Peng Cheng-Min

Peng Cheng-min, (; born 6 August 1978 in Kaoshiung, Taiwan), is a Taiwanese former professional baseball player and baseball coach who was a right fielder, first baseman, and designated hitter for the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League from 2001 to 2019.

Playing career During the 2001–02 seasons he was designated hitter for the team, as he was picked 1st overall in the 2001 draft. Starting in 2003, he began his four-season tenure in right field after adjusting to the role. However, in the middle of the 2006 season Brother Elephants released then first baseman Tsai Feng-an (蔡豐安) and Peng switched to play first base, late in his career, he also played as an occasional designated hitter. He also wore number 23 because his original number 6 jersey was worn by Tsai when he first entered the team, but he never reverted to the number, as there had been no notable players who wore number 23 in baseball.

He is known for his skill hitting inside-out, so he always lands the ball on the right side of the field, that falsely listed him as an opposite-field hitter. He has won five CPBL Batting Championship Awards and holds the Chinese Professional Baseball League records for career Singles(1515), walks (1126), and runs scored (1090). he was the pivotal and the only member of both generations of Three Slugging Muketeers.

However, in 2005, he had an incident similar to David Ortiz, where he hit a power box out of frustration. That caused him to inflict multiple fractures on his wrist. He missed the 2005 calendar year, and the top half of 2006 season. The break included all of the international fixtures, including Intercontinental Cup 2006.

In 2008, he hit .391, a CPBL single-season record.(Then it was broken by Wang Po-jung with .414 in 2016) On 20 September 2008, Peng hit the 1000th home run in Elephant's history, and followed it up on 28 March 2009 with the CPBL's 6000th home run. He recorded his career 1,000 hits on 18 August 2010 in Taichung Baseball Field, becoming the player reached the 1,000 hits with fewest games(844), plates (3469), at bats (2838).

In the end of 2010, when the Brother Elephants seized the championship, he gained the CPBL MVP of the Year Award, adding to the one earned in 2001, and also adding to his three consecutive titles.

On 21 November 2011, Peng signed a ten-year extension with the Brother Elephants, five-year as player and five-year as coach. The contract worth 66 million NT dollar (roughly 2.27 million US dollar), it is the largest contract for a player in CPBL history.

Since 2012, however, he was no longer a regular starter. After becoming the 4th player in CPBL history to reach 1000 hits, 100 home runs and 100 steals landmark, it wasn't until 4 May 2014, where he made his 200th stolen base, and made hit 2000th base hit on 7 July 2019. 10 days later, he became the highest ever run scorer, 1076 runs scored.

In January 2019, Peng announced his retirement from baseball, and played his final match on 29 September as a testimonial match, with his jersey number likely to be retired at the conclusion of the match. During the final week, all team members wore the jersey with 'Chia, 23' on their back. His actual final match was in the Final when the team lost 3-20, which incidentally adds to 23, his shirt number.

Coaching career Peng became an assistant batting coach for Chinese Taipei National Team in October, 2019.

On 10 May 2023, Peng was named the 7th manager in CTBC Brothers history, replacing Lin Wei-chu, who stepped down from the position. However, on 29 December, Peng himself stepped down from the position due to health concerns.

Personal life Chia Chia (恰恰) is Peng's nickname as he shares the surname and bears resemblance to Peng Chia-chia, a veteran Taiwanese entertainer and baseball fanatic.

Experience Kaoshiung City Municipal Fu-sing Elememtary School Baseball Team Kaoshiung City Municipal Wu-fu Junior High School Baseball Team Pintong Mei-he High School Baseball Team, trained as second baseman and third baseman, but excelled as a shortstop. Taiwan Cooperative Bank baseball team Taiwan Army Baseball Team, as a positional pitcher, armed with a 144 km/h fastball CPBL Brother Elephants/Chinatrust Brother Elephants (2001~2019), 4-time CPBL champion, 2001–2003, 2010 playoffs MVP, 2001, 2010, Golden Hammer Team, 2002, 2010 Regular Season League MVP Franchise-matching 7-time runner-up (2014–2017, 2019) Oldest ever league finals LMVP (losing team, 2016) First ever player winning 5-time Batting Average Titles, 2003–2005, 2008, 2010 with .376 in 2004, a CPBL record for Taiwanese-born local players. Eclipsed by himself in 2008 (.391). Chinese Taipei National Baseball Team (2001–2013)

Career statistics is CPBL record

Career Statistics Rank Item Amount Brother Elephants Rank CPBL history Rank Games played 1800 1st 2nd Plates Appearance 7370 1st 2nd At Bats 6140 1st 2nd Hits 2044 1st 2nd Singles 1515 1st 1st Doubles 319 1st 2nd Triples 18 10th T-31st Home Runs 192 1st 4th Total Bases 2975 1st 2nd Runs Scored 1090 1st 1st Runs Batted In 1096 1st 2nd Ground into Double Plays 190 1st 3rd Sacrifice Bunts 18 T-29th T-144th Sacrifice Flies 84 1st 1st Bad Balls Gained 953 1st 1st Intentionally Bad Balls 80 1st 1st Walks 1126 1st 1st Strike outs 1099 1st 2nd Stolen Bases 231 1st 3rd Caught Stealing 74 T-1st 3rd

Awards

Salary Year Club NT/month Converse to US/annual 2001 Brother Elephants 95,000 37,600 2002 Brother Elephants 100,000 39,600 2003 Brother Elephants 127,000 50,200 2004 Brother Elephants 200,000 79,200 2005 Brother Elephants 300,000 118,800 2006 Brother Elephants 310,000 122,800 2007 Brother Elephants 240,000 95,000 2008 Brother Elephants 320,000 126,700 2009 Brother Elephants 400,000 158,400 2010 Brother Elephants 500,000 198,000 2011 Brother Elephants 525,000 207,900 2012 Brother Elephants 550,000 217,800 2013 Brother Elephants 550,000 217,800 2014 Chinatrust Brothers 550,000 217,800 2015 Chinatrust Brothers 550,000 217,800 2016 Chinatrust Brothers 550,000 217,800 2016 Chinatrust Brothers 700,000 277,200 2017 Chinatrust Brothers 700,000 277,200 2018 Chinatrust Brothers 700,000 277,200 2019 Chinatrust Brothers 700,000 277,200 1 NT dollar is roughly equal to 0.033 US dollar.

National team He has been selected by Chinese Taipei baseball team several times since 1998, as follows: 1998 Baseball World Cup 2000 Haarlem Baseball Week 2002 Busan Asian Games 2002 Intercontinental Cup 2003 Asian Baseball Championship 2004 Athens Olympic Games 2007 Baseball World Cup 2007 Asian Baseball Championship 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Family Peng's parents live in Kaoshiung; in addition, he has two elder sisters and a younger brother, Peng Cheng-sin(彭政欣), who currently is a Chinatrust Brothers administrator. On 13 December 2008, he married Lu Kuan-chi(呂冠綺), a flight attendant. Then, they gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.