 began with the overseas expansion of Taiwanese baseball prospects.