Kuo Tai-yuan (; (Kaku Taigen); born 20 March 1962) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). He is currently a baseball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. With 117 wins accumulated during his 13 seasons pitching for the

Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, ...

, Kuo set the record of being the international player who achieved the most wins in NPB history, and is widely regarded as the greatest Taiwanese pitcher before

Chien-Ming Wang Chien-Ming Wang (; born March 31, 1980) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals. He also played fo ...

(Kuo,

Hong-Chih Kuo Hong-Chih Kuo (; born July 23, 1981, in Tainan, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese retired professional baseball pitcher who last pitched for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He had previously played in Major Le ...

and Chin-Lung Hu are Tainan City natives).

Career

Amateur

Kuo was born in

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the " prefectural capital" for its over 260-year histo ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Originally a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, he started to pitch in high school and immediately became well known for his high quality fastball and slider. In the 1983

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

versus

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

match in

Asian Baseball Championship The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions ...

, Kuo did not allow a run to score during 17 consecutive innings, while his fastballs clocked up to 154 km/h (96 mph). He finally won the game and helped Chinese Taipei qualify for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. In the 1984 Olympics preliminary round against the United States, Kuo pitched up to 158 km/h (98 mph) and allowed only 2 runs (one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

) during his complete game effort, earning the nickname "The Oriental Express". However, Chinese Taipei eventually lost to Team USA, which was studded with

Will Clark William Nuschler Clark Jr. (born March 13, 1964) is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and ...

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

, and the like. Kuo later pitched in the semifinal round against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, allowing one run in 4.2 innings. Kuo's excellent performance drew special attention from the

, and he signed with the club after the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Seibu Lions

As a rookie, Kuo immediately gained a position in Seibu Lion's starting rotation and

no-hit In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine ...

the

Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Ho ...

on June 4, 1985, less than 2 months after his debut, and is the first international player to achieve so in the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

history. Kuo's other notable achievements during his NPB career included: *A streak of 10 consecutive wins during the 1989 season *A streak of 9 consecutive

complete games In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, and was elected as the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the Pacific League in the 1991 season *A streak of 3 consecutive

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s in the 1992 season *Highest winning percentage in the 1988 and 1994 seasons Career Statistics: Kuo retired at the end of 1997 season after he suffered long time wound which cost him a vacant season. Shortly after Kuo's retirement a poll in the Seibu Lions' official website unanimously voted Kuo as the most popular international player in the Seibu Lions history.

Professional Baseball in Taiwan

After retiring from Seibu Lions, the

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) hired Kuo as "senior technical consultant" until the league's collapse in early 2003. Meantime he introduced his former Seibu teammates Takehiro Ishii and Hisanobu Watanabe to join TML, originally as players and later as coaches. He also acted as go-between to help then young Hsu Ming-Chieh and Chang Chih-chia join Seibu Lions, following his steps. After a disappointing 2003 in which he was temporarily jobless and suffered marital crisis (as revealed in the "Personal Life" section later), in 2004 he started to head coach 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 ...

until the end of 2005 season. During his 2 seasons with the Cobras Kuo accumulated a 93 wins, 97 losses, and 17 ties performance. In the 2005

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 ...

the Cobras were swept by the

Sinon Bulls In Greek mythology, Sinon (Ancient Greek: Σίνων, from the verb "σίνομαι"—''sinomai'', "to harm, to hurt") or Sinopos was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War. He is not mentioned by Homer, but his story is given in the ''Aenei ...

0-4 and Kuo resigned right after the fiasco, addressing that "I would like to spend more time with my family". He later introduced Macoto Cobras players

Lin En-yu Lin En-yu (; born 25 March 1981) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. After serving on the Taiwanese national training team in 2003 and 2004, he was drafted by the Macoto Cobras of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) ...

and Lin Ying-Chieh to join

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

Chinese Taipei national baseball team

On February 15, 2007, Kuo was appointed as the head coach of 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 ...

by the

Chinese Taipei Baseball Association The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA; ) was established on February 28, 1973 to promote and develop baseball in Taiwan (known in international competition as Chinese Taipei due to political pressure from the People's Republic of China). T ...

. His tasks included the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through th ...

and 2007 Asian Baseball Championships. However the Chinese Taipei national baseball team performed poorly in both tournaments and he was relieved from the post on December 15, 2007.

Basic Information

*Number: 12 (1984~86), 18 (1987~97), 88 (since 2004) *Height: 180 cm *Weight: 72 kg *Bats/throws: R/R

Personal life

Kuo married Taiwanese model and actress Chang Chiung-tzu (張瓊姿, also credited as Zhang Qiuzi by Chinese media) in December 1993. After their marriage, Chang temporarily gave up her acting career in Taiwan to live with Kuo in Japan until his retirement late in 1997. Together, they had 2 daughters, born in 1997 and 1999.

References

Kuo and Chang's mutual announcement about their marriage (in Traditional Chinese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuo, Tai-Yuan 1962 births Living people Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for Taiwan Baseball players from Tainan Seibu Lions players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in Japan Nippon Professional Baseball coaches World Baseball Classic managers Macoto Cobras managers Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions managers Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions coaches