Rakuten Monkeys

{{short description|Professional baseball team in Taoyuan, Taiwan}} {{Infobox baseball team | name = Rakuten Monkeys | native_name = 樂天桃猿 | logo = Rakuten Monkeys.png | cap_logo=Rakuten R logo.svg | league = Chinese Professional Baseball League | division = | location = Taoyuan | stadium = Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium | founded = {{Start date and age|2003}} | nickname = | league_champs = | series = Asia Series | series_champs = | colors = White and red | mascot = Rocky, Monkey, Victor | series2 = Taiwan Series | series2_champs = (8) {{hlist|2006|2012|2014|2015|2017|2018|2019|2025}} | former_names = {{Plainlist| * First Financial Holdings Agan (2003) * La New Bears (2004–2010) * Lamigo Monkeys (2011–2019) }} | retired_numbers = {{hlist|10|52}} | owner = Rakuten | management = | coach = | manager = Tseng Hao-chu | general_manager = | president = | season = | record = | playoffs = | berths = (14) {{hlist|2006|2007|2008|2011|2012|2014|2015|2017|2018|2019|2022|2023|2024|2025}} | media = | website = {{URL|https://monkeys.rakuten.com.tw/}} | h_title = | h_pattern_cap = | h_cap = | h_pattern_la = | h_leftarm = | h_pattern_b = | h_body = | h_pattern_ra = | h_rightarm = | h_pattern_pants = | h_pants = | h_socks = | a_title = | a_pattern_cap = | a_cap = | a_pattern_la = | a_leftarm = | a_pattern_b = | a_body = | a_pattern_ra = | a_rightarm = | a_pattern_pants = | a_pants = | a_socks = }}

The '''Rakuten Monkeys''' ({{zh|t=樂天桃猿|p=Lètiān Táoyuán|l=Rakuten Taoyuan Monkeys}}), formerly known as '''La New Bears''' (2004–2010) and '''Lamigo Monkeys''' (2011–2019), are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. Owned and administered by the Japanese technology conglomerate Rakuten, the Monkeys qualified for the playoffs in 2006 for the first time in team history, and by finishing with the best record in the entire season, gained an automatic berth for the Taiwan Series.

==History==

===First Financial Holdings Agan (2003)===

First known as the First Securities Agan, the team was owned by the First Financial Holding Corporation, a government-funded financial holding service institute. Its then-chairman Chen Chien-lung was a keen political supporter of President Chen Shui-bian, and, upon the president's request, immediately agreed to take over one of the two former Taiwan Major League (TML) teams after TML was merged into CPBL in January 2003.

Since Macoto Bank had already decided to take-over the Macoto Gida, Chen Chien-lung took over the Agan as promised. The majority of Agan's player came from Taipei Gida and Kaohsiung-Pingtung Fala, and not from the Taichung Agan, which carried the same mascot and were the champions of the final season of TML. Agan played its home games at Chengcing Lake Baseball Field.

After Chen Chien-lung's sudden resignation due to allegation of insider trading in August 2003, the First Financial Holding Corporation no longer showed willingness in running the team. The Agan finished the 2003 season placing fifth overall, and did not win any of the 20 games against Brother Elephants, the Taiwan Series champions of that season.

===La New Bears (2004–2010)=== Just before the 2004 season, Kaohsiung County Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing invited the La New Corporation, a footwear manufacturer to sponsor the then-vacant Chengcing Lake Baseball Field, which was under the management of Kaohsiung County after the disbandment of Taiwan Major League. La New Corporation eventually agreed and, in addition, offered to buy the First Financial Holdings Agan, whose management had been struggling in the past season.

In December 2003, La New completed the process with First Financial Holdings and renamed the team La New Bears. In the first two years of their existence, the Bears did not perform well. But after several additions to the roster through drafts and the minor league, the Bears turned the team around, eventually winning the 2006 Taiwan Series title.

===Lamigo Monkeys (2011–2019)===

thumb|Lamigo Monkeys logo After several years of futile effort to manage the Kaohsiung market, the team relocated to Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City) and changed its name to Lamigo Monkeys in January 2011. Lamigo is a subsidiary of La New Corporation that operates a wellness center, restaurants as well as a travel agency in northern Taiwan.

