Chen Chin-feng (; born 28 October 1977) is a retired
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
who was the first Taiwan-born player playing in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
in 2002. Chen is a
Taiwanese aborigine
Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 5 ...
of
Siraya tribal ancestry.
Career
In 1999 in the Cal League with Class-A San Bernardino in 1999, he batted .316/.404/.580 with 31 homers, 31 steals, 123 RBIs and 75 walks.
Along with outfielder
Joc Pederson
Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...
who did it in AAA in 2014, he is one of only two LA Dodger minor leaguers to have a 30 home run, 30 stolen bases season.
![Chin-Feng Chen 2005 (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Chin-Feng_Chen_2005_%282%29.jpg)
Chen became the first Taiwanese baseball player to play in Major League baseball when he made his debut on September 14, 2002. He played for the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
in parts of the 2002-05 seasons, but only sparingly. In 2005, Chen was reluctant to accept a designation for assignment back to Dodgers'
Las Vegas 51s AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
team, and try out with another major league team.
In 2005, Chen was the first Taiwanese position player to ever get a hit in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
, a 2-run RBI single off
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
' reliever
Bobby Seay
Robert Michael Seay (pronounced "See") (born June 20, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher He has previously played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2001 to 2004, the Colorado Rockies in 2005, and the Detroit Tigers from 2006 ...
. However,
Chin-hui Tsao
Chin-Hui Tsao (; born June 2, 1981) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He is the second major league player, and the first major league pitcher from Taiwan. Like the first Taiwanese major league player, former Los Angeles Dodg ...
had earlier become the first Taiwanese player to get a hit in the Majors as a pitcher, with the
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...
on August 18, 2003.
![Chin-Feng Chen 2005 (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Chin-Feng_Chen_2005_%281%29.jpg)
After his contract with the Dodgers organization expired after the 2005 season, Chen announced on December 26, 2005, that he would not return to North America for the 2006 season, but would instead enter the CPBL draft. In 2006, after struggling to make the 25-man roster with the Dodgers, Chen tried out for the Japanese professional league (
NPB
or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''.
Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
), and eventually decided to play in the
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...
(CPBL) in Taiwan.
![鋒哥52](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/%E9%8B%92%E5%93%A552.jpg)
He was promptly selected by the
La New Bears
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
as a
designated hitter
The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...
. Chen had completed his first complete baseball season at the hometown Taiwan in 2006. He ranked first in many aspects such as the highest batting average and 81 RBIs for the whole season. He also led the Bears to the championship title and he won his first MVP title for the final series matches. Later on in the second Asian baseball tournament, he showed the best performance again and gained attention from several Japanese and Korean teams, including the
Orix Buffaloes
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...
. But, Chen did not sign with them and remained in Taiwan.
![陳金鋒2013 (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/%E9%99%B3%E9%87%91%E9%8B%922013_%283%29.jpg)
Chen announced his retirement from the
Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...
on September 18, 2016. On September 18, 2016, at the conclusion of his final match, Lamigo Monkeys retired his #52 jersey.
International career
He was selected
Chinese Taipei national baseball team
The Chinese Taipei baseball team () is the national men's baseball team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is governed by the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association. The team is ranked second in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confeder ...
at the 1999 Asian Baseball Championship,
2001 Baseball World Cup,
2003 Asian Baseball Championship The 22nd Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan in November 2003. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The top two teams of the tournament gained automatic entry into the 2004 Olympic Gam ...
,
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
,
2006 Asian Games
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
,
2007 Asian Baseball Championship The 24th Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Taichung, Taiwan in November and December 2007. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The winner of the tournament will gain automatic entry into the 2008 Olympic Games ...
,
2008 Summer Olympics Qualification Final Qualifying Tournament and 2016 exhibition games against
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
Achievements
Chen hit the first
grand slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
in
Konami Cup
The Asia Series was an international club baseball competition, contested by the champions of all four of the professional leagues that are associated with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) — Australian Baseball League (ABL), ...
history during the 2006 series.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball players from Taiwan
References
External links
, o
CPBL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Chin-Feng
1977 births
Living people
Asian Games bronze medalists for Chinese Taipei
Asian Games gold medalists for Chinese Taipei
Asian Games medalists in baseball
Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games
Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games
Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Jacksonville Suns players
La New Bears players
Lamigo Monkeys players
Las Vegas 51s players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball left fielders
Major League Baseball players from Taiwan
Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games
Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
Olympic baseball players of Taiwan
Baseball players from Tainan
San Antonio Missions players
San Bernardino Stampede players
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States
Vero Beach Dodgers players