So, I obviously have written this a full week late which makes it all completely irrelevant but for the sake of continuity, I have written it anyway!

The big news from this week was the resignation of Lions coach Huang Kan Lin and Lamigo Monkeys clinching the first phase.

Uni Lions

The half season ended with two defeats for the Lions and Huang Kan Lin’s resignation. On Tuesday 25th June, it started so well for the Tainan side as they took an early 4-0 lead and Jiang Chen-Yen gave up just 2H, 1R in the opening 6. On came the bullpen and 3 runs in the 8th put Lamigo 5-4 ahead. No Lions reply and this clinched the first half-season for the Monkeys.

On Wednesday saw defeat number 7 in a row also against Lamigo Monkeys. The Lions lead 3-2 after 6 innings and yet again the bullpen surrendered the lead, 3 runs in the 8th made 5-3 Monkeys, a run back but then 2 more in the 9th, final score: Lamigo 7-4 Lions.

Uni Lions finished the phase with a disappointing 25-1-34 record.

Lamigo Monkeys

5 games ahead with 5 to go, 1 win was that Lamigo Monkeys needed and they ended with three.

They started with a pair of midweek wins in Tainan against Uni Lions. On Tuesday Lin Li hit a two-run, game-winning shot to put the Monkeys 5-4 ahead in the 8th and that was the first half season won. They continued their ruthless run against Uni Lions on Wednesday, ending 15-5 against them with a 7-4 win.

So, to Xinzhuang for a Thursday to Saturday series against Fubon Guardians and Mike Loree got the better of Su Chun-Yu on Thursday evening. Su who has a questionable 1-8 record in the 2nd team gave up 5 hits, 8 runs and 2 walks in the opening two innings. Lamigo trailed 9-0 after 2 innings and despite attempting a comeback, fell short and lost 10-7.

Friday saw Wang Yi Cheng take on Ryan Bollinger, and it was once again, the foreign pitcher taking the win. Wang gave up 12 hits and 5 runs as Fubon came away 5-2 winners.

Saturday saw Hong Sheng Xin handed the ball to make just his 9th start in 130 appearances. He gave up a respectable 6H, 3R inside 5 innings. Lamigo scored regularly after breaking a 3-3 tie in the 4th and ran out 11-4 winners.

Lamigo ended the half-season as champions with a dominant 35-1-24 record, 3.5 ahead of Fubon Guardians.

Fubon Guardians

Fubon only had a tiny chance of winning the phase and the chance was ended on Tuesday evening courtesy of a 4-4 tie at Chinatrust Brothers and Lamigo Monkeys winning. Fubon trailed 4-2 after 2 innings, levelled it in the 8th but neither side could score after that in a game that went on for nearly 5 hours.

4 further games for Fubon after that including a 3 game home series v Lamigo Monkeys, not it mattered for much. Mike Loree got a routine win, as Fubon’s batters took Lamigo pitcher Su Chun-Yu apart in the opening 2 innings. Final score, Monkeys 7-10 Guardians.

On Friday Ryan Bollinger had another impressive start and victory, as Fubon won 5-2. Saturday was the low point of this 3 game series, Chen Shih Peng struggled early on giving up 6H, 6R (4ER) and Lamigo Monkeys ended up recording an 11-4 win.

To Taichung to end the week, and phase. This game had been abandoned with the score 3-2 Fubon the previous weekend. Fubon hit 5 runs in the 7th inning of the continuation of this game and ended phase one with a 9-5 victory. You Ting Wai pitched the bulk of it and got the 2nd win of his career.

Fubon Guardians ended the half season with a 31-2-27 record, 3.5 behind Lamigo Monkeys.

Chinatrust Brothers

Like for Uni Lions, Chinatrust Brothers first phase was not one to write home about. They ended this with a tie and a defeat. Tuesday’s game saw them take an early 4-2 lead against Fubon Guardians then proceeded to go scoreless for the next 10 innings, Fubon levelled in the 8th and it ended 4-4.

Sunday’s game v Fubon saw Liao Yi Zhong continue pitching after the game had been abandoned a week ago. He would take the loss giving up 6H, 4R but Huang En Tzu gave up 5H, 5R and 1BB in a disastrous 7th inning when Fubon were just 4-2 ahead. A rough end to the half season for Brothers and they ended the phase with a 26-2-32 record.

This week’s fixtures (already played)

Uni Lions v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan – Friday at 6:35, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm

Chinatrust Brothers v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang – Friday at 6:35, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm

 

I will be bringing up week 15’s report later today.

There is something quite captivating about Taiwan and its mountains, isn’t there? If you haven’t been blessed with the fortune of having been to Taiwan, you wouldn’t know what I am referring to. For its small size roughly 50% bigger than Wales, Taiwan manages to cram in 286 3000m/9800ft + mountains, yet from the lowland plains, they can feel so distant and foreboding.

Would day two be better than day one? A day tainted with drab trails, drab weather but perked up by some occasionally pleasant scenery when the sun came out.

My 7:15am alarm wasn’t necessary, and I guess I was excited which is usually why I struggle to sleep well. To say I was excited may well be a slight understatement, I was going into Taiwan’s high mountains to hike. I’ve suffered recently with demotivation and over-indulging in beer, but whenever I get my hiking boots on, it seems to give me a new lease of life. Taiwan’s weather, my love of baseball and my hatred of hiking in heat has meant, walking has been limited since February.

Overnight some of my things had got a bit damp but, regardless, it was a small dampener (pardon the pun!) on what would be a wonderful morning. I checked and made my way uphill. The trudge felt longer and steeper than I remembered but the morning views were awesome.

My early check-out meant I had to skip breakfast but I got to 7 Eleven to buy some water along with some chocolate bars, I had wanted nuts but there were only flavoured nuts, not to my liking!

I had 10 minutes to spare before the bus, I had had to ask a colleague at work to phone up and get me a reservation on it. (The Nantou Bus website suggests reservations.) I was told to say my name and pay 150NT but, just got on, said: “Yi tian” which means ‘One day’ in Chinese and that was that I paid, got my one day ticket, simple!

The journey up from Cingjing to Wuling, the highest point on Taiwan’s road network was something quite special. I had got on one stop after everyone else, so was unfortunately on the left and wrong side of the bus for the views and had to stand to get photos. The higher we got, the more my breath was taken away and no I’m not talking about the altitude, the pun once again is not intended!

My intention was to do three mountains, the three “Bai Yue”, Hehuan Main Peak, Hehuan East and Mt Shimen. Not interested in backtracking 2.4km along the road from Songsyue Lodge to Hehuan Main, I decided to get off the bus at Wuling. It’s said that once you reach Wuling, you descend right away and that was absolutely true.

From the bus stop, there was a platform up a flight of stairs that gave away one of the most incredible and dramatic views I had ever seen. Both Hehuan East and Main were visible to the left and right respectively with an almighty valley ahead before the mountains continued in the distance.

Needless to say that given the perfect weather, the platform was quite crowded. I was stood at 3275m/10744ft, it took a few moments to take things in and no, I’m not talking about air!

I made my way down the road in the direction of Hehuan’s Main Peak, a mere 0.8km away and within a few minutes was at the start of the trailhead. Quickly things changed, I spotted a path off to the left. I got my phone out and realised it led to Hehuan South, which I had never read of in my research! I knew that the other three peaks were likely to take 4.5 to 5 hours to complete and with the bus back at 3:35, and it now being 9:40, I had some time to kill.

This path gradually made its way downhill with a few short uphill sections and was a pleasant dirt trail. Hehuan South doesn’t get anything like the same attention as the other 4 Hehuan’s (try Googling Hehuanshan South!) but at 3230m, was an easy 20-minute walk from the Hehuan Main Peak trail.

I made the short backtrack and continued to on my quest to do Hehuan’s Main Peak.

The path up to the main peak split, there was a dirt path up a ridge to the left whilst the main path was simply a track. Unusually, I stuck to the harder surface as I knew it was likely to take me longer. Fog began to occasionally roll in and out, which knocked the temperature down a little but the suggested one hour hike took me half an hour. It felt all too easy and the altitude was having no effect on me.

With the fog in at the summit, the views could have been better but nonetheless, I still spent about 10 minutes at the top.

On the way down, I intended to use a shortcut I had spotted earlier. The shortcut was a steep path that rejoined the main road higher up and left the Hehuan Main Peak trail about halfway down. I saw two others go down and it was steep! It was only at the bottom did I realise there was a small no entry sign, oops…well there wasn’t a sign at the top!

It took 35 minutes from the main peak to the main road, and I have to admit, I was trying my best to drag things out.

