BASEBALL/Ex-Taiwanese ace, Seibu Lions hurler Chang Chih-chia dead at 43

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) Chang Chih-chia (張誌家), a former ace on Taiwan's national baseball team and an all-star in Japan with the Seibu Lions, passed away in China on Monday, his mother confirmed to CNA. He was 43.

In confirming the news Tuesday, Chang's family did not provide any other details, including the cause of Chang's death. Chang's mother said she talked with him over the phone on New Year's Eve but could not reach him on Monday.

She then asked Chang's friends and his landlord to check on Chang at his rental apartment for her, and the landlord found him lying dead on the apartment floor.

The family is in the process of applying for travel documents to visit China to deal with the aftermath of his death, Chang's mother said.

Local media quoted unnamed sources as saying that Chang died of heart attack.

He was reportedly playing softball in Shenzhen in Guandong Province before he passed away.

Born on May 6, 1980, Chang rose to fame as one of the best pitchers in Taiwan's baseball history after his 2001 Baseball World Cup performance as a 21-year-old.

The right-hander posted a 4-0 record during the 13-day tournament, including a 3-0 complete game shutout victory over Japan in the game for third place. He had a 0.36 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.

In leading Taiwan to its strong finish in the World Cup, Chang was viewed as a savior at a time when Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) was still reeling from a massive game-fixing scandal in the late 1990s.

Fresh off his near flawless outings during the World Cup, Chang signed with the Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and was given a 120 million Japanese yen signing bonus (US$845,885), the highest ever for any Taiwanese pitcher in Japan.

During his Lions career from 2002 to 2004, Chang had a 26-19 record, 352 strikeouts and a 3.81 ERA. After that, he spent most of his time at the NPB minor league level due to repeated injuries before being released following the 2006 season.

Chang also set an NPB record in 2002 by striking out at least one batter in 28th consecutive innings, a record that was later broken by Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' closer Dennis Sarfate in 2015.

At the peak of his popularity, he emerged as a celebrity in Taiwan outside of his baseball career, releasing a music album and shooting TV commercials.

After leaving Japan, Chang joined a professional baseball team in Taiwan, the La New Bears (the predecessor of the Rakuten Monkeys), but he was released in 2009 due to his involvement in a game-fixing scandal.

That same year, the CPBL banned Chang for life from playing professionally in the country due to the scandal.

He was ultimately given a four-month prison term, which was commuted to a NT$120,000 fine in 2014 by the Taiwan High Court.

After leaving baseball, he worked for a short period of time as a chef in a Taichung restaurant and played golf.