Since Lamigo is based in northern Taiwan, the team was moved to Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium in Taoyuan County. Their new Chinese name, ''taoyuan'' ({{Langx|zh|桃猿}}), is a homophone to their new home county. Despite the name change, La New Corporation retained its direct ownership of the team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2011/01/07/2003492888 |title=La New Bears become the Lamigo Monkeys |author=Huang, Paul |date=7 January 2011 |work=Taipei Times |access-date=7 January 2011}}</ref>

In 2012, the Monkeys won their first seasonal title after the name change when they defeated Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions four games to one in Taiwan Series.

In July 2019, the organization announced that the team would be sold.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yen |first1=Joseph |title=Six-time Taiwan pro baseball league champion team up for sale |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeas/201907030014.aspx |access-date=4 July 2019 |agency=Central News Agency |date=3 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pan |first1=Jason |title=Lamigo Monkeys being put up for sale after shortfalls |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2019/07/04/2003718087 |access-date=4 July 2019 |work=Taipei Times |date=4 July 2019}}</ref> In September 2019, negotiations with Rakuten to acquire the team closed successfully.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shan |first1=Shelley |title=Taoyuan Lamigo Monkeys sold |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/09/19/2003722556 |access-date=19 September 2019 |work=Taipei Times |date=19 September 2019}}</ref> With the sale, Rakuten became the first foreign company to own a Chinese Professional Baseball League team.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yeh |first1=Joseph |title=Rakuten buys Taiwan baseball team, will officially run it next year |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeas/201909190007.aspx |access-date=19 September 2019 |agency=Central News Agency |date=19 September 2019}}</ref> Terms of the sale were not disclosed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shan |first1=Shelley |title=Lamigo Monkeys officials discuss post-sale future |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/09/20/2003722611 |access-date=20 September 2019 |work=Taipei Times |date=20 September 2019}}</ref>

===Rakuten Monkeys (2020–present)===

The team name was formally changed to the Rakuten Monkeys on 17 December 2019. New uniforms were also revealed, similar in design to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles uniforms.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hsieh |first1=Ching-wen |last2=Yeh |first2=Joseph |title=Japanese owners rename Taoyuan baseball team Rakuten Monkeys |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeas/201912170020.aspx |access-date=18 December 2019 |agency=Central News Agency |date=17 December 2019}}</ref>

In 2020, fans were not allowed to attend sporting events in Taiwan due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Rakuten Monkeys decided to place robotic mannequins in the stands to simulate the appearance of fans at their games.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bengel |first1=Chris |title=Rakuten Monkeys will have robot mannequins dressed as fans when 2020 season begins |url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/rakuten-monkeys-will-have-robot-mannequins-dressed-as-fans-when-2020-season-begins/ |access-date=11 April 2020 |agency=CBS Sports |date=7 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Megan |title=CPBL's Rakuten Monkeys to Use Robot Mannequins as Fans Amid COVID-19 |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2885524-cpbls-rakuten-monkeys-to-use-robot-mannequins-as-fans-amid-covid-19 |access-date=11 April 2020 |agency=Bleacher Report |date=8 April 2020}}</ref>

In 2025, the Rakuten Monkeys won their first Taiwan Series title since the 2019 Rakuten takeover, having defeated the CTBC Brothers in five games.<ref>{{cite web |title=CPBL: Hung-Yu Lin powers Monkeys to first Taiwan Series title in the Rakuten era |url=https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/cpbl-hung-yu-lin-powers-monkeys-to-first-taiwan-series-title-in-the-rakuten-era |website=World Baseball Softball Confederation |access-date=1 November 2025 |date=28 October 2025}}</ref>

== Ballpark == [[File:桃園國際棒球場.JPG|thumb|Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium]]{{Main|Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium}} The team played their home games at Chengcing Lake Baseball Field in Kaohsiung County from 2004 to 2010.

In the 2011 season, they moved to Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium. Accordingly, the team's name was changed to the Lamigo Monkeys.