I got back to Wuling, and knew I had to do Hehuanjian too. I had easily done 7.7km in just over 2 hours and was in the mood for more.

The road down to Songsyue Lodge was quite steep and a little care had to be taken on some of the bends. Most drivers were certainly courteous and mindful of the fact it is a well-hiked area.

The next question was… Hehuan East or… no easy decision. Hehuan East was the hardest of the three remaining peaks to do, estimated to take 1 hour 45 minutes which would make it 2pm by the time I finished. It was at this time I knew the fog was likely to stick around longer and that the morning sun, was not going to be seen much thereafter.

Behind Songsyue Lodge the trail up to Hehuan East Peak began and was quite easily one of the dullest paths I’d been on. It was a 1km trail, ascending 271m up mainly wooden boardwalk steps. When the fog relented, the views down into Hualien were fantastic. A fun fact, this trail starts in Hualien County but the peak itself is in Nantou. I hadn’t known that the Hehuan area was actually a part of Taroko National Park, more commonly associated with Taroko Gorge on Taiwan’s east coast.

For the first time, perhaps altitude did affect me somewhat. It could also have been my pace, the fact I wasn’t drinking my water and the fact I do not like to stop unless I absolutely have to. Needless to say, the 65 minute suggested ascent took… 31 minutes.

At the summit, the Qilai mountains were visible to the south as well as Hehuan Main and South to the west. It was quite crowded at the top but I managed to get my selfie, and began my descent fairly quickly.

With long legs, and a good stride I made short work of the steps going back down. I just had to watch for the people who sat right in the middle of them, and those who walked two abreast on steps, two people wide! It was amazing to see how people were not carrying water or didn’t appear to be equipped in case the weather suddenly changed. I had gloves, a jumper and full waterproofs with a litre of water and felt like I over prepared.

By the time I got to the bottom, little bits of cramp in my left calf had set in. The next choice was Hehuanjian or Shimen Mountain? I had 2 hours and 15, the suggested time for both was just over an hour…

I got to the trailhead of Shimenshan at 1:25 and it was a welcome relief to find it was a more natural trail. Dirt, rock and no horrible artificial boardwalk steps in sight! This was a 750m stroll up the summit at 3237m, it was extremely hard to believe the suggested time of 20 minutes to ascend! A quick Google suggests anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, it took me 13 minutes but I certainly still enjoyed it.

The terrain was definitely to my advantage and it was easy to see why Shimenshan is the easiest of the “Bai Yue”, I couldn’t think how it could be simpler. I got my photo at the top and hopped back down in under 10 minutes. The suggested descending time was 15 minutes, again, wildly optimistic as I had overtaken people I had seen descending on my way up!

I crossed the road at the bottom of the trail and was suddenly at the exit to the Hehuanjian trail. I wondered why it said exit and about 25 minutes later, I realised why. I also began to regret my pace as I made my way up the boardwalk steps to the top. My legs were cramping badly but I was determined to get the last peak done as soon as possible.

At the top the views were better than those from Shimenshan because there was less fog and given it was the last peak, I spent a good 15 minutes resting. I could only smile, I had expected to do 3 peaks but had managed to do 5 in just over 4 hours.

Going down, I found why the boardwalk steps was the exit route… There was a scramble…a nasty scramble! I don’t mind scrambles, but downhill on 18.5km, with tired legs and sharp rocks, it wasn’t ideal but I had to laugh. The day was ending on a challenge.

2:34pm and mission complete, 5 peaks successfully ascended and descended and I had an hour to wait for the bus back. I had a wash and went into the cafe for a hot drink. It said NT$150 but the attendant said something about “Bei zi” and from what I could read on the counter, I had to take my cup back and something about NT$50.

I went outside with my mocha and could finally truly relax, but couldn’t use my phone! I only had 40% battery and had no idea when I would get it charged up. I finished up, took my cup back inside, curious to see what would happen and to my delight, got NT$100 back. So it was 50 for the drink and 100 for the cup deposit! Even if it had cost me NT$150 for the mocha, I wouldn’t have been too bothered!

Eventually, the bus turned up early at 3:15 and it was immediately stormed by OAPs which meant, first in line became last to get on! The journey back to Cingjing took about 50 minutes, and I got off at the service center, knowing the next bus to Puli was due about 10 minutes later at 4:35.

Getting back to Taichung took a lot longer than expected. The bus to Puli turned up at 4:50 and almost empty, and the weather was completely foul. An hour to Puli and a quick change on the 5:55 bus to Taichung. This was horrible, especially without being able to use either of my phones. The bus got stuck in traffic around Caotun waiting to get on highway 3, the 1hr 10 journey took about 2 hours!

So, 5 hours 20 after finishing my hike I was still hours from home. I got a ticket on the 8:30 bus to Tainan and it was at this point I realised just how badly sunburnt I was. The sun hadn’t been out too long, but I came to the conclusion, I caught it a bit on Saturday and then made it worse on Sunday. I falsely equated higher temperatures with sunburn rather than simple exposure to it, duh! It didn’t look very good at all, and 2 days later at the time of writing, I still look an absolute mess.

I finally got home in Tainan at 11:30pm, completely red in the face but I had also had a superb weekend. The hiking was fantastic, I hadn’t had issues with altitude and it had been a really healthy few days.

So scenery and sunburn, the story of the two days! Most of what I packed I didn’t need, and I ultimately left out a lot of stuff I could have really done with! You live and learn as they, and 5 years out the UK, I’m still doing that!

I will be writing a practical guide on how to do a trip like this in the coming days.

Tom

There is something quite captivating about Taiwan and its mountains, isn’t there? If you haven’t been blessed with the fortune of having been to Taiwan, you wouldn’t know what I am referring to. For its small size roughly 50% bigger than Wales, Taiwan manages to cram in 286 3000m/9800ft + mountains yet from the lowland plains, they can feel so distant and foreboding.

Roughly six weeks ago I saw a gap in my calendar, of course, there is no possible way I can have a full two days at home is there? I needed it filling and Cingjing Farm in Nantou’s Renai Township fit perfectly. The more I’ve got to know Taiwan, the more my short list of things to do has filled back up.

I booked my accommodation back in late May, as it was supposed to be in a good location and was highly rated, as well as inexpensive… NT$2000 was one of the cheaper options. My spare time between booking and going was spent researching, endlessly bits of translating between Chinese and English but it seemed Hehuanshan could be done. Hehuanshan is known to have 3 of the 5 most accessible and easiest of the “Bai Yue” (百岳) or the 100 mountains, a list of one hundred prominent 3000-metre peaks which hikers try to tick off.

I hadn’t a great week leading into Friday evening and looking at the forecast, it seemed rain would be on the agenda. My packing for this trip turned out to be completely dreadful. I packed waterproofs, hiking trousers, 2 baselayers and a sweater. I omitted my cap, walking poles and suncream, because I didn’t think I would need it in the mountains, oh how that would come back to bite…

I hadn’t been sleeping well and nodded off at 3:15am ahead of a wonderfully timed 4:15am alarm. I got up, picked up my bag and left, at 4:50am for the Ubus station in the centre of the city. I got a ticket on the 5:16am departure to Taichung and after a very slow, sleepless journey arrived 2 hours 40 later.

I walked to Nantou Bus’ Gancheng station and found things to extremely easy and organised. I asked for a “Qingjing Farm Pass” for NT$610 and that got me a return trip to Qingjing Farm and a ticket for Green Green Grasslands and a couple of other things. The return and Green Green Grasslands added up to over NT$700 and I saved a little money. I was put in a queue for the Qingjing bus and at 8:20am, I got on and was on my way to the mountains!

Beyond Puli, the scenery was pretty good and despite a slightly delayed arrival, was in a good mood if not feeling a little bit tired. I got off at Green Green Grasslands and the plan was to use the trails to make my way to my accommodation just off trail 1.

I made the slight mistake of getting off a stop short, at the south end rather than north end but it didn’t matter too much. Green Green Grasslands was surprisingly a green, grassy area with sheep and home to trail 8, “The Great Wall Trail” which gave a view looking over the entire grassland area. There was a lot of sheep, and they were super friendly. Coming from rural England, I had never managed to touch a sheep before but these ones liked human company. Two sheep were even trying to drink water from the taps, that said, I didn’t see any water source for them.

I walked around and witnessed several people chasing after sheep, and putting their children on them…? 1) There were signs saying don’t chase the sheep and 2) Who on earth tries to get their kids to ride one? Dumb behaviour aside, I had a pleasant 40 minutes before exiting and going into the “food court”, a lot of the menus were in Chinese (which I could read) but then came to a place in the centre. The menu was fully in English and for once, I quite fancied most of the menu!

