Chang Chih-Chia

Taiwanese baseball player Chang Chih-Chia rose to fame following his performance for the national team at the 2001 Baseball World Cup where he pitched a 4–0 win–loss record. As a result Chang joined the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with a signing bonus of 120 million Japanese yen (US$845,885), the highest for any Taiwanese pitcher in Japan at the time. In 2002 he set a NPB record of taking at least one strikeout in 28 consecutive innings, with the record standing until 2015.

Chang played for the Taiwan national baseball team at the 2004 Athína Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing fifth in each tournament. Due to injuries, he only played two seasons with the Seibu Lions before signing with La New Bears in Taiwan in 2008. His stint with the team, however, only lasted until 2009 when he was linked to a game-fixing scandal. Chang was then banned from playing professionally for life and was handed a four-month prison sentence. His jail term was later commuted to a sizeable fine by the Taiwan High Court. On 1 January 2024 Chang was found dead on the floor of his apartment from an apparent heart attack after earlier playing a game of softball. He was 43.