Tag Archives: Taiwan Series

26 Oct

celebrate, celebrate …

There were two wild celebrations in baseball on Friday, the one at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and another at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan, where Kirk McCarty and his CTBC Brothers teammates celebrated a Chinese Professional Baseball League title. McCarty, the former Southern Miss standout from Hattiesburg, won Game 3 for the Brothers, working 5 1/3 shutout innings in a 10-0 win over Uni-President that put the club up 2-1 in the best-of-7 Taiwan Series. CTBC won the clincher 12-6 on Friday for the franchise’s 10th CPBL crown. McCarty went 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA for CTBC in his first season in Taiwan after a year in the Korean Baseball Organization, where the little lefty won nine games in 2023. Drafted by Cleveland out of USM in 2017, McCarty made the big leagues in 2022 and posted a 4-3, 4.54, ledger for the Guardians. He won two C-USA titles with the Golden Eagles. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves pitcher Evan Phillips was a late scratch from Los Angeles’ World Series roster, reportedly because of minor arm soreness. The Dodgers added pitchers Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol to the 26-man squad, and both worked effectively in the 6-3 win capped by M-Braves alum Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning. … Brennon McNair, Magee High product, had a disappointing fourth year in pro ball, batting .193 for Low-Class A Columbia in the Kansas City system. The 22-year-old outfielder, who can also play third base and shortstop, will get a chance to redeem himself in the Australian Baseball League, where he’ll play for Brisbane starting next month. McNair did have some highlights in 2024, hitting eight homers, 15 doubles and two triples and swiping nine bases in 87 games. His career average is .207 with 18 bombs.

21 Oct

top performers

Kemp Alderman had a big moment last week in the Arizona Fall League. Fellow former Ole Miss standout Tim Elko had several moments — and was rewarded with a spot on the Week 2 list of top performers compiled by MLB Pipeline. Elko, a 10th-round pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2022, went 5-for-14 (.357) for the week with a double, two home runs and four runs for Glendale. The big first baseman/DH batted .289 with 18 homers between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. Alderman, a second-rounder by Miami last year, hit a 119.5 mph homer that carried 443 feet for Peoria on Oct. 18. Only two major leaguers have ever hit a ball harder, per MLB Pipeline’s story. Alderman leads the AFL in homers with six and slugging at a ridiculous .906. … Ex-UM closer Brandon Johnson, a Kansas City prospect pitching for Surprise in the AFL, is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three appearances. He had a 4.23 ERA, three wins, eight holds and three saves at two levels of the minors this season. P.S. Postseason flashback (of a different sort): On this date in 2009, ex-Columbus High star and erstwhile big leaguer Luther Hackman tossed a 153-pitch complete game in an 11-5 win for the Uni-President Lions over the Brother Elephants in Game 4 of the Taiwan Series, the championship of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Hackman, who pitched in 149 MLB games from 1999-2003, took MVP honors in back-to-back Taiwan Series in 2008 and ’09, according to baseballreference.com.

23 Oct

totally random

While in the grip of postseason fever, here’s a well-deserved shout-out to Luther Hackman, the former Columbus High star who took MVP honors in back-to-back Taiwan Series in 2008 and ’09. (Stumbled across this compelling nugget of information while searching for something else on baseball-reference.com.) Hackman, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who pitched in the big leagues from 1999-2003, threw 17 shutout innings for the Uni-President Lions and won Games 4 and 7 in the ’08 Taiwan Series, the championship of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. In 2009, Hackman won Games 1, 4 and 7 of the series for the Lions. Hackman pitched in the CPBL for three years, 2010 being his last as a player. Drafted by Colorado in the sixth round in 1994, Hackman pitched in 149 big league games with three clubs and posted a 5.09 ERA. He also pitched in the independent Atlantic League, Mexico and Korea, with middling success. Yet he may still be a legend in the CPBL. P.S. A belated shout-out to umpire Lance Barksdale, the Brookhaven native who was behind the plate for Saturday’s Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. Barksdale missed just one call, according to umpscorecards.com, posting a 99 percent accuracy rate. The one miss: a called strike on a 3-2 pitch to Philadelphia’s Trea Turner in the third inning.