Sunday, November 05, 2006

Just a week after the La New Bears popped champagne bottles to celebrate
their winning the Taiwan pro baseball title, local fans and the sports
community are stunned by allegations that underground gambling syndicates
may have tried to influence game results with threats, bribes and large
payoffs. In a dramatic development on Thursday, the champion La New Bears
pitching coach Lin Kuang-hong turned himself in to the Taipei police. At a
press conference held on Thursday afternoon, he said he and his pitchers
have been under threat to throw games during the Taiwan Series -- the CPBL
league championship finals.
The Kaohsiung-based La New club clinched its first CPBL crown on Wednesday
October 25 after sweeping the Tainan-based President Lions four straight
games in the Taiwan Series. While being questioned by the Criminal
Investigation Bureau (???) on Thursday evening, Lin told police that during
a coerced meeting in a motel on October 20 -- night before the opening game
of the Taiwan series -- he was held at gunpoint by gangsters who operate
illegal betting pools. He was asked to pull starters at certain times and to
use particular relief pitchers who might cooperate in fixing the outcome of
the game. In response to media speculation, Lin was adamant that he did not
accept a NT$200,000 bribe from the gangsters, and that he did not in any way
cooperate or act to influence the outcome of the series. "I have no control
over handling of the pitchers or when to bring in the relievers. All these
decisions are not up to me. The decisions are made by the team manager Hong
Yi-chung," Lin said he told the gambling pool operators. He recalled the
conversation during a press conference at the CPBL office on Thursday.

The local media also broadcasted a videotape of secret encounters between
Lin and the gangsters and the contents of their conversation. It is alleged
the television stations received the videotape from the gangsters on
Thursday, in an attempt to discredit Lin and to show the pitching coach
might be involved in baseball gambling and game-fixing.

Some local press reports said the release of the videotape was a ploy by the
gambling syndicate, who had lost large amounts of money when the La New
Bears swept the series and wanted to take revenge on Lin and the players who
were deemed un-cooperative.

When asked by the press, La New team manager Hong Yi-chung said his players
are clean. "We did not do anything about the threats by the gambling
syndicates. It did not have any effect on us. Our players went all out and
we won the championship. The result speaks for itself," he said.