Without a doubt, the biggest story of the season in the CPBL to date is Tong Yi-Lions pitcher Pan Hui-Lun’s recent no-hitter and near perfect game. Congratulations again to Pan. In the mean Time, the La New Bears have been the team to beat in the second half. To the rankings (numbers on the left in parentheses represent the teams’ first half records, numbers on the right are the second-half records):

1. La New Bears: (28-19-3/11-4-0): The Bears have coming roaring out of the gate in the second half. Starting pitcher Mike Johnson is now 13-0 with a 2.85 E.R.A. and a 1.30 WHIP. Pitcher Shih Wen-Hsiung has improved to 6-3 with a 3.20 E.R.A. Batting wise, The Bears have exploded offensively in the second half, with the trio of Chen Chin-Feng (.364, 15 HR, 62 RBI in 242 AB’s), OF Huang Luong-Yi (.357, 65 runs), and ump-clobberer Lin Zhi-Shen (.339, 41 RBI) all producing. EWC contributor extraordinaire Gary Burnham is hitting a cool .333 with 28 Runs and 21 RBI. Also of note: official CPBL olympic-squad catcher and official CPBL player of EWC Chen-Feng Ming is holding his own at .277–meaning my I currently owe my wife 470 NTD from our pre-season bet on his batting average. (10 NTD per point over .230).

2. Sinon Bulls (19-30-1/9-6-0): Despite holding last place during in the regular season, the Bulls find themselves in second place in the second half standings. Starting pitchers Yu Wen-Bing and Jose Espinal (4-3 3.31) are doing their best to keep the Bulls competitive despite an anemic offense. Only 3B Zhang Tai-Shan is having a notable season at the plate (.329, 42 RBI).

3. Tong Yi-Lions (34-16-0/7-7-0): Buoyed by a combined 18-4 record from the quality 1-2 punch of Sweet Lou-Pote and Pan Hui-Lun, the Lions have the best overall record in the CPBL but have fallen behind the Bears in the second half. Pote is 11-3 with a 3.40 E.R.A., while Pan is a John Tudor circa 1985-esque 7-1 with a 1.92 E.R.A. Dominican masher Tilson Brito continues his Sherman tank-like assault on the league, hitting .302 with 14 HR, 55 runs scored and 54 RBI. 1B Kao Kuo-Ching is hitting .324 with 49 RBI.

4. Brother Elephants (24-23-3/6-7-0): Pitcher Liao Yu-Chen is red-hot, and has improved to 9-2 with a 2.58 E.R.A. Imports Danny Core (5-2, 2.63) and Kobayashi Ryokan (5-4, 2.87) fill out the rotation effectively. Pride of Yunlin County Chen Guang-Ren is hitting .354 with 51 RBI, and Mr. Su-Su Bao Gan Chen Ji-Yuan is hitting .302 with 40 RBI and 45 runs.

5. Chinatrust Whales (20-30-0/7-9-0): Starting pitcher Ni Fu-Te is starting to turn things around for the Whales and has seen his E.R.A. drop to 3.77 on the year despite an unseemly 4-7 record. The bats continue to sleep for the Whales, with Colombian first baseman Carlos Villalobos (.273, 26 RBI) providing the only semblance of offense.

6. Media T-Rex (19-30-1/5-12-0): The Rex are gettin’ wrecked since the break, with a 5-12 record. Lai Jin-Nan, the team leader in victories with a 6-6 record, has a 6.47 E.R.A. to accompany it. Rotund wai-guo ren Cory Bailey is 5-4 with a more respectable 3.51 E.R.A. First baseman Wang Chuang-Jia (.307, 35 RBI) and DH Kao Wei (.305, 32 RBI) lead the offensive charge.