Chin-Lung Hu (born February 2, 1984, Chinese 胡金龍 ''Hú Jīnlóng'') is a Taiwanese

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the Fubon Guardians of 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). He previously played 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), ...

(MLB) 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 ...

and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He was the fifth player — and first infielder — from Taiwan to play in MLB. His last name (along with that of fellow Taiwanese Fu-Te Ni, formerly of the Detroit Tigers) is the shortest in MLB history.

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

Hu was signed by the Dodgers on January 31, 2003, and began his professional career with the rookie league

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitcher ...

in 2003. He split between the

Columbus Catfish The Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The Catfish relocated to Bowling Green, ...

in A ball and the Vero Beