Ngayaw Ake Explained

Birth Date:1982 1, df=y
Birth Place:Taitung County, Taiwan
Ngayaw Ake'
Position:Infielder
Team:Wei Chuan Dragons
Number:31
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Debutleague:CPBL
Debutdate:3 June
Debutyear:2004
Debutteam:La New Bears
Statyear:2022 season
Stat1label:Batting average
Stat1value:.311
Stat2label:Home runs
Stat2value:301
Stat3label:Runs batted in
Stat3value:1,195
Awards:
  • CPBL Best Ten Award (2006–2009, 2015)
  • CPBL Gold Glove (2007)
  • Taiwan Series champion (2006, 2012, 2014, 2015)
  • Taiwan Series Most Valuable Player (2012, 2015)
  • CPBL MVP of the Year (2015)
Teams:

Lin Chih-sheng (; born 1 January 1982), also known as Ngayaw Ake' in Amis language, is a Taiwanese indigenous baseball player for the Wei Chuan Dragons of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He began his career with the La New Bears in 2004. The team changed its name to the Lamigo Monkeys in 2011, and Lin left after the 2015 season to sign with the CTBC Brothers.

While with the Bears and later Monkeys, Lin and his teammate Shih Chih-wei were often referred to as the "Sheng-Shih Connection," a reference to the glove puppet film Legend of the Sacred Stone.[1] Alone, Lin is nicknamed "Big Brother."[2]

Career

Lin competed at the 2006 Asian Games and had the game-winning hit at the championship game against Japan.[3] In 2008, Lin was chosen to play on the Taiwanese national baseball team at the 2008 Olympic Games.[4] He also played in the 2010 Asian Games,[5] and captained the national team in the inaugural WBSC Premier12 held in November 2015.[6]

He recorded the CPBL's first 30–30 season in 2015, and also won the MVP award that season.[7] On 4 January 2016, Lin signed with the Chinatrust Brothers. He is the first player to change teams since the implementation of free agency in 2010. The three-year deal, worth a guaranteed NT$45 million (US$1.36 million), is the richest in CPBL history, and also includes NT$9 million in incentives.[8] [9]

On 3 April 2022, while playing for the Wei Chuan Dragons, Lin hit his 290th career home run off of Uni-President Lions pitcher Ching-Ming Wang. With the solo blast, Lin set the all-time CPBL home run record.[10] He played in 103 games for Wei Chuan in 2022, batting .300/.392/.432 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI.

On 16 April 2023, Lin hit his 300th career home run off of Bradin Hagens of the Rakuten Monkeys. In doing so, he became the first player in CPBL history to reach the 300 home run mark.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Bears on the rampage after lackluster start. Taipei Times. 15 October 2004. 6 January 2016.
  2. News: Street. Michael. The Asian Equation. 5 January 2016. Baseball Prospectus. 1 March 2013.
  3. News: Asian Games: Japan wins 3 more swimming golds, but silver in baseball.. 5 January 2016. Asian Economic News. The Free Library. 11 December 2006.
  4. News: Das. Andrew. Baseball's Olympic Swan Song. 5 January 2016. The New York Times. 23 July 2008.
  5. News: Wang. Chris. Taiwan announces Asian Games baseball roster without Kuo. 5 January 2016. Central News Agency. 21 September 2010.
  6. News: Pan. Jason. Taiwan score three late runs to defeat Cuba. 5 January 2016. Taipei Times. 15 November 2015.
  7. News: Huang. Paul. Lin Chih-sheng is top winner at CPBL awards. 6 November 2015. Taipei Times. 6 November 2015.
  8. News: Yeh. Joseph. Lin Chih-sheng joins Chinatrust Brothers. 5 January 2016. China Post. 5 January 2016.
  9. News: Lee. Yu-cheng. Wu. Lilian. Lin Chih-sheng becomes highest paid baseball player in Taiwan. 5 January 2016. Central News Agency. 4 January 2016.
  10. Web site: Lin Chih-Sheng Breaks CPBL Record With 290th Career Home Run. 2023-01-14. cpblstats.com. 4 April 2022 . en.
  11. Web site: Lin Chih-Sheng Hits 300th Career Home Run. 2023-05-02. cpblstats.com. 17 April 2023 . en.