I settled on mountain pig egg fried rice and a shrimp roll, simple and tasty, just what I needed! I moved on to the Guanshan pastures, home of the Guanshan trail. Calling these trails would be a stretch, most of it was just ordinary paths and nothing special. The views weren’t great either due to the fog, and I descended the 487 steps trail to the main road. So far, just an average day.

I bought a ticket for the skywalk for 50NT, which was a 50-minute round-trip. On a sunny day, this would have been stunning but it was cloudy and the only highlight was getting to watch the sheep… and that’s saying something!

I made my way down Sakura trail, to the Carton King and 7 Eleven. It was time for an Americano, and I had plenty of time to waste with it only being 2:00pm. 4 trails left and things wouldn’t really improve, it’s amazing how weather can make things so much worse than they should be. Trail 5 was a waste of time, it appeared to be just a track around a campsite and it brought me out at the Small Swiss Garden.

I quickly Googled it and baulked at the NT$150 price once I’d seen the reviews. The Sunset Trail was next, and I had to go back up the Sakura Trail and then up a hill. I got about 500m into it, and there were some greenhouses, with a dog, sat in the middle of the track, barking and growling aggressively, I backed off and backtracked completely. I got back to the main road, and completed the Tea Plantation Trail which was only 500m long, and climbed up past a small tea plantation. It brought me out on trail 1 which was actually just Rongguang Road!

I made my way up a little way, then downhill and I followed the switchbacks to a T-Junction, I went right and got to where my hotel was. I passed where I thought it was, thinking “That can’t be it” as there was no sign. I walked into the next place, and they couldn’t find a booking. It turned out, embarrassingly I’d gone into the wrong hotel and was walked down the road to yes that’s right, the place with no sign.

It was 4:40pm and I found out, there was no dinner served. I was basically stuck in a situation, where I’d have to walk 2.1km back uphill/back to get some food back at the start of trail 1. I settled in, and it was a nice room with a sofa, fridge, kettle which are pretty standard and I eventually to make my decision… walk the 2km or not? I didn’t want to, I’d walked 16km and didn’t want to tire my legs ahead of a trip to Hehuanshan but my stomach/logic said yes.

I got back to the 7 Eleven I’d been in hours before, near the Small Swiss Garden and then there was Movenpick cafe. I looked at the menu, “300NT PLUS FOR MAIN COURSES!!!” I thought given I’m used to be spending 200-300NT on food in a day usually. It was then I read the menu more closely and it turned out you could get corn soup, a drink and main course for the price started for each particular main, a set menu as it were. I went inside, and it was surprisingly quiet for 6:40pm on a Saturday evening in the height of summer.

Decisions, decisions… Lasagna? Not that in a while… Rice Gratin with Fish Fillet Thai Curry… tempting! Spaghetti with Rosemary Chicken Leg and Asparagus with cream sauce? Decision made! The spaghetti sounded too good, and as well my corn soup, ordered an iced black tea and unusually for me, a Taiwanese dessert… purple rice with red beans soup.

The meal was great, NT$349 for the set menu with the dessert being an extra NT$39. A healthy tasty three-course meal, the only weakness was the black tea tasted a little watery. On its own, I’d have happily paid NT$300 for the pasta especially in a modern looking restaurant up in the Taiwanese mountains. The meal was worth at least another NT$100 more than I paid.

I made my way back along the dark roads to the hotel which was quiet. The next hour or two was spent on my phone, the fridge didn’t work and I had issues with the kettle. I expected to get a solid night of sleep, but didn’t get to sleep until gone 1am, ahead of a 7:15am alarm! It felt like my sleeping issues were getting worse…

Stay tuned for part two of “A trip to the mountains – scenery and sunburn”

To be continued…

There are just a few games left of this half-season that is now dragging out thanks to the wet weather and an air of inevitability.

Lamigo Monkeys

Job well done for the Monkeys who now stand on the verge of their 5th consecutive half-season title. Only a freak combination of 5 Lamigo defeats and 5 Fubon victories would now prevent this.

Tuesday, and Lamigo took a 6-5 win at home to Uni Lions to complete a 10-0 home sweep of the Lions in the first phase. Going into the bottom of the 9th Lamigo trailed 5-4, tied it at 5 then thanks to a misapplied tag at home plate, the runner from 3rd made it home and got the victory.

This was followed up by a routine win over Brothers on Thursday. Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 5th, Lamigo crunched Brothers reliever Wu Che Yuan for 4 hits, 4 runs over 0.2 innings, eventually scoring 6 in the inning. The game ended 10-5 Monkeys.

The phase was pretty much sealed on Friday as Lamigo made 10 hits and 6 runs off the league’s best pitcher Mike Loree. The Fubon ace struggled and Radhames Liz took the victory, throwing down 157kph fireballs, limiting Fubon to 2 hits over 7 innings. Final score, Guardians 1-6 Monkeys.

On Saturday. Lamigo continued to assert their dominance. At 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th, they started to take apart Fubon starter Chen Shih Peng then the bullpen. Lamigo led 12-2 after 7 and won comfortably despite 5 Fubon runs in the 9th. Chu Yu Hsien went 5 for 5, with 4 runs and 6 RBIs, he surely has to be an early contender for MVP.

So 32 wins 22 defeats and 1 tie after 55 games. Lamigo struggled in the opening 10-15 games, they are now 8-2 in their last 10 and look hard to stop.

Fubon Guardians

This was a week that could have been special, pushing Lamigo Monkeys to the wire but sadly, it didn’t work out like that.

Fubon were given an almighty scare on Wednesday. They hit 4 in the first inning then failed to score again, and trailed 7-4 in the bottom of the 9th. Fubon pulled a run back, loaded the bases and Lin Che Hsuan walked off with 3 RBI double off Xie Rong Hao, final score Brothers 7-8 Guardians.

Friday was not the night for a Mike Loree off night although when he is struggling, you know the team he is facing, is seriously good. He conceded 10 hits and 6 runs, and only 2 of the 11 Fubon hitters didn’t strike out. It was a tough night for the New Taipei based side, going down 6-1 in Taoyuan.

Saturday wasn’t much better, Fubon’s bullpen gave up 8 hits, 5 walks, and 9 runs between the 5th and 7th innings and left them 12-2 down after 7. 5 runs back in the top of the 9th but these runs were a mere consolation.

Sunday’s game at Taichung v Chinatrust Brothers was abandoned and will continue this Sunday.

28-26-1 after 55 games, Fubon may get to 30 wins but 3 of those games are at home to the red hot Monkeys.

Chinatrust Brothers

Brothers had an interesting week, as they travelled to each of the other three CPBL sides. Only one of these was a success though.

Wednesday saw Brothers go to Xinzhuang to face Fubon Guardians. They got off to a bad start, going 4-0 down after an inning but recovered to take a 7-4 lead going into the 9th. Unfortunately, Cheng Chia Yen gave up 1 hit and 2 walks to load the bases with 1 out. Xie Rong Hao came on, and Lin Che Hsuan blasted a game winning 3 run double, final score: Brothers 7 Guardians 8.

Thursday didn’t get much better as they ran into Lamigo Monkeys in Taoyuan. Brothers made 13 hits but could only get 5 runners home. The crucial inning was the 5th where Brothers conceded 6 runs to go 10-2 down, at 4-2, it would have been close. The game finished 10-5 Monkeys.

Onto Saturday and Brothers faced fellow 2019 strugglers, Uni Lions. They took an early 4-0 lead, only for the hosts to pull it back to 4-3. Chen Wen Jie put the game beyond doubt though with a 2 run homer to make it 6-3 Brothers. The closer Cheng Kai Wen struck out 2 as Brothers completed a good win, and notably struck out 14 Lions players during the game!

Sunday’s game was a chance to play one at each of 4 main stadiums in Taiwan in a week, alas, it was abandoned in the 3rd. Brothers and Fubon Guardians will try again on Sunday.

Uni Lions

The season started with optimism but quickly turned into a spiral of despair with most Lions fans begging for the 2nd phase.

On Tuesday, the rough luck in Taoyuan continued. The Lions have never gone 0.500 or better in Taoyuan during a season, and after the first 10 games, they now have 10 defeats. Leading 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, Lamigo levelled at 5-5 then Lan Yin Lun hit a ground ball, as the runner came home, catcher Lin Yu Le couldn’t apply the tag and the Monkeys walked off. Chen Yun Wen now has 2 losses for the season, both against Lamigo and his ERA is up at 2.60.

