Amateur Kuo was born in
Tainan City,
Taiwan. Originally a
shortstop, he started to pitch in high school and immediately became well known for his high quality fastball and
slider. In the 1983
Chinese Taipei versus
South Korea match in
Asian Baseball Championship, Kuo did not allow a run to score during 17 consecutive innings, while his fastballs clocked up to 154 km/h (96 mph). He finally won the game and helped Chinese Taipei qualify for the
1984 Summer Olympics. In the 1984 Olympics preliminary round against the United States, Kuo pitched up to 158 km/h (98 mph) and allowed only 2 runs (one
earned run) during his complete game effort, earning the nickname "The Oriental Express". However, Chinese Taipei eventually lost to Team USA, which was studded with
Will Clark,
Mark McGwire, and the like. Kuo later pitched in the semifinal round against
Japan, allowing one run in 4.2 innings. Kuo's excellent performance drew special attention from the
Seibu Lions, and he signed with the club after the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Seibu Lions As a rookie, Kuo immediately gained a position in Seibu Lion's starting rotation and
no-hit the
Nippon Ham Fighters on June 4, 1985, less than 2 months after his debut, and is the first international player to achieve so in the
Pacific League history. Kuo's other notable achievements during his NPB career included: • A streak of 10 consecutive wins during the 1989 season • A streak of 9 consecutive
complete games, and was elected as the
most valuable player of the Pacific League in the 1991 season • A streak of 3 consecutive
shutouts in the 1992 season • Highest winning percentage in the 1988 and 1994 seasons Career Statistics: Kuo retired at the end of 1997 season after he suffered long time wound which cost him a vacant season. Shortly after Kuo's retirement a poll in the Seibu Lions' official website unanimously voted Kuo as the most popular international player in the Seibu Lions history.
Professional Baseball in Taiwan After retiring from Seibu Lions, the
Taiwan Major League (TML) hired Kuo as "senior technical consultant" until the league's collapse in early 2003. Meantime he introduced his former Seibu teammates
Takehiro Ishii and
Hisanobu Watanabe to join TML, originally as players and later as coaches. He also acted as go-between to help then young
Hsu Ming-Chieh and
Chang Chih-chia join Seibu Lions, following his steps. After a disappointing 2003 in which he was temporarily jobless and suffered marital crisis (as revealed in the "Personal Life" section later), in 2004 he started to head coach the
Macoto Cobras until the end of 2005 season. During his 2 seasons with the Cobras Kuo accumulated a 93 wins, 97 losses, and 17 ties performance. In the 2005
Taiwan Series the Cobras were swept by the
Sinon Bulls 0-4 and Kuo resigned right after the fiasco, addressing that "I would like to spend more time with my family". He later introduced Macoto Cobras players
Lin En-yu and
Lin Ying-Chieh to join
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Chinese Taipei national baseball team On February 15, 2007, Kuo was appointed as the head coach of the
Chinese Taipei national baseball team by the
Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. His tasks included the
2007 Baseball World Cup and
2007 Asian Baseball Championships. However the Chinese Taipei national baseball team performed poorly in both tournaments and he was relieved from the post on December 15, 2007. ==Basic Information==