==Records==

{| class="wikitable" width = 650 |width = 33% align="center" bgcolor="#FFE6BD"|Qualified for playoffs |width = 33% align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb"|Taiwan Series Championship |}

===Regular seasons===

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:left; font-size:95%" |- ! width = "90"| Season ! width = "105"|Wins ! width = "105"|Losses ! width = "105"|Ties ! width = 105|{{Abbr|Winning pct.|Winning percentage}} ! width = "105"|Place |-bgcolor = "3399FF" | colspan=6 align="center"| '''First Financial Holdings Agan''' |- | align="center" | 2003 | align="center" | 20 (9/11) | align="center" | 71 (37/34) | align="center" | 9 (4/5) | align="center" | .220 (.196/.244) | align="center" | 5 (6/5) |-bgcolor = "008080" | colspan=6 align="center"| '''La New Bears''' |- | align="center" | 2004 | align="center" | 40 (18/22) | align="center" | 56 (30/26) | align="center" | 4 (2/2) | align="center" | .417 (.375/.458) | align="center" | 6 (6/5) |- | align="center" | 2005 | align="center" | 42 (16/26) | align="center" | 55 (32/23) | align="center" | 3 (2/1) | align="center" | .433 (.333/.531) | align="center" | 6 (6/2) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2006 | align="center" | 62 (30/32) | align="center" | 34 (19/15) | align="center" | 4 (1/3) | align="center" | .646 (.612/.681) | align="center" | 1 (1/1) |-bgcolor="FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2007 | align="center" | 58 (26/32) | align="center" | 42 (24/18) | align="center" | 0 (0/0) | align="center" | .580 (.520/.640) | align="center" | 2 (3/1) |-bgcolor="FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2008 | align="center" | 61 (28/33) | align="center" | 35 (19/16) | align="center" | 4 (3/1) | align="center" | .635 (.596/.673) | align="center" | 2 (2/1) |- | align="center" | 2009 | align="center" | 61 (33/28) | align="center" | 58 (26/32) | align="center" | 1 (1/0) | align="center" | .513 (.559/.467) | align="center" | 2 (2/4) |- | align="center" | 2010 | align="center" | 55 (31/24) | align="center" | 62 (27/35) | align="center" | 3 (2/1) | align="center" | .470 (.534/.407) | align="center" | 3 (2/4) |-bgcolor = "4682B4" | colspan=6 align="center"| '''Lamigo Monkeys''' |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2011 | align="center" | 66 (33/33) | align="center" | 52 (26/26) | align="center" | 2 (1/1) | align="center" | .559 (.559/.559) | align="center" | 1 (2/1) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2012 | align="center" | 66 (28/38) | align="center" | 52 (30/22) | align="center" | 2 (2/0) | align="center" | .559 (.483/.633) | align="center" | 2 (2/1) |- | align="center" | 2013 | align="center" | 58 (28/30) | align="center" | 60 (32/28) | align="center" | 2 (0/2) | align="center" | .492 (.467/.517) | align="center" | 3 (3/2) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2014 | align="center" | 66 (39/27) | align="center" | 51 (19/32) | align="center" | 3 (2/1) | align="center" | .564 (.672/.458) | align="center" | 1 (1/3) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2015 | align="center" | 68 (37/31) | align="center" | 52 (23/29) | align="center" | 0 (0/0) | align="center" | .567 (.617/.517) | align="center" | 1 (1/2) |- | align="center" | 2016 | align="center" | 53 (27/26) | align="center" | 64 (31/33) | align="center" | 3 (2/1) | align="center" | .453 (.466/.441) | align="center" | 4 (3/3) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2017 | align="center" | 78 (43/35) | align="center" | 41 (16/25) | align="center" | 1 (1/0) | align="center" | .655 (.729/.583) | align="center" | 1 (1/1) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2018 | align="center" | 73 (38/35) | align="center" | 47 (22/25) | align="center" | 0 (0/0) | align="center" | .608 (.633/.583) | align="center" | 1 (1/1) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2019 | align="center" | 63 (35/28) | align="center" | 55 (24/31) | align="center" | 2 (1/1) | align="center" | .534 (.593/.475) | align="center" | 2 (1/3) |-bgcolor = "bf0000" | colspan=6 align="center"| '''Rakuten Monkeys''' |- | align="center" | 2020 | align="center" | 59 (34/25) | align="center" | 61 (26/35) | align="center" | 0 (0/0) | align="center" | .492 (.567/.417) | align="center" | 2 (2/4) |- | align="center" | 2021 | align="center" | 56 (30/26) | align="center" | 61 (30/31) | align="center" | 3 (0/3) | align="center" | .479 (.500/.456) | align="center" | 3 (3/5) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2022 | align="center" | 70 (37/33) | align="center" | 46 (22/24) | align="center" | 4 (1/3) | align="center" | .603 (.627/.579) | align="center" | 1 (1/2) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2023 | align="center" | 60 (29/31) | align="center" | 56 (28/28) | align="center" | 4 (3/1) | align="center" | .517 (.509/.525) | align="center" | 3 (3/2) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2024 | align="center" | 62 (33/29) | align="center" | 57 (27/30) | align="center" | 1 (0/1) | align="center" | .521 (.550/.492) | align="center" | 3 (2/3) |-bgcolor = "FFE6BD" | align="center" | 2025 | align="center" | 62 (30/32) | align="center" | 57 (30/27) | align="center" | 1 (0/1) | align="center" | .521 (.500/.542) | align="center" | 3 (3/2) |}

