Saturday, September 27, 2008

Pan Wu-hsiung

Pan Wu-hsiung born March 11, 1981, is a Taiwanese baseball player who currently plays for Uni-President Lions of Chinese Professional Baseball League. He currently plays as an outfielder for the Lions, and has been constantly shifted between all three outfield positions. His nickname "Take" derives from the pronunciation of the first character of his given name.

Early life


As a native to Pingtung, Taiwan, "Take" began formal baseball training in fifth grade in his hometown elementary school, as many other Taiwanese baseball players had.. He was invited to attend the famed Meiho Middle School and Meiho High School , a secondary school system which has a long history in the development of baseball. He played on the baseball team during his six years in Meiho, playing in the outfield. He stated in an interview that he originally asked to become a pitcher, but was refused by the coach who instead given him a position in the outfield.

After graduating from Meiho, he joined "Taiwan Cooperative Bank Baseball Team, a team in Taiwan's amateur league. He entered the draft in 2004, and was selected by the Sinon Bulls in the first round. However, he and the Bulls could not reach an agreement on a contract, so he elected to return to the amateur league and waited for almost two years before entering the draft again.

Professional career


"Take" was drafted by Uni-President Lions in 2005 in the second round, and immediately reached an agreement with the Lions. He made his debut on March 21, 2006 as the starting right fielder, and struck out on his first at-bat. He played only 14 games with 40 at-bets in 2006 before injury ended his season. As a result of the limited game time in 2006, he was eligible for the Rookie of the Year award in 2007, which he won. He was able to recover before the , and subsequently hit his first career home run in the against the Sinon Bulls on October 21. His first home run in regular season came on April 10, 2007 from Macoto Cobras.

Between June 22 and July 5, 2008, Pan hit home runs in six consecutive games. He was named to the Chinese Taipei national baseball team for the .

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