Taichung Agan

The Taichung Agan (

Corporation, which sponsored this team in its last 2002 season.

The team's mascot, Agan, was derived from the

Team history

The Agan finished last in the league's debut season of 1997, going 41–53. Mitch Lyden (.350, 27 HR, 72 RBI) was second in the league in average and possibly second in homers as the offensive star. The pitching was led by Al Osuna (8-6, 2.50), who had the best ERA in the league.

The Agan remained last with a 40–66 season in 1998. Lyden's production dropped drastically (.278, 6 HR) and

during the season and won the batting title at .387.

Agan wore out though, and fell back to last in 2000 (35-46-3). Koji Muto (6-6, 2.74) was the top starter while Tung Tsung-hui (.330) was fourth in the TML in average. Taichung pulled a worst-to-first with a dazzling 43-16-1 record in 2001 and they beat Taipei Gida 4 games to 2 in the finals. Tung (.331) was again third in average, while Huang Chin-chih (7-3, 1.62) led the league in ERA and Hsu Chu-chien (7-2, 2.64) was fifth. Richard Bell (2-2, 22 Sv, 1.62, 69 K, 34 H in 55 IP) was the league's top reliever.^[2]

As the TML merged with the

, who homered 19 times, drove in 64 and was second with a .321 average.

With three titles, the Agan were the most successful team in TML history, though they finished last in their other three seasons.

References