===Playoffs===

{| class = wikitable style = "text-align:center; font-size:95%" |- ! rowspan = "2" width = "90" | Season ! colspan = "3" | First round ! colspan = "3" | Taiwan Series |- ! width = "180"| Opponent ! width = "50" | Wins ! width = "50" | Losses ! width = "180"| Opponent ! width = "50" | Wins ! width = "50" | Losses |-bgcolor = "008080" | colspan=7 align="center"| '''La New Bears''' |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2006 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | Uni-President Lions | 4 | 0 |-bgcolor="" | 2007 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | Uni-President Lions | 3 | 4 |- | 2008 | Brother Elephants | 0 | 3 | colspan = 3 | Eliminated |-bgcolor = "4682B4" | colspan = 7 align = "center"| '''Lamigo Monkeys''' |- | 2011 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 1 | 4 |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2012 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 4 | 1 |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2014 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | CTBC Brothers | 4 | 1 |- |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2015 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | CTBC Brothers | 4 | 3 |- |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2017 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | CTBC Brothers | 4 | 1 |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2018 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 4 | 2 |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2019 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | CTBC Brothers | 4 | 1 |-bgcolor = "bf0000" | colspan = 7 align = "center"| '''Rakuten Monkeys''' |- | 2022 | colspan = "3" | ''Did not play'' | CTBC Brothers | 0 | 4 |- | 2023 | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 3 | 1 | Wei Chuan Dragons | 3 | 4 |- | 2024 | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 1 | 3 | colspan = 3 | Eliminated |-bgcolor = "bbffbb" | 2025 | Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions | 3 | 2 | CTBC Brothers | 4 | 1 |}

===Asia Series===

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" |- ! rowspan = 2 width = "90" | Year ! colspan = 3 | Round robin ! colspan = 2 | Championship round |- ! width = "80" | Wins ! width = "80" | Losses ! width = "80" | Standing ! width = "200" | Opponent ! width = "85" | Result |-bgcolor = "008080" | colspan=6 align="center"| '''La New Bears''' |-bgcolor = "" | 2006 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters | 0–1 (L) |-bgcolor = "4682B4" | colspan=7 align="center"| '''Lamigo Monkeys''' |-bgcolor = "" | 2012 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Yomiuri Giants | 3–6 (L) |- |}

==Roster==

<section begin = Roster /> {| class = "toccolours" style = "font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan = 9 style="background:#BF0000; color:#FFFFFF; text-align: center;" | Rakuten Monkeys roster |- style = "vertical-align:top;" | colspan = "6" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; color:#BF0000; text-align: center;" width="440" | '''Players''' | colspan = "2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; color:#BF0000; text-align: center;" width="215" | '''Coaches''' |- | style="vertical-align:top;" |

'''Pitchers'''

* {{ player | 00 |TWN| Su Chun-chang }} * {{ player |  9 |TWN| Chen Bo-hao }} * {{ player | 17 |TWN| Chen Kuan-yu }} * {{ player | 21 |MEX| Marcelo Martinez }} * {{ player | 22 |TWN| Chu Cheng-yang }} * {{ player | 23 |TWN| Tseng Jen-ho }} * {{ player | 46 |TWN| Chiu Chun-wei }} * {{ player | 48 |TWN| Lu Yung-chen }} * {{ player | 49 |DOM| Pedro Fernández }} * {{ player | 64 |TWN| Wang Chih-hsuan }} * {{ player | 69 |TWN| Huang Tzu-peng }} * {{ player | 77 |TWN| Chuang Hsin-yen }}

| width = "25px" | | style = "vertical-align:top;" |

'''Catchers'''

