2020 Chinese Professional Baseball League season

31st CPBL season
LeagueChinese Professional Baseball League
SportBaseball
DurationApril 12 – November 8, 2020
Number of games60 (each half season, each team)
Number of teams5
Wei Chuan Dragons
(minor league)[1]
TV partner(s)MOMOTV [zh]
Eleven Sports
Videoland Television Network
ELTA TV [zh]
First half-season
Season championsCTBC Brothers
Second half-season
Season championsUni-President Lions
Taiwan Series
ChampionsUni-President Lions
Finals MVPPan Wu-hsiung
CPBL seasons
← 2019

The 2020 Chinese Professional Baseball League season was the 31st season of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The season was scheduled to begin on 14 March, earlier than previous seasons in order to free up time for the CPBL players to participate in the final qualifying tournament of the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, opening day was delayed.[2][3] On 1 April, the CPBL announced that the season would begin on 11 April with the rematch of last season's Taiwan Series teams: the champions Rakuten Monkeys hosting the CTBC Brothers, but behind closed doors with no fans attending.[4]

Due to inclement weather, game #1 and #2 hosted by Monkeys were postponed. This led to game #3, the CTBC Brothers hosting the Uni-President Lions on April 12 at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, becoming the first game of the season to play to completion.[5][6] On May 8, a maximum of 1,000 fans were permitted to attend games.[7][8] Restrictions were further relaxed on June 5: as long as there was one-seat spacing between spectators, attendance number was no longer restricted, and masks were no longer required while seated; food prepared on-site was again allowed.

The CPBL received international coverage because other major baseball leagues such as Major League Baseball in North America, Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, and the KBO League in South Korea were still severely impacted by the virus outbreak and unable to confirm the dates of their respective season openings.[9] The first-ever English broadcast of CPBL games also attracted international attention.

The annual CPBL All-Star Game was cancelled for the first time to accommodate to the compact schedule.[10] The season concluded on 8 November with the Uni-President Lions winning the seasonal championship, by defeating the CTBC Brothers in Game 7 of the Taiwan Series with a score of 7:4.

  1. ^ 雷明正 (2020-02-05). "中職／味全龍今年打二軍球季 行銷經營全比照一軍規格" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). NOWnews. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  2. ^ Gleeson, Scott (7 April 2020). "Chinese Professional Baseball League team will have robot mannequins fill in as fans at games". USA Today. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. ^ Bengel, Chris (7 April 2020). "Rakuten Monkeys will have robot mannequins dressed as fans when 2020 season begins". CBS Sports. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  4. ^ Armstrong, Megan (8 April 2020). "CPBL's Rakuten Monkeys to Use Robot Mannequins as Fans Amid COVID-19". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  5. ^ Yen, William (11 April 2020). "Opening game of Taiwan baseball season postponed due to rain". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. ^ Yen, William (12 April 2020). "Taiwan launches world's only baseball season amid COVID-19 (updated)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  7. ^ Pan, Jason (9 May 2020). "Virus Outbreak: Taiwan opens stadiums to ball fans". Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. ^ Hsieh, Ching-wen; Mazzetta, Matthew (8 May 2020). "Taiwan the first to open pro baseball games to fans in 2020". Central News Agency. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  9. ^ Flannery, Russell (5 April 2020). "Taiwan To Achieve Feat That Eludes U.S.: Open Baseball Season This Month". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  10. ^ "關於中職-聯盟組織架構" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). CPBL. Retrieved 2020-04-11.