The Fubon Guardians () are a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

team in the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL) in Taiwan. The team is owned by

Fubon Financial Holding Co. Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. () ( ) is a financial investment holding company consists of the following key subsidiaries: Fubon Asset Management, Fubon Insurance Co. Ltd., Fubon Securities, Fubon Bank (present Taipei Fubon Bank), Fubon Li ...

and play their home games at

Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium The Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It is currently mostly used for CPBL baseball games. The stadium can hold 12,500 people and was opened in 1997. Ground rules Part of the dug ...

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

. The team has had the Guardians name since 2017, with the franchise previously known as the Jungo Bears, Sinon Bulls, and EDA Rhinos.

History

The Jungo Era (1993–1995)

The Jungo Bears () existed in the

(CPBL) between 1993 and 1995. Originally formed as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

club by the

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

-based Jungo Corporation in 1989, this club was professionalized in 1992 after absorbing a group of players from the

Chinese Taipei national baseball team The Chinese Taipei national baseball team ( zh, t=中華臺北棒球代表隊, p=Zhōnghuá Táiběi Bàngqiú Dàibiǎoduì) is the national men's baseball team of Taiwan. It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is r ...

who just won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, similar to its sister team

China Times Eagles The China Times Eagles () were a professional baseball team belonging to the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that existed between 1993 and 1997. History Originally formed as an amateur club Black Eagles in 1990, this club was purchase ...

. This club took

Taichung Baseball Field The Taichung Baseball Field () is a multi-purpose stadium in North District, Taichung, Taiwan. Built in 1935 during the Taiwan under Japanese rule era, this stadium has been repeatedly refurbished and currently can seat 8,500 people. This stadi ...

as its home throughout its history. Despite a nice start, this club had been performing poorly throughout its short history, mainly due to the controversial leading styles of Jungo Corporation's then chairman Chen I-ping (陳一平). After a chain of rows over TV broadcast rights and the distribution of TV broadcast

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

, in November 1995 the other 5 teams of CPBL expelled Chen I-ping and Jungo Corporation's all legal rights inside CPBL. The Sinon Corporation took over this team and renamed it as Sinon Bears, which was later renamed again as Sinon Bulls in June 1996. Later in 1999 Chen I-ping and Jungo Corporation sought to sponsor

Taiwan Major League The Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball (TML; ) was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) ...

(TML)'s Taichung Agan but TML did not respond.

Sinon Bulls (1996–2012)

The Sinon Bulls () were founded in 1996 and are owned by the Taichung-based Sinon Corporation, which is known for its agricultural product lines, insurance, and supermarket chains through Central Taiwan. After a poor first season, the Bulls managed a winning record for the first time in second half of the 1997 season, and achieved the feat for a full season for the first time in 1998. In this season, the Bulls made it to the championship series for the first time, losing to the

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a Taiwanese professional baseball team. They are a member of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The team originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations were held to revive the fran ...

four games to three. Sinon would advance to the finals in 2000 and 2003 as well, losing both times. It was in 2004 that the Bulls finally made their breakthrough with a come-from-behind seven game series win. They made it back-to-back Taiwan Series wins with a sweep of the

Macoto Cobras is a unisex Japanese name although it is more commonly used by males. As a noun, Makoto means "sincerity" (誠) or "truth" (真, 眞). People Given name * Makoto (musician) (born 1977), drum and bass artist *Makoto (Sharan Q) ( まこと), d ...

the following year, their third consecutive trip to the championship series. The Bulls made the playoffs four years in a row (2003–2006), a CPBL record they shared with the Wei Chuan Dragons, who also appeared in four consecutive playoff rounds from 1996–1999. The Bulls also participated in the first annual Konami Cup

Asia Series The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four professional leagues associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)—Australian Baseball League (ABL), Chinese Professi ...

in Japan following its Taiwan Series victory in 2005. While defeating a team of all-stars from the Chinese league, they lost to the champions of Japan and South Korea en route to a 1–2 showing. At the end of the 2012 season, Sinon Corporation announced its intention to sell the team. By late December, an agreement was reached between Sinon Corporation and E-United Group, and the team was renamed EDA Rhinos after E-DA World, a large shopping, entertainment and hotel complex in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

operated by E-United Group.

EDA Rhinos (2013–2016)

The EDA Rhinos () intends to play games at both Li De Baseball Stadium in downtown Kaohsiung and

Chengcing Lake Baseball Field The Chengcing Lake Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium located in Niaosong District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on the side of Chengcing Lake. The stadium opened in 1999 and has been the home of Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala (1999–2002), First Finan ...

in the suburb during the upcoming 2013 CPBL season. The Rhinos also signaled in signing

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played wit ...

for 2013 as its billboard player. Taiwanese former MLB player Chin-lung Hu also signed with the team following 2013 CPBL Draft. In June 2016 it was announced that the E-United Group are willing to sell the team. The team won the second stage of the 2016 CPBL season and qualified to the

Taiwan Series The Taiwan Series () is the final championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 a ...

, where they defeated

Chinatrust Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Lea ...

4–2 to win their first championship since 2005.

Fubon Guardians (2017–present)

In November 2016, the team was renamed as Fubon Guardians () after

bought the team.

Records

Regular seasons

Playoffs

Asia Series

Roster

Retired numbers

List of managers

Jungo Bears (1993–1995)

Sinon Bears/Bulls (1996–2012)

EDA Rhinos (2013–2016)

Fubon Guardians (2017–present)

References

External links

Official website

Official Twitter profile
{{New Taipei Sports Chinese Professional Baseball League teams Baseball teams established in 1993 1993 establishments in Taiwan Sport in New Taipei