China Baseball League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| China Baseball League | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 2002 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | China |
| Current champions | Tianjin Lions |
The China Baseball League or Chinese Baseball League (Chinese: 中国棒球联赛) or CBL is a fledgling professional baseball league in the People's Republic of China, founded in 2002. It should not be confused with the Chinese Professional Baseball League, which is the game's top league in Taiwan. Confusingly, there is also a basketball CBL in China, the Chinese Basketball League, which is a minor league for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
The teams are:
- Beijing Tigers (北京猛虎) (since 2002)
- China Hope Stars (希望之星) (in Beijing since 2005)
- Shanghai Eagles (上海金鹰) (since 2002)
- Sichuan Dragons (四川蛟龙) (since 2005)
- Tianjin Lions (天津雄狮) (since 2002)
- Guangdong Leopards (广东猎豹) (since 2002)
Past teams include:
- Beijing Vicious Lions
The original four teams were the Beijing Tigers, Tianjin Lions, Shanghai Eagles and Guangzhou Lightning. The Hope Stars and Dragons joined them in 2005. The Hope Stars are an under-21 team of promising players from around the country.
[edit] Earlier seasons
The first season ran from April 26 to May 25, 2002 with a one-game championship.
In the 2004 season, the defending champion Beijing Tigers once again defeated the Tianjin Lions in the best-of-five finals. They came back from an 0-2 deficit to win the series 3 games to 2.
The opening day of the 2005 season was April 1, 2005. The regular season ended on June 26. In the 2005 best-of-five championship series, the Beijing Tigers swept the Tianjin Lions, three games to none, giving the Tigers their third straight title. (The 2005 championship series was abbreviated to three games due to SARS.)
| Year | Winner | Games | Runner-up | Games |
| 2002 | Tianjin Lions | 1 | Beijing Tigers | 0 |
| 2003 | Beijing Tigers | 3 | Tianjin Lions | 2 |
| 2004 | Beijing Tigers | 3 | Tianjin Lions | 2 |
| 2005 | Beijing Tigers | 2 | Tianjin Lions | 0 |
| 2006 | Tianjin Lions | 3 | Guangdong Leopards | 0 |
[edit] External links
- Official site (in Chinese)
- National baseball league newcomers
- VOA: MLB, China Baseball League Team to Tour China
- Opening day 2005 image gallery
- Shanghai Diaries: In Search of Baseball's Yao Ming (November 30, 2004)
- First season 2002
- 2004 championship
- 2004 championship
- MLB.com article on baseball in China, July 2005
- Base Beginnings: The China Baseball League makes a pitch for popularity (June 14, 2005)