Saturday was no better albeit with a far from full strength line-up. It was the last weekend game in Tainan for 3 weeks and not many turned up to watch it. Brothers led 4-0 in the middle of the 3rd only for Su Chih Chieh to make it 4-2 with a 2 run shot. The game was characterised by the Lions failing to advance runners when there were chances to get runs. 14 strikeouts on the day, and in a way, this game optimised the Lions half season.

25-32-1 with 2 games in Tainan to come, both against Lamigo Monkeys. Can the Lions end the half season on a high?

This week’s fixtures

Lamigo Monkeys v Uni Lions @ Tainan on Tues/Wed at 6:35pm

Fubon Guardians v Chinatrust Brothers on Tues at 6:35pm, and continuing from the 3rd inning, on Sunday at 5:05pm.

Lamigo Monkeys v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang on Thurs/Fri at 6:35pm and 5:05pm on Saturday.

It appears the cream has risen to the top and we are now left with two definite contenders for the 1st phase title.

Lamigo Monkeys

Oh, what can you say about this team? It’s like a well-oiled machine that now appears to be running somewhere near top speed and looks increasingly difficult to stop. Spoiler alert, making 53 hits in 3 games should scare anyone!

Both midweek games were cancelled, so it left a home series v Uni Lions from Friday to Sunday. This was a match-up between last year’s two best teams but the gap between the two has increased, as shown from this one-sided series.

Michael Nix didn’t have a great start on Friday giving up 8H, 6R in 4 but it didn’t matter. Trailing 6-5 after 4, the Monkeys came back in style, with 2 5th inning homers and a Chen Chun Chiu grand slam in the 6th. It wasn’t even close in the end, final score: Lions 8-17 Monkeys.

Radhames Liz has been inconsistent in the first phase but he had a good game on Saturday, as the Lions only managed 2H, 1R in the opening six. Leading 6-1 after 6, the Monkeys bullpen stumbled a little as the Lions pulled it back to 6-4 before 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th put the Monkeys back out of reach. Huang Tzu Peng ended the Lions charge and in the end, it was a comfortable 8-5 win for the champions.

Sunday saw the Monkeys complete a sweep of the Uni Lions, mainly thanks to 6 runs in the first inning. The closest it got was 6-2 and 8-4 as the Monkeys made 18 hits in a 12-4 win.

So, the Monkeys move to 28-22-1 with 9 to play, 5 v Fubon Guardians who are 1.5 games behind them.

Fubon Guardians

With their midweek showdown at home to Lamigo Monkeys being cancelled due to rain, all eyes were on Fubon’s series v Chinatrust Brothers.

Friday’s game was close, at least until the 7th. Luo Guo Hua conceded 3 hits, 4 runs and a walk in 0.1 innings work. Brothers moved 6-2 ahead and would never relinquish the lead taking an 8-5 victory.

In front of a bumper crowd of over 11,000, all eyes would be on the Villanueva v Loree match-up. It was scoreless after 5 and Fubon took a 3-1 lead in the 6th. Loree then gave up 2 runs, finishing with 11H, 3R over 6.2. The winning run came in the bottom of the 9th, off an error by Brothers Chen Wei Han so MvP went to Fubon’s Lin Yu Hao who struck out 4 in 1.1 innings work after Loree has squandered the lead. Final score, Brothers 3-4 Guardians.

Sunday’s game wasn’t close and that was partly down to Ryan Bollinger. In his home Fubon debut, Bollinger completed an 8H, 10 S/O shut-out. Fubon’s hitters doing what they needed to do as they scored 5 runs in a 5-0 win.

Fubon’s record is 27-24-1 with 8 to play. They are 1.5 behind the Lamigo Monkeys with 5 of their 8 remaining games against them! These will be games worth keeping an eye on.

Chinatrust Brothers

Oh how the season started so nicely, now Brothers are out the race for the first phase title with a 1-3 week.

Tuesday’s game was cancelled but Wednesday’s game against Uni Lions went ahead and it was a 5-hour thriller. Nick Additon only lasted 0.1 innings, the starter giving up 4 hits, 4 runs and 3 walks in a 29 pitch horror show. Tsai Chi Che steaded the ship a little but gave up 4 hits, 4 runs and 2 walks himself.  Brothers were down 6-0 after 3, then rallied back to make it 6-5 in the top of the 4th. 3 more Lions runs made it 9-5 and it looked as if the comeback was short-lived…

4 runs over the next 3 innings incredibly brought Brothers back to 9-9, but then the bullpen lost control in the bottom of the 8th and the Lions took a 14-9 victory.

Friday’s trip to Xinzhuang to face Fubon Guardians was Brothers one successful evening. Brothers starter Mitch Lively got the win, giving up 6H, 3R and just 1 walk. The hitters made 12 hits and scored 4 runs off Luo Guo Hua in the 7th as Brothers came away 8-5 winners.

No such luck on Saturday as a Chen Wei Han error broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 9th and gifted Fubon Guardians a  4-3 win.

Sunday Brothers had no answer for Ryan Bollinger, the new Guardians starter pitched a 115 pitch shut-out in a 5-0 win.

Hitting is a huge issue for this Brothers team, only veteran Lin Chih Sheng and youngster Chen Tzu Hao are averaging over 0.300 and most other players are struggling. The lack of first team ready Taiwanese starters is also a problem, their young starting core isn’t ready. This is a side that lacks a solid Taiwanese starter, Monkeys have Wang Yi Cheng, Lions have Pan Wei Lun, Brothers have…?

25-27-1, 5 games behind Lamigo Monkeys with 7 to play, the phase is pretty much done for the Taichung side.

Uni Lions

A season of promise, a season of hope but one that now relies heavily on a strong second half of the season. Injuries and out of form players have ravaged this team. A lot of average players with little to choose between them. This is a side playing with one foreign pitcher as Austin Bibens Dirkx has finally been released but his signing was a major question mark right from Spring Training.

Uni Lions went 1-3 just like Chinatrust Brothers and the gap between the Monkeys and Lions now resembles a chasm rather than the short leap that it once appeared to be.

Wednesday was the only highlight of the week, taking advantage of poor Brothers pitching to go 6-0 ahead, only be pegged back to 6-5, then push it to 9-5, only for Brothers to tie it up at 9-9. Would the Lions fold? No. Brothers chose to instead, and the Lions made 5 runs in the 8th to seal a 14-9 victory.

The weekend was painful with three defeats, 8-17, 5-8 and 4-12 at the hands of a Lamigo side containing 8 players who should be all-stars. When Kuo Yun Wen starts at 8, you are facing a loaded team. When Pan Wu Hsiang is the only Lion averaging over 0.300, compared to 8 Monkeys, you can see where there is a gap.

25-30-1 with 4 to play of the first phase. It has been painful for Lions. It’s time to move on and look ahead to July.

This week’s fixtures

Uni Lions v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Tuesday at 6:35pm.

Chinatrust Brothers v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang on Wednesday at 6:35pm

Chinatrust Brothers v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Thursday at 6:35pm

Fubon Guardians v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Friday at 6:35pm.

Chinatrust Brothers v Uni Lions @ Tainan on Saturday at 5:05pm

Fubon Guardians v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Saturday at 5:05pm.

Fubon Guardians v Chinatrust Brothers @ Taichung on Sunday at 5:05pm

 

We are no closer to discovering who will win the first phase of the CPBL as we move into the middle of June.

Fubon Guardians

The post-Sosa era is off to a positive start after a 3-2 week. The midweek series v Brothers was split. Bryan Woodall picked up his 8th loss of the season in a 5-3 defeat on Wednesday. All change on Thursday despite Mike Loree giving up 8H, 3ER as Fubon edged past the Taichung side 7-4 on Thursday.

The weekend series was another road trip, this time to Tainan to take on Uni Lions. Chen Shih Peng had another solid outing on Friday, giving away just 4H, 1R as Fubon eased to a 7-1 win. The result never looked in doubt as Fubon managed 14 hits and were dominant with the bat.

Saturday saw Ryan Bollinger make his debut but despite a solid start, he started to come apart in the 3rd conceding 4H, 6R, 5BBs and would take the loss in a 9-2 defeat. On Sunday, another Guardian made his debut; You Ting Wai and he outdid Lions veteran Pan Wei Lun. He gave 4H, 1R over 5 innings, getting the win in an 8-4 victory. 14 hits again and Fubon moves to within 0.5 of Lamigo Monkeys.

Fubon are 25-23-1 with 11 games to play, 7 of those at home.

Lamigo Monkeys

Are the champions going to win their 5th phase in a row? Well, it’s still up in the air after going 2-2.

Michael Nix had another fantastic game, giving up just 2 hits in Lamigo’s 8-0 thrashing of Uni Lions on Wednesday.  Radhames Liz also had a good game, this time on Friday away at Brothers. He conceded 9 hits but only 1 run as Lamigo scored regularly in a 7-2 win.

