Taiwanese baseball player Yang Dai-kang signs five-year contract with Japan’s Giants

Taiwanese baseball player Yang Dai-kang holds a news conference to announce his five-year deal with Japanese baseball team Yomiuri Giants, after playing for Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters in the past 10 seasons. (Photo was grabbed from Reuters video file)
Taiwanese baseball player Yang Dai-kang holds a news conference to announce his five-year deal with Japanese baseball team Yomiuri Giants, after playing for Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters in the past 10 seasons. (Photo was grabbed from Reuters video file)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) — Taiwanese baseball player Yang Dai-kang has agreed to a five-year deal with Japanese baseball team Yomiuri Giants after a 10-season stint with the Hokkaido Nippon-ham Fighters.

The amount the contract is worth is a secret, Tatsuyoshi Tsutsumi, the team’s general manager, said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old baseball star said during a news conference in Taipei that he had finally found a team in need of his help.

“I have decided to sign with the Giants because the general manager told me that we need to make it to the finals. We need your power. We really need you,” Yang, 29, said at the Palais de Chine hotel, adding that he was looking forward to playing against ex-teammates, including well-known Japanese pitcher, Otani Shohei.

Yang, who weighs 89 kg and is six feet tall, achieved a 0.273 batting average, 942 hits and 385 RBI during the 993 games he played while with the Nippon-ham Fighters.

He now joins the Yomiuri Giants, one of the most prestigious baseball teams in Japan which was founded in 1934.