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17-436: The history of the team can be traced back to early 2001, when local Macoto Bank started to sponsor Taiwan Major League's (TML) Taipei Gida , taking over from the original sponsor Sampo Corporation . After TML's merger with CPBL in early 2003, Macoto Bank decided to run one of the 2 absorbed TML teams and the new team Macoto Gida (誠泰太陽) was formed accordingly along with its sister team First Financial Holdings Agan . During

34-577: A different name from different sponsors, while the home city and mascot remained the same. Also, players were sometimes shuffled after a season to "balance each teams' strength"; all TML players' were directly signed by the Naluwan Corporation and not the team they played for. These circumstances prevented the TML from gaining popularity comparable to the CPBL, and the TML also had difficulty in opening new markets in

51-471: Is announced on February 4, 2008, that dmedia System Co., Ltd. is the new owner of the team. On October 8, 2008, T-REX CEO Shih Chien-shin was called to the local district attorney's office along with the team's general manager, spokesperson, and three other players for alleged game-fixing. On the following day, CPBL announced that it is freezing T-REX's membership pending investigation. On October 23, 2008, CPBL announced that Dmedia T-REX has been expelled from

68-630: The Koos Group Whales later joined the CPBL in 1997. Chiu therefore established TML in December 1995 in anticipation to maintain advertisement revenue. The TML's other keyman was local Sampo Corporation (聲寶企業)'s then chairman Chen Sheng-tian(陳盛沺); his amateur baseball team the Sampo Giants had been requesting to join the CPBL since 1992, but was repeatedly rejected by the CPBL for unexplained reasons. Chen later decided to join forces with Chiu and turned

85-971: The Seibu Lions for 13 years. In 2005 this team competed with Sinon Bulls in the CPBL championships, but was defeated 0-4. After the merger of Macoto Bank into Shin Kong Financial Holdings in January 2006, the Shin Kong Financial Holdings finally did not absorb the Cobras due to disagreement on purchase prices as well as its lacking willingness. So during the 2006 season it was Macoto Bank's original chairman Lin Cheng-i(林誠一) and his son, Macoto Bank's original CEO Lin Chih-kuang( 林致光) who used their own money to run this team. Unable to afford such burden, after

102-637: The 2006 season ended the Lins have been trying to sell this team. The Foxconn Corporation was once reportedly interested, but finally in February 2007 it was the Taoyuan -based Jiuhe (九禾) Corporation which came to the takeover agreement with the Lins. However, on March 5, 2007 this takeover was disapproved by the CPBL General Managers committee. At the end of 2007 season, rumors about the team's sale again surfaced. It

119-514: The Sampo Giants into Taipei Gida , and sponsored this team until the end of 2000, when he realized there was no possibility for the TML to make a profit. TML's first historical game was played by the visiting Taipei Gida and Chiayi-Tainan Luka at Chiayi County Baseball Stadium on February 28, 1997. Throughout the TML's history, the TML, often with considerable incentives, had been attracting active CPBL players to break their CPBL contracts and join

136-634: The TML in 2003. Throughout the TML's history, all four teams were directly owned and managed by the Naluwan Corporation , a subsidiary of the TVBS media group, both of which were then chaired by Chiu Fu-sheng. TVBS held the broadcasting rights for CPBL games from 1993 to 1996 during the CPBL's heyday, but lost them in August 1995 to Videoland Television Network , a subsidiary of the Koos Group , whose baseball team

153-419: The TML. Nearly 30 CPBL players, both Taiwanese and foreign, broke from the CPBL and joined the TML. The TML also had a much looser policy on international players, such as allowing a team to register eleven international players in the 1997 season and seven in the 1998 season. Chiu annually leased the teams' logos and naming rights to different sponsors for advertising purposes, so every year each team would bear

170-521: The aftermath of the Black Eagles Incident . In January 2003, Chiu finally agreed to a government-brokered merger with CPBL, and reorganized his four teams to two. Chiu also resigned from his chairperson position in TVBS. President Chen Shui-bian , who acted as the middle person in the merger agreement, asked First Financial Holdings to purchase one of the teams , while Macoto Bank voluntarily took over

187-549: The amateur baseball team Sampo Giants to host them; he tried to enter the Chinese Professional Baseball League starting 1992. Strangely, Chen's applications were repeatedly rejected, so he decided to cooperate with TVBS 's then-chairman Chiu Fu-sheng to form TML and turned Sampo Giants into Taipei Gida. However, Chen finally ceased to support this team by the end of 2000 after long-time losing. Macoto Bank took it up later. The team's historical performance

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204-449: The league. Taiwan Major League The Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball ( TML ; Chinese : 臺灣大聯盟 ; pinyin : Táiwān Dà Liánméng ) 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) broadcasting rights. The CPBL absorbed

221-458: The merger draft Macoto Bank picked the bulk of Macoto Gida's players from Taichung Agan and Chiayi-Tainan Luka , but not the original Taipei Gida . Macoto Bank went on running and changed the team's mascot to animal-style cobras following CPBL's regulations in early 2004. In 2004 and 2005 the Macoto Cobras was head-coached by Tai-Yuan Kuo , a legendary Taiwanese pitcher who played for

238-413: The merger took place, the two former TML teams changed their mascots to meet the standard CPBL practice. Other than the member teams' home cities, games were also held in minor cities, although at a less frequently. The TML also suggested a Taiwan championship series between the TML and the CPBL, but was rebuffed. Taipei Gida Taipei Gida ( Chinese : 台北太陽 ; pinyin : Táiběi Tàiyáng )

255-438: The other . Before the CPBL's 2003 season started, the CPBL decided to fine each former "traitor", or those who broke their contracts with the CPBL, who returned with the former TML teams because of their previous contract-breaking. Both Macoto Bank and First Financial Holdings originally refused to pay the fine, and the players were banned from playing in the 2003 season. In 2004, Macoto Bank and La New Corporation , who purchased

272-446: The team from First Financial Holdings, gave in to CPBL demands and paid the fine by adding extra restrictions in these players' contracts. The ban was subsequently lifted. The mascots Agan, Fala, Gida and Luka originated from Taiwanese aboriginal symbols that mean suns, robots, braves, and thunder gods respectively. This is contrary to the standard practice of the CPBL, whose member organization all chose animals as their mascots. When

289-609: Was a Taiwanese professional baseball team that existed from 1997 to 2002. It was one of the four Taiwan Major League (TML) teams and was based in Taipei , Taiwan . Its historical sponsors included local Sampo Corporation and Macoto Bank , so the team was called "Taipei Sampo Gida" (台北聲寶太陽) or "Taipei Macoto Gida" (台北誠泰太陽). The team's history could be traced back to 1991 when Sampo Corporation's then chairman Chen Sheng-tian (陳盛沺) started to sponsor Chinese Culture University 's baseball team. After these student players graduated, Chen formed

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