Yasuaki Taiho
Yasuaki Taiho, also known by his Chinese name Chen Ta-Feng, (15 November 1963 – 18 January 2015) was a Taiwanese professional baseball player in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Hanshin Tigers and Chunichi Dragons. He was picked in the second round of the 1988 draft and debuted the next year.[1] In June 1997, Taiho was involved in an altercation with Mike DiMuro. The American umpire had arrived in March to show Japanese leagues the Major League Baseball officiating standard.[2] Taiho disagreed with DiMuro's strike zone and was ejected. Taiho pushed DiMuro in protest, and his teammates streamed onto the field. No player was penalized for their actions.[3] DiMuro, surprised by this show of disrespect, resigned from NPB and returned to the United States.[4] After his retirement from baseball, Taiho worked as a scout and Little League coach. He also ran Chinese restaurants in Kaizu and Nagoya, where he died of acute myeloid leukemia on 18 January 2015.[5]
Yasuaki Taiho | |||
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First baseman / Outfielder | |||
Born: Puli, Nantou, Taiwan | 15 November 1963|||
Died: 18 January 2015 51) Nagoya, Japan | (aged|||
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NPB debut | |||
9 April 1989, for the Chunichi Dragons | |||
Last appearance | |||
2002, for the Chunichi Dragons | |||
Career statistics | |||
Batting average | .266 | ||
Home runs | 277 | ||
Runs batted in | 722 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Yasuaki Taiho | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 陳大豐 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 陈大丰 | ||||||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||||||
Kanji | 大豊泰昭 | ||||||||||
Kana | たいほう やすあき | ||||||||||
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His brother Masahiro Taijun was also a professional baseball player.
References
- "Taiwan-born ballplayer Taiho dies of leukemia". Japan Times. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- "Getting Rough In The Diamond". Newsweek. 22 June 1997. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- "Lone American umpire quits Japanese baseball". Augusta Chronicle. Associated Press. 11 June 1997. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- Graczyk, Wayne (19 July 2014). "DiMuro has witnessed umpire challenges, changes over the years". Japan Times. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- "Taiwanese-born ballplayer Taiho dies of leukemia at age 51". Mainichi Shimbun. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Player information from WikiBaseball (in Chinese)