Before the 21th season of Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) began, the infamous Black Elephants Scandal saw the expulsion of more than fifteen players from Brother Elephants, leaving the most popular baseball team in Taiwan seriously under-staffed and its fans heart-broken, devastated. People even talked about that it might be the last straw that would bring not only Brother Elephants, but also CPBL to an end. It was the darkest time in Taiwan's professional baseball history.

Then in the playoff of the 21th season, aka 2010 Taiwan Series, Brother Elephants swept Sinon Bulls and won their seventh championship title, joining Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions to be the most winning teams in CPBL. In accepting the championship trophy, the manager of Brother Elephants, who was still a third baseman last year, said that this is the biggest surprise in Taiwan's professional baseball history.

From the "darkest time" to the "biggest surprise", Brother Elephants has come a long way. And Taiwan's professional baseball seems to see the dawn after a long, cold night that was full of nightmares. Some say that the environment is to blame: the players are under-payed and not taken a good care of after injury or retirement; there is a lack of free agent system in place and etc. Yes, granted. There are rooms for improvements on the "outside" but what about "inside"? I think it's a good time to review the five "H" principles of Brother Elephants: Health, Harmony, Honor, Honest and Humble.

Photo Source: Chinese Professional Baseball League