Wei Chuan Dragons

The Wei Chuan Dragons (Chinese: 味全龍; pinyin: Wèiquán Lóng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bī-chôan-liông) are a professional baseball team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations were held to revive the franchise and return to the CPBL. The team played one season of minor league baseball in 2020 and rejoined the CPBL in 2021.[1]

Wei Chuan Dragons
味全龍
Information
LeagueChinese Professional Baseball League
LocationTaipei City (1989–1999, 2021–present)
Hsinchu (2022–present)
BallparkTaipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (1989–1999)
Tianmu Baseball Stadium (2021–present)
Hsinchu Baseball Stadium (2022–present)
Founded1989
2019 (refounded)
League championships19902 • 19911 • 19962 • 19972 • 20232
Taiwan Series championships1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2023
ColorsRed
MascotWeddie
Playoff berths8 (1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2022, 2023)
Retired numbers
ManagerYeh Chun-chang
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Dragons won the Taiwan Series championship five times, in 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2023.

History

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Wei Chuan Dragons uniform

Wei Chuan Dragons had a long amateur history when its parent company, the Wei Chuan Foods Corporation, started sponsoring Chinese Culture University's baseball team in the late 1970s. After these student players graduated, Wei-Chuan formed an amateur team to allow them to continue playing baseball in 1978; it was this team that later professionalized to become one of the first four teams of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Due to the club's long history in the amateur era, its matches often attracted large crowds, and games with the Brother Elephants, another popular team, were often sold out. The team played at the now-demolished Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium.

During the 1990s, the club won the CPBL championship four times, in 1990, 1997, 1998 and 1999, and by the end of the 1999 season became the team with the most CPBL championship titles. In 1999, Wei Chuan Food Corporation announced its decision to disband the club,[2] mainly because the Ting Hsin International Group, who became the largest shareholder of Wei Chuan Food Corporation in 1998, did not show interest in supporting the baseball club.

In 2019, 20 years after the disbandment, the club was re-established and played the 2020 season in the minor league, before rejoining the CPBL in 2021.[3] In 2023, the Dragons defeated Rakuten Monkeys in the 2023 Taiwan Series with four wins in seven games to win their fifth championship, 24 years since their last championship.[4]

Records

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Qualified for playoffs Taiwan Series Championship

Regular seasons

SeasonFirst half-seasonSecond half-season
WinsLossesTiesPct.PlaceWinsLossesTiesPct.Place
199025200.556227144.6591
199126172.605120196.5132
199223202.535218225.4504
199326190.578222212.5123
199417271.386519251.4324
199525250.500322271.4495
199625232.521430200.6001
199715312.326731152.6741
199856481.5383 No half-seasons
199949394.5573
202122362.379528311.4753
202231290.517426295.4734
202330273.526232262.5521

Playoffs

SeasonFirst roundTaiwan Series
OpponentWinsLossesOpponentWinsLosses
1990 Did not play Mercuries Tigers42
1991 Did not play Uni-President Lions34
1996 Did not play Uni-President Lions24
1997 Did not play China Times Eagles42
1998Uni-President Lions21Sinon Bulls43
1999Uni-President Lions21Chinatrust Whales41
2022CTBC Brothers13 Eliminated
2023 Did not play Rakuten Monkeys43

Roster

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Wei Chuan Dragons roster
PlayersCoaches

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Second team manager

Second team coaches

Roster updated on 24 June 2024

Retired numbers

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List of managers

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No.NameYearsPlayoffsChampionships
1Sung Huan-hsun199011
2Hsu Sheng-ming1991–199310
3Kenjiro Tamiya1994–199500
Hsu Sheng-ming1996–199943
4Yeh Chun-chang2021–present21

See also

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Notes

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^1 First half-season champions
^2 Second half-season champions

References

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  1. ^ Shan, Shelley (14 May 2019). "Wei Chuan Dragons are fifth team to join CPBL". Taipei Times. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. ^ Shan, Shelley (25 June 2019). "CPBL welcomes back Dragons after 20 years". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Expansion club Weichuan Dragons open camp as CPBL gets ready for its first-ever 5-team season". World Baseball Softball Confederation. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  4. ^ "中職》味全龍6比3打退桃猿 睽違24年總冠軍賽封王" (in Chinese). China Times. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
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