The weekend in Taichung looked to be off to a winning start, as Lamigo led 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th. Huang Zi Peng then gave up a home run as Brothers tied it at 6-6. In the 10th Wang Cheng Che gave up a hit and Wang Yue Lin conceded a walk-off home run as Brothers won 8-6. On Sunday, it was another heartbreaking walk-off defeat in Taichung as Lai Zhe Yuan took the loss this time and the score was 7-6 Brothers.

Lamigo are 25-22-1 with 12 to play, with 5 games against rivals Fubon Guardians to come.

Chinatrust Brothers

Brothers just about kept themselves in contention with a 3-2 week but could have done with another win. The midweek series against Fubon was split, Nick Additon giving up 6H, 2ER in a 5-3 win on Wednesday. They then ran into Mike Loree on Thursday evening which was always going to a tough game and so it proved as Fubon ran out 7-4 winners.

You have to feel for Mitch Lively whose been pitching solidly, with an ERA of 3.11 but is now 2-6 for the season. He gave up 8H, 4R which aren’t bad figures but Lamigo Monkeys were 7-2 winners on Friday evening.

Brothers young Taiwanese starters continue to have their issues, Huang En Tzu giving up 9H, 4R but it wouldn’t matter. Lin Chih Sheng hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the 9th before Chan Tzu Hsien won the game 8-6 with a homer of his own in the bottom of the 10th, final score: Monkeys 6-8 Brothers.

The release of Alex Liddi meant Elih Villanueva was called up from the 2nd team to make his second Brothers debut on Sunday. His figures weren’t great, 11H, 6R but it didn’t matter as yet again, Brothers walked off. Chiang Chih Hao got the winning hit in the bottom of the 9th, final score: Monkeys 6-7 Brothers.

Brothers are 24-26-1, 2.5 behind Lamigo Monkeys but 7 of their 9 remaining games are on the road.

Uni Lions

In a half season dominated by injuries and poor form, it was another week to forget for the Lions who look out of the race for the first phase title.

Tuesday’s home game v Lamigo Monkeys was called off and Wednesday’s game that went ahead was forgettable. Ryan Verdugo conceded 8H, 3ER in an 8-0 loss in a game the Lions only made 4 hits in.

Friday was no better at home to Fubon Guardians. Shih Tzu Chien was once again inconsistent on the mound, giving up 9H, 5R in a 3.1 on the mound. The Lions struggled with the bat making just 5 hits and lost 7-1.

Saturday was the bright spot on the week, taking advantage of Ryan Bollinger’s debut and a good display by Jiang Chen Yen. Despite the 9-2 victory, the Lions only made 8 hits with Chen Chong Yu getting 3 of them. The week ended with another poor home display, there were issues with the bat and with the ball. There were 11 strikeouts, 2 errors and just 7 hits against a rookie Guardians starter. Final score, Guardians 7-4 Lions.

Uni Lions are now 24-27-1, 3 behind Lamigo Monkeys with 8 to play, 4 at home and 4 away.

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This week’s fixtures

Chinatrust Brothers v Uni Lions @ Tainan on Wednesday at 6:35pm

Lamigo Monkeys v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang on Wed/Thurs at 6:35pm

Uni Lions v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Fri at 6:35, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm

Chinatrust Brothers v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang on Fri at 6:35, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm.

All games subject to weather, Tuesday’s clash between Brothers and Uni Lions was cancelled before I wrote this due to heavy rain.

There are just a few weeks left of the first phase, and we are still no closer to finding out who will finish top.

Uni Lions

The Lions went 2-3 last week at home and had another mixed week on the road but came with 3 wins and 2 defeats.

There was no Loree/Sosa to face at on Wednesday or Thursday as the Lions took on Fubon at Xinzhuang. Wednesday’s game resulted in a 10-4 Lions win, with 4 runs in each the 4th and 6th making the difference. Thursday started well enough as the Lions went 5-0 ahead, but were pegged back to 5-2 before Lin Wei Ting’s grand slam. Fubon would go on to win 8-5. Ryan Verdugo is now 2-2 since his comeback with an ERA at 4.18.

The weekend saw a trip to Taichung for the first weekend Lions v Brothers series there this season. It was another split series, and there were three really good games. Friday’s encounter was level after 3 innings at 2-2 but regular Lions runs after that ensured a 6-2 win.

Saturday started like a rollercoaster, Chen Yung Chi’s 97th career home run put the Lions up 2-1 in the 1st. It went to 3-1 before Brothers went 5-3 ahead in the bottom of the 4th. Immediately the Lions came roaring back, going 7-5 up, in part thanks to Lin Tzu Chieh’s two-run homer. That was as good as it got, Brothers hit a grand slam in the 5th and led 11-7 after 5. 8 more runs in the 7th led to 40-year-old Lions 1st baseman Kao Kuo Ching becoming the first position player to pitch for the Lions in 10 years. Ironically, he conceded nothing. Final score: Lions 7-19 Brothers.

Sunday’s game was a cracking encounter which the Lions edged 4-3 thanks to Su Chih Chieh’s 9th inning RBI.

A 3-2 week so the side moves onto a 23-24-1 record with 12 to go with 8 of those games at home in Tainan. The hitting looks better but there are still bullpen questions. There is also the issue the Lions are effectively playing with just 1 foreign pitcher.

Lamigo Monkeys

The reigning champions continue to stutter along, with a 2-2 week at home in Taoyuan and are 5-5 over their last 10. Tuesday’s game at home to Brothers was unsurprisingly called off due to heavy rain but they managed to win Wednesday’s encounter 3-2. Roger Bernadina grabbed the game-winner with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 9th after Alex Liddi had levelled for Brothers in the 6th.

The week saw another disappointing series v Fubon Guardians but any side facing Mike Loree and Henry Sosa on their current form will have some serious issues.

On Friday, Lamigo faced Loree who gave up 6H, 2R as Wang Yi Cheng took his first defeat of the season (5-1) in a 5-2 loss. Probably more of a concern was giving up 15 hits at home, it could have been worse.

Saturday’s game was very much different. Lamigo made 23 hits with much of the damage coming in an insane 6th inning where Lamigo hit 10 runs. Going into the inning it was 4-3 Lamigo, but this blew Fubon and their relief pitchers out the water. Both sides would combine for a further 9 runs with the final score being Guardians 10-16 Monkeys.

Sunday and the tide turned again. Henry Sosa played his last CPBL game and gave up 2 hits over 8 innings/115 pitches. Fubon scored 5 times. From 23 hits to 2, quite a comedown for those in Taoyuan.

Lamigo leads the league with a 23-20-1 record, so 16 games left with 7 at home, 9 away.

Chinatrust Brothers

The season started so well for Chinatrust Brothers but have the wheels started to come off? It was another disappointing week for a side that threatened to be a surprise package but now look unlikely to make a push for the first phase title.

They only played one game in midweek, and that was away at Lamigo Monkeys on Wednesday. Alex Liddi reacted to being put on notice with a 2 run homer to tie that game at 2-2 only for the reigning champions to walk it off in the bottom of the 9th thanks to their own foreign hitter, Roger Bernadina.

The weekend series against Uni Lions was interesting, to say the least. Brothers Tsai Chi Che picked up another loss on Friday evening, giving up 4H, 3R (2ER), after that, Brothers used 6 relief pitchers and gave up 3 errors in total. Final score, Lions 6 Brothers 2.

On Saturday, Brothers made an astonishing 19 runs, 17 hits and 0 errors as they demolished Uni Lions 19-7 in Taichung. Brothers had trailed 3-1 after 3, but then went on a tear scoring 18 runs in 4 innings. Dramatically, the Lions had scored 4 in the top of the 5th to go 7-5 up, only for Brothers to respond in brutal fashion with Wang Sheng Wei hitting a go-ahead grand slam to put Brothers 11-7 ahead after 5. 8 further runs followed in the 7th to cap off a brilliant display and a memorable night for the home team.

Sunday saw Brothers edged out 4-3 in a thrillingly close game, Wang Hong Cheng taking the loss as he conceded the winning run in the top of the 9th.

Brothers go 1-3 for the week and sit with a 21-24-1 record with 14 games to go, 7 at home and 7 away. They need wins and fast, with a 2-8 record over their last 10 games.

Fubon Guardians

It’s the end of a very short era for the Guardians as it was announced on Monday, Henry Sosa has been bought out his contract by KBO side SK Wyverns. At least the league got to witness what the Loree and Sosa combo could do together, the fans of the teams who play in yellow and white/orange/black will be glad to see him gone.

