Lions legendary pitcher Wei-Lun Pan made his final start in his 22-year professional career at Taipei Dome in front of 28,018 fans on 28 September, hoping to win his 150th career game before he calls it a career. Pan threw a strong 6.2-inning outing while giving up four runs as the TSG Hawks defeated the Lions 4-0, handing the 109th career loss to Pan before he answered the curtain call to standing fans in the seventh inning.
Pan, a Makatao
native from Taiwan’s southern county of Pingtung, started his baseball career
under his father’s guidance as the senior was the school team coach of the
Chih-Shan (Red Mountain) elementary school.
Pan made his international debut in the VII World Youth Baseball Championship right after being enrolled in the powerhouse Meiho Junior High in 1996. After appearing in the tournament for three straight years afterwards, Pan was selected to play the WBSC Junior Baseball World Championship 2000 before being named to the roster of the XXI Haarlem Baseball Week (2002), VIX Asian Games Busan (2002), XV IBAF Intercontinental Cup (2002), and the BFA Asian Baseball Championship (2003) among other international games.
In 2003, Pan was drafted first overall in the CPBL draft when
the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions selected him, making him the first pitcher
from Meiho High to be selected first overall in the history of the CPBL draft.
Pan received the uniform number “18” from Lions manager Chang-Heng Hsieh, another
legendary Lions pitcher and the first to win 100 games in CPBL history.
In Pan’s rookie season, he collected
13 wins and won the Rookie of the Year award. He then went on to win at least
10 games for eight straight seasons and became the second (next to Chang-Heng
Hsieh) but the youngest (28) and fastest (193 games started) player to reach
the 100-win plateau in CPBL history at the end of his eighth season.
Pan was naturally a fan favorite
during his lengthy career and was voted to the All-Star Game 16 times. In addition
to leading the Lions to six Taiwan Series titles, he was the leading winner in
2007 (16-2), ERA leader in 2009 (3.30), three-time Gold Gloves recipient, Best
Ten, Comeback Player of the Year (2019), two Outstanding Player of Taiwan
Series (2008, 2012), and one no-hit game in 2008. His Cy Young-like numbers,
including 16 straight wins in 2007 and 21 consecutive wins between 2007 and
2008, both CPBL records, would assure the future Hall of Famer of a first
ballot when Pan becomes eligible five years from now.
While Pan continued to excel in CPBL and became the long-time ace for the Lions, he has been a regular ace of Chinese Taipei in various international tournaments even after turning pro. He was selected to represent the colours for the two Asian Games (2006, 2010), two Intercontinental Cups (2006, 2010), two Olympics (2004, 2008), three World Baseball Classics (2006, 2013, 2017), and the inaugural Premier12 in 2015. His dominant performance against the Netherlands in the Athens Olympics, WBC 2013, and Premier12 was the most talked about among the fans.
On the night of Pan’s final start, his former teammates and managers of Chinese Taipei teams ranging from the amateur era to the Olympics, WBC, and Premier12 tournaments gathered to congratulate him on his successful career. At the same time, Pan expressed his appreciation for the teaching and training received from the managers.
During his retirement ceremony in Tainan Stadium, Pan was reunited with his former teammates from different eras, including Tilson Brito, who was flown in from the Dominican Republic to share the special moments.
During his retirement ceremony, Pan expressed his appreciation to his late father for introducing
the sport, and he also stated his desire to collect the 150th win. “I really wanted
to win that number 150 and make you (fans and the City of Tainan) proud. I
understand that you may say that 149 wins are already (a) good (record), but I expected
to be better and set a milestone for Taiwan baseball,” said Pan.
After announcing his retirement, Pan
is unlikely to pitch during the post-season and is expected to join the
coaching staff next year.