* {{ player |  2 |TWN| Sung Jia-xiang }} * {{ player | 11 |TWN| Lin Hung-yu }} * {{ player | 28 |TWN| Chang Min-hsun }}

'''Infielders'''

* {{ player |  5 |TWN| Liang Chia-jung }} * {{ player |  6 |TWN| Lin Chen-fei }} * {{ player | 15 |TWN| Lin Tzu-wei }} * {{ player | 39 |TWN| Lin Li }} * {{ player | 45 |TWN| Feng Chien-ting }} * {{ player | 79 |TWN| Lin Chih-ping }} * {{ player | 94 |TWN| Ma Chieh-sen }} * {{ player | 95 |TWN| Lee Hsun-chieh }}

| width = "25px" | | style = "vertical-align:top;" |

'''Outfielders'''

* {{ player | 35 |TWN| Cheng Chin }} * {{ player | 36 |TWN| Yu Te-lung }} * {{ player | 65 |TWN| Lin Cheng-hua }} * {{ player | 98 |TWN| Chen Chen-wei }}

| style = "vertical-align:top;" | | style = "vertical-align:top;" |

'''Manager'''

* {{ player | 87 |JPN| Kenji Furukubo }}

'''Coaches'''

* {{ player | 41 |TWN| Cheng Chao-hang }} (fielding) * {{ player | 42 |TWN| Hong Quan-yi }} (strength and conditioning) * {{ player | 43 |TWN| Lin Ying-chieh }} (bullpen) * {{ player | 50 |TWN| Hsu Yueh-teng }} (battery) * {{ player | 59 |TWN| Liu Pin-chen }} (strength and conditioning) * {{ player | 73 |JPN| Tsuyoshi Kawagishi }} (pitching) * {{ player | 90 |TWN| Lin Cheng-yi}}(hitting) * {{ player | 96 |TWN| Weng Ko-yao }} (fielding) * {{ player | 99 |TWN| Tseng Hao-chu }} (bench/hitting)

'''Second team manager'''

* {{ player | 91 |TWN| Chen Yan-feng }}

'''Second team coaches'''

* {{ player | 12 |TWN| Wu Chieh-jui }} (hitting) * {{ player | 30 |TWN| Lin Chih-yu }} (hitting) * {{ player | 47 |TWN| Hsu Yu-hao }} (catching) * {{ player | 61 |TWN| Tsai Ming-chin }} (pitching) * {{ player | 68 |JPN| Daisuke Hirose }} (performance) * {{ player | 71 |TWN| Chen Je-cheng }} (infield) * {{ player | 72 |TWN| Lin Kuo-yu }} (pitching) * {{ player | 78 |TWN| Lee Wei-ching }} (strength and conditioning) * {{ player | 84 |TWN| Lux Hong-ki }} (strength and conditioning) * {{ player | 86 |TWN| Tsai Cheng-shian }} (hitting) * {{ player | 93 |TWN| Chang Wei-chien }} (assistant)

[https://en.cpbl.com.tw/team?ClubNo=AJL Roster] updated on 11 August 2025 |} <section end="Roster" />

===List of managers===

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" |- ! width = "10"| No. ! width = "100"| Name ! width = "90"|Years ! width = "50" | Playoffs ! width = "50" | Championships |- | 1 | Hsu Sheng-ming | 2003 | 0 | 0 |- | 2 | Takuji Ohta | 2004 | 0 | 0 |- | 3 | Hong I-chung | 2004–2009 | 3 | 1 |- | 4 | Tsai Jung-tsung | 2010 | 0 | 0 |- | — | Hong I-chung | 2011–2019 | 7 | 6 |- | 5 | Tseng Hao-chu | 2020–2023 | 2 | 0 |- | 6 | Kenji Furukubo | 2024–2025 | 2 | 1 |- | 7 | Tseng Hao-chu | 2026–present | 0 | 0 |}

===Retired numbers=== * 10 – The number is reserved for the fans, as the tenth player on the field. * 52 – The number is retired in honour of Chin-Feng Chen since September 2016.

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== *[https://monkeys.rakuten.com.tw/ Official website] {{in lang|zh}}

Category:Rakuten Monkeys Category:2003 establishments in Taiwan Category:Baseball teams established in 2003 Category:Rakuten Category:Chinese Professional Baseball League teams Category:Sport in Taoyuan City