Wednesday’s home game v Uni Lions saw Fubon use their 3rd foreign pitcher. Bryan Woodall has not had a good season and is now 2-7 for the year. If it wasn’t for Sosa’s departure, he could well have been finding himself on the block. On this occasion, he gave up 11H, 8R although only 4 earned in a 10-4 loss.

Thursday was better despite Lin Yu Qing conceding 6H, 5R, 4BBs in the first 3.2. Lin Wei Ting’s grand slam put Fubon 6-5 up and the Guardians bullpen gave up just a solitary hit. Final score, Lions 5-8 Guardians.

That deadly duo of Loree and Sosa was a downright menace in Taoyuan. Loree gave up just 6 hits and 2 runs on Friday evening. Fubon made 15 hits, every one of the starting line-up getting to base in a 5-2 win.

On a night of 52 runs in the CPBL, Fubon’s pitchers didn’t have a very good night. Fubon only trailed 4-3 after 5, then things went off-piste very quickly. Lamigo Monkeys shredded Fubon in the 6th, scoring 10 runs and despite a commendable, 10 runs, 14 hits, it wasn’t anywhere near enough. Final score, Guardians 10-16 Monkeys.

The Sosa era ended with a win, a convincing win. It is extremely rare to hold the Taoyuan Lamigo Monkeys to 2 hits, but that’s what he did. Fubon’s hitters did what they needed to do, score a few runs and Sosa finished his short-time in the league with an 8-2 record and an ERA of 1.56. Fubon won 5-0, but Sosa will be a huge loss. Ryan Bollinger is expected to step up from the 2nd team soon.

Fubon sit in 2nd place, 22-21-1. They have 15 games to go, 7 at home and 8 away.

This week’s fixtures

Lamigo Monkeys v Uni Lions @ Tainan on Tues/Wed at 6:35pm

Fubon Guardians v Chinatrust Brothers @ Taichung on Wed/Thurs at 6:35pm

Fubon Guardians v Uni Lions @ Tainan on Fri/Sat/Sun at 5:05pm, Friday is a public holiday.

Lamigo Monkeys v Chinatrust Brothers @ Taichung on Fri/Sat/Sun at 5:05pm.

There is around 1/3 of the first phase to go, and we are still no closer to finding a clear leader.  Every team has had their issues for whatever reason with the consensus being that the league is weaker than last year, this week saw the league get even tighter.

Fubon Guardians

I start with the Fubon Guardians who had the most impressive week of all five teams. That deadly combination of Henry Sosa and Mike Loree is starting to work out, or at least it did on 2 of the 3 game nights this week.

On Tuesday, Sosa had impressive game giving up 6H, 1R as Fubon cruised to an 11-1 win over Uni Lions in Tainan. Mike Loree was even better, giving up 2 hits in a 107 pitch shut-out, final score: Guardians 1 Lions 0.

Onto the weekend and Fubon won 2 out of 3 at home to Lamigo Monkeys. They lead 6-4 early on Friday evening and easily won, 9-4. The series was won on Saturday partly thanks to another great pitching display… from Chen Shih Peng who gave up 5H, 1R over 8 innings. The hitters did their job, as Fubon won 7-1.

What is this? Henry Sosa has had a poor game? He didn’t last the first six innings as he gave 9H, 6 runs (4 earned) as Lamigo Monkeys became the first team to give Sosa bit of a beating. Fubon falling to a 6-5 home defeat. In his previous 6 games, Sosa had only given up… 6 runs! A blip, but a fantastic week for the Guardians.

Fubon move to 19-19-1, a 0.500 record.

Lamigo Monkeys

Last year’s champions has obviously quite a bit with the loss of superstar Wang Po Jung but maybe Argentine Roger Bernadina can plug the gap in centre field.

It was a good start to the week for Lamigo with back to back away wins in Taichung. Wednesday’s affair was a close one. Michael Nix had another shutout giving up just 4H and 0R in 6 innings. Lamigo took a 2-0 lead into the 9th, went 3-0 up and despite Lin Bai You giving up 2 runs with 0 outs, Wu Cheng Che came in to end the inning without further damage, final score, 3-2.

Thursday win was a bit more convincing. Lamigo took apart Brothers Tsai Chi Che in the first 0.2 innings, scoring 6 runs and ended up winning 7-0.

The weekend saw a series loss away to Fubon Guardians with Radhames Liz taking his 4th loss of the season on Friday. The fireball throwing starter topped out at an insane 157kph (97.5mph) but gave up 11H, 8R in a 9-4 loss. Saturday, rookie Wang Wei Chun had another iffy game, giving up 8H, 7R in the first 3 innings as Lamigo struggled with the bat, going down 7-1 to the Guardians. Sunday was more impressive, scoring 6 runs off Henry Sosa in a 6-5 win.

Lamigo ended the week 3-2, and stand top with a 21-18-1 record.

Uni Lions

A mixed week for the Lions too as they came up against Henry Sosa and Mike Loree on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday saw Sosa come to Tainan but the eyes were on Jiang Chen Yen who had pitched a great game against Sosa back in March. Sadly the crafty lefty gave up 10H, 8R in 5 innings as Fubon romped to an 11-1 win. Wednesday, the Lions had no answer to Mike Loree making just 2 hits but on a positive note, despite taking the loss Shih Tzu Chien only gave up 5H, 1R.

To the weekend and Chinatrust Brothers were in town. Ryan Verdugo pitched fairly well 6H, 4R (3 earned) but took the loss for the Lions, Brothers winning 5-2.

The week ended on a happy note with two wins. Saturday’s win was strange. Wang Yu Pu ony lasted 0.2 innings giving up 2 hits, 3 walks before being replaced by Austin Bibens Dirkx. Then the Lions only made 6 hits but managed to score 10 runs, Brothers making a season worst 4 errors and gave up 8 walks, the final score Brothers 6 Lions 10. Lions fans are beginning to question, after another poor start on the mound, whether it’s worth continuing to keep experimenting and failing with Wang starting games.

Sunday and 37 year old Pan starter Wei Lun picked up win five for the season in a 6-2 Lions victory.

Despite huge injury issues, Uni Lions are 20-22-1 for the season and only 2.5 games off the lead with 17 to go.

Chinatrust Brothers

Brothers had the worst week of all four sides, going 1-4. It started with back to back home defeats to Lamigo Monkeys. On Wednesday, Mitch Lively pitched well giving up 5H and 2R but it was enough for the loss, despite a 9th inning comeback. Final score, Monkeys 3 Brothers 2.

Thursday was a night to forget for Tsai Chi Che, giving up  4H, 6R, 3BB before being just 0.2 innings into the game. Brothers hitters would not recover the game, striking out 13 times as they made just 5 hits in a 7-0 loss.

The bright night of the week was Friday, pinch hitter Chen Tzu Hao hit a 3 run blast to push Brothers to a 5-2 win over the Lions. It was not the start of a glorious weekend though despite huge away support down in Tainan.

Brothers practically gifted both bases and runs to the Lions, giving up 8 walks and 4 errors and despite taking a 3-0 lead early on, fell to a 10-6 defeat.

Sunday saw Brothers start rookie pitcher Wang Yi Kai but he quickly lost his eye for the strike zone. He gave up 2 hits, 3 runs and 7 walks before being replaced in the 3rd inning. Tsai Chi Che gave up 3 more hits, 3 more runs and 2 more walks as Brothers fell to a 6-2 defeat.

They are now 20-21-1, 2 games off the top with 18 games to go,

This week’s fixtures

Chinatrust Brothers v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Tues/Wed at 6:35pm

Uni Lions v Fubon Guardians @ Xinzhuang on Wed/Thurs at 6:35pm

Fubon Guardians v Lamigo Monkeys @ Taoyuan on Fri at 6:35pm, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm

Uni Lions v Chinatrust Brothers @ Taichung on Fri at 6:35pm, Sat/Sun at 5:05pm

What’s this a 7:30am alarm? Really, oh no, please. Why this time?

Oh right, I was supposed to be doing a full day of tourism in Kinmen and I had to drag myself up. Snoring/noise from the other 3 people in the dorm had kept sleep to a minimum and I begrudgingly got up and left the hostel by bicycle just after 8:00am.

Today’s plan was to roughly follow the ‘Historic Monument Route‘ then the ‘Adventurous Scenic Route‘ on Little Kinmen aka Lieyu. The first route would take me south of Jincheng then head out west to Shuitou to get the ferry to Little Kinmen.

The weather appeared a bit nicer and it was a short 10-minute ride to Jugang Tower, just south of Jincheng town. This landmark from the Chinese civil war period appeared to be a lot older than just 66 years old. There was some interesting information inside, and the view from the top was of course obscured by haze/fog and ‘oh no, what was that’, a mainland tourist blowing into a horn repeatedly, deafening anyone within 5 metres.

Not wishing to be deafened, or indeed irritated within the first half hour of the day’s tourism, I left and worked out my route for the rest of the morning.

The one problem with Kinmen’s cycle routes was that they had branches off, and if you wanted to do a circular, a lot of backtracking was needed. That said, you can’t reasonably expect everything to be done in one linear or circular route. This was what I came up with…

 

Google Maps has its limitations and obviously this wouldn’t cover it perfectly, with a couple of side-trips, my route back to Jincheng etc…

I wanted to get over to the east side of Jincheng and followed a backroad past the Stable Masters Shrine to the main road down the east side. I soon reached the village of Oucuo, one of the seven traditional villages of Kinmen. It was a lot less touristy than Shanhou had been the previous day, almost too quiet. I saw about half of the village but moving on down the road to the next village of Zhushan.

 

The architecture was similar in Zhushan but there was a pavilion up on a hill overlooking the village. I guess on a clear day it would give a birdseye view of the area but not on this day. It felt a bit more quaint than Oucuo, and there was definitely more ‘going on’.

My next destination was Zhaishan Tunnel and looking at Google Maps, I saw a backroad east of Zhushan that would take me down the coast, rather than going south-west, then south-east and having to backtrack later.

I got on the road, and it quickly turned into a farm track, reaching another military area, then turned into a sandy track! I wasn’t quite sure whether it was right, but it brought me out at a backroad in the forest. I checked Google Maps, and voila, I simply had to follow the road past the landfill site 2km to Zhaishan tunnel.

I knew to expect tourists and lots of mainland Chinese, and after I parked up and walked towards the entrance, two coachloads had arrived. They hovered at the entrance to the tunnel, ignorant to their surroundings and I, unfortunately, had to push my way past, covering my ears from the deafening instructions from their tour guide.

Zhaishan Tunnel was built for military purposes in 1961 in a U shape, outside there were different landing craft and anti-aircraft weapons. Inside, you had to go through a tunnel, to then descend to the main U shaped tunnel. There were another group of mainlanders but upon turning the opposite way to them, wouldn’t have any hassle for the rest of the day.

For one of Kinmen’s main tourist attractions, it was… ‘ok’. It was more history, but nothing too special, although worth 40 minutes which is what I spend there.

Just as I was about to leave I picked 2 Taiwanese sausages and thought about my next move. I looked at the time, and it was 10:30, I knew I had to give Little Kinmen a good 3-4 hours but also didn’t want to miss anything in the Jincheng area.

For the next hour, I steadily made my way towards Shuitou where the pier was for Little Kinmen. I first stopped off at Kinmen’s only natural lake, Gugang Lake and its tower.

5 minutes later I reached Jinmencheng village, the home of Wentai Tower and also having 4 gates. I turned left at the east gate down towards Wentai Tower but the car-park area was being rebuilt, I backtracked a little into the centre of the village near to Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor’s factory, the site of another of the village gates. From there, I turned left uphill and there it was on the corner Wentai Tower…

I backtracked once more, heading back to the main road (not on the official cycle route but a branch route) and got a photo of the north gate. Nothing particularly special given how many ‘gates’ I have seen in my time in Taiwan.

My next stop was another short ride away (7 minutes) Shuitou, another of those 7 traditional villages. This was bit more interesting as it described how merchants made their money in places like Indonesia then came back to Kinmen to build extravagant houses, and how they needed to protect them from pirates.

Concerned about time, I made my way down the road to Shuitou Pier for the 12:00 ferry across to Little Kinmen. I had no idea where I was going, all I will say is, keep going straight, the ticket office is on the left (if you need it, I left my Easycard in my room!) and the ferry just beyond it.

The ticket was 60NT with space on board the ferry for well over 100 people across two floors, this was never tested!

Since the morning the views had not improved one bit, not one bit at all and the water was quite choppy.

Reaching Little Kinmen I expected there to be somewhere at the port to buy something to drink, but no. I didn’t have much water left and knew I was going to run out within an hour.

At first, I didn’t know where to go, there were no signs for the cycle path at first but as I walked towards the visitor centre and Jiangong Tunnel I found a map. I looked at my phone and surmised the cycle route began on the main road.

So at Jiugong Tunnel, I thought I may as well stop and have a look as it was one of 24 sights to see. Note, I did not do all 24 with some of them on the interior of the island!

Jiugong was another classic Kinmenese tunnel, going through the mountain to Luocuo harbour. It was quiet with few tourists, and after making my way through to the Luocuo side, turned around and walked back to my bicycle parked outside.

I backtracked to the port, and the main road, the cycle began with a steep climb and I wondered if the route around Little Kinmen would be by road…

No. There was a signpost to the right towards the top, and the cycle route began on a track. It turned out most of the cycle route would be on a dedicated cycle path around the island.

The first couple of km were non-descript as I made quick stops at General’s Fortress and Tiger Fortress but didn’t get any photos. They were just standard fortresses, of which I’d seen a lot of over the weekend.

As the path got into the open I got a glimpse of the new Little Kinmen to Kinmen bridge, unfortunately due to these works the path was suddenly blocked off. There was a sign directing people left, and as such, no real diversion route. I was starting to get thirsty and was hoping, by getting on the main road I might somewhere to get water.

I had to use Google Maps to find my way back through the backroads north of the construction site to get to my next two sights, Yongshi Castle and Tieshan Fort. On reaching Tieshan Forts I was met with an exit turnstile? Confused I walked around a bit and couldn’t find an entrance. Slightly aggrieved, I backtracked up the road towards Yongshi Castle.

There was a visitor center there, surely they had water? No, even better! There was a water machine with ice cold water, exactly what I needed!

Yongshi Castle was a confusing maze of tunnels with barely any light. There wasn’t a map and I spent 10 minutes randomly walking down corridors hoping to find something of interest. It was obvious most of the tunnels didn’t see much use.

Rather accidentally, I stumbled into a well-lit tunnel and it appeared to be going somewhere, where? I didn’t know! It appeared to be a connection between two things and later it was obvious what the was.

It turned out I’d found a landmine museum with displays on boards on the tunnel walls. Not knowing much about landmines I learned about the minefields in Kinmen, types of landmines and international efforts to stop the production/use of landmines.

Perhaps the most interesting/scary bit of the museum was the interactive minefield. There was a trail of fake mines on the floor that ‘exploded’ when a motion sensor picked up your footsteps. It looked realistic enough, that I wasn’t 100% sure if they were totally fake or not, as dumb as that sounds.

I made my way out through the tunnels, and unbeknownst to me, was now in Tieshan Fort. I thought it was simply an extension of Yongshi Fort and didn’t spend much time there, except finding my way out!

My next destination was Lian Lake and the beach there, in the 0.6km cycle, I somehow managed to lose the path and end up on the main road, rather than the coast road!

The path continued to another military museum, Hujingtou but the short 2km ride wasn’t without incident. I was heading downhill when a mainland Chinese tour bus came roaring through the other way, given the path was suitable for bikes/motorcycles and one lane for larger vehicles, this seemed a bit stupid.

Hujingtou Museum was small and quiet, but with a few nice displays. The next hour was spent cycling down the west coast, towards the south-west tip of Lieyu stopping off at minor tourist attractions, such as small temples, more forts and lakes. It was really quiet though and a peaceful part of the afternoon.

I got towards the south-west tip and there was a small diversion to Shaxi Fort, not on the official bike route. This was the best attraction on the island. The views from here were superb, the beach looked beautiful and it was a really nice way to end the sightseeing for the day.

I must just advise that where the route splits, don’t go uphill towards the actual fort but downhill instead to a small car-park.

I made my way back to the port, the path continued past fields, not far in from the coast. There was one or two steep climbs, but it was pleasant, relaxed 7km back to the port. I was surprised to see the path end, exactly opposite where it began and it had taken about 4 hours to do.

I had plenty of time before the 5pm ferry and my trip to Little Kinmen (Lieyu) and indeed Kinmen was pretty much over, right?

No. I got the ferry back across and there was one more attraction a short diversion off the main road, between Shuitou Pier and Shuitou village, Maoshan Tower.

This looked like a long hike from the car-park but in-fact took me just a couple of minutes. It was similar to Wentai Tower but the views were awful as the light was fading and the fog remained.

I was back in Jincheng around 5:50pm and enjoyed a nice beer before going back to the hostel. The plan was to do Jiangong Islet, an islet only accessible for an hour a day the following morning.

That didn’t happen. I woke up to torrential rain and the fog was causing issues with flights. Instead, I got up later and took the 9:30am bus back to the airport. Thankfully there were no issues with my flight and I was home at 12:30pm.

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So Kinmen, Little Kinmen? Is it worth a weekend away? Absolutely. I was very unlucky with the weather, it didn’t rain but the fog/mist never cleared all weekend and that definitely took a shine off.

Kinmen has history, both cultural and military history. It’s somewhere to escape to, away from the craziness of Taiwan’s main island. In Tainan and other cities, you constantly have to worry about traffic and it’s crowded, Kinmen is the total opposite. I was cycling around with very little concern for traffic, because there was hardly any.

I will be following up this post with another one, more about the practicalities of a trip.

You’d made it to the end of this very long, second half of the post, thanks for reading.

Kinmen, one of Taiwan’s two sets of island counties close to mainland China but far more importantly, one of two counties in Taiwan that I hadn’t visited. Last year, I explored Penghu just off Taiwan’s west coast in the Taiwan Strait but that left Kinmen and Matsu also known as Lienchang County.

Soon after returning from Penghu last year I made Kinmen my next priority with direct flights from five airports on Taiwan’s main island making it far more accessible than Matsu. I didn’t end up doing Kinmen last year as I initially planned due to Uni Lions success in the baseball but, come late April this year, I needed a break.

You see, Uni Lions injury crisis was huge and the team was out of form. I wanted to go before summer, because of the stifling heat but didn’t have many weekends to play with. 11th/12th May – non-starter as I was working the Saturday (I didn’t), 25th/26th May – Lions in Tainan (I don’t miss Tainan games), 1st/2nd June (working again on 1st), after that, 4 day weekend and more baseball in Tainan on 15th/16th June. It left the 18th/19th May.

I looked at flights, I wanted to go early Saturday and come back Sunday evening but unsurprisingly flights back were all sold out. That was it? No trip?

Of course not!

I looked at Monday morning and there were seats left on the 11:10am Kinmen to Tainan flight. Living in Tainan’s East District this was perfect and I had my weekend away. I just knew of no-one, no-one who knew anyone who had been there. Taiwan as a tourist destination isn’t the most frequently visited by westerners, and even fewer venture to islands, Xiao Liu Qiu/Green Island may be the main exceptions. I knew I was going to somewhere, a bit off the beaten track. Anyway, I digress…

Sod’s law would have it, Uni Lions began to pick up form. That said, I really wasn’t in the mood for yet another trip to Taipei for baseball. Usually, when researching, my first thought would be tourist buses but looking at Kinmen’s excellent tourist board website, it appeared there were 5 separate self-guided cycle tours around Kinmen and Little Kinmen (Lieyu) so I based my plans loosely around them. I booked a hostel for 600NT but otherwise, I didn’t do too much research.

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Friday evening, I was too tired to pack and it appeared as if I really couldn’t be bothered with yet another weekend travelling. Yet, I didn’t get much sleep and was awake from around 7am. My flight was 9:40am but living close to the airport didn’t have to set off until 8:30. I packed, t-shirts/trousers for the evening and shorts/base layers for the cycling. I remembered sun-cream, something I always seem to forget in Taiwan!

I cycled to the airport which took 15 minutes and was surprised at just how small it was. There was a single gate to manage the 8 daily departures, I handed over my passport and received my boarding pass a solid 50 minutes before the 9:40am UniAir flight from Tainan to Kinmen. At 9:10am the gate opened, a quick security check was done and at 9:25 ‘boarding’ started. Boarding passes were checked and passengers were shuttled out to the small, 80 seat plane a 2-minute drive away.

It was all very casual, and after taking off at 9:55, the plane hit the tarmac in Kinmen at 10:41. A short comfortable journey across the Taiwan Strait with a nice cup of coffee being served on board.

 

I walked out of the airport, and just as I got to the bus stop, a Blue 1 bus arrived for ‘Jincheng’ which is where I was staying. One thing I noticed was the inconsistencies in the transliteration of Chinese to English, both Kinmen and Jincheng have the same first mandarin character, 金 but in English, it’s Jin/Kin, weird…

I got the bus at Zhongshan Elementary School where it was a short walk to the hostel. I knew I couldn’t check in but I wanted a bicycle. I knocked on the door, nothing. There was something in Chinese next to the door. I looked and there were five bikes, none of them locked. I took a moment to think, and thought ‘Well, I’m stopping here and I’m bringing it back later…’ I got on and pedalled away.

My plan was to visit the east side of the island and do parts of the Flora/Greenery cycle route and part of the Lake and Mountain route in the north-east/south-east of the island in Jinsha and Jinhu. As both were circulars and I didn’t want to do everything on the routes, I planned to do half of each.

First I had to get out there and I also wanted to do Mt Taiwu, Kinmen’s highest point at 257m. It was an easy 10km ride, along the main road out towards the town of Shanwai, pretty much through the middle of the butterfly-shaped island.

 

My lack of research came into play at this point, I got to the Martyrs Shrine car-park and signs directly tourists around the military area, onto the paved road up the mountain. The problem was, as I climbed, there was nothing to indicate where the summit may be. It took 20 minutes to get to the top of the road, and from there I had no idea. I walked down towards the temple trying to find where the summit may be. The views were not great anyway because of a thick layer of haze/fog. I ended walking up/down the road for about 30 minutes more, taking in Reflection Tower (倒影塔).

I got frustrated and eventually took a path along Caicuo Trail to what looked like a summit of sorts. It was a couple of huge granite boulders just off the dirt path and the views were not great, it felt as if I had done a hike.

 

I started my descent from the granite boulders around 1pm, and walked back to my bicycle.

I headed downhill towards the town of Shanwai to join the Lake and Mountains cycle route. I didn’t stop at Shanwai, simply through to Jinhu Lake, a manmade lake east of the town. The fog lingered and the views were poor, more interestingly was the August 23rd Artillery Battle Museum just 2 min cycle ride away and it gave me my history lesson about Kinmen.

Despite a few mainland Chinese who quickly dispersed, I enjoyed the museum as they described the Chinese shelling of Kinmen and how the locals, with the help of Taiwan fought back. Outside were replicas of some of the equipment used, Howitzers, tanks etc and it was the first moment on Kinmen I enjoyed.

I made my way back to the lake, then out east and things got progressed more rural. I stopped off outside at the Agricultural Research Institute for two photos with cows drinking milk/eating ice-cream and for the next 40 minutes, plodded along through the countryside.

 

I got to 7 Eleven at a crossroads in central Jinsha and I had an important decision to make.

Option 1) Go left, and back to Jincheng (11km)

Option 2) Go straight ahead, to Mashan Observation Post then back to Jincheng (23.5km)

Option 3) Go right, and up the coast to Mashan then back to Jincheng (26km).

I refuelled with some nuts and a bottle of Pocari sweat after 10 minutes, set off, turning right. I wanted to see all of the island or as much as I could, and even though I was tired from my early start, knew I could easily do 26km.

I made my way along Yangsha Road and it felt even more rural and isolated. I skipped past a sight for Bishan village which looked like a lovely traditional village and as I cycled further up the road, started to kick myself a little. About 10 minutes later I stopped off at the ‘Vessel Shaped Fort’ which is exactly what it sounds like, a boat-shaped fort, next to a very nice looking beach. Perhaps it may have looked better but for the terrible haze/fog, and it looked as if was going to rain.

Just a couple of minutes up the road was another traditional village but on the main road and upon getting off my bike, it turned out I was at Shanhou Folk Culture Village. Little did I know, this was supposed one of Kinmen’s better tourist attractions.

The old Fujian style village had been turned into a small tourist attraction, comprising of 16 houses so quite a bit smaller than Erkan, which I’d been to on Penghu.

I wasn’t exactly sure how much daylight I had left and it looked like rain was closing in. Still, I pushed on to Mashan heading uphill away from Shanhou before turning right towards Kinmen’s northernmost point. It was straight across a roundabout and 15 minutes later, my final goal of the day had been achieved, 35 minutes before it closed, Mashan Observation Post.

Mashan was used to broadcast propaganda across the water to People’s Liberation Army soldiers in Mainland China. As it was the end of the day, the tunnels to the observation room at the back where you can Mainland China, were empty.

I’d done everything I wanted to, and it was a ‘simple’ case of making the 17km cycle back to Jincheng. I expected it to take about 50 minutes on tired legs and indeed not long after I set off, it started to rain.

I got back to the hostel very sweaty and quite tired. I checked in, had a shower and relaxed for the evening. A good first day but day two would be longer with more tourist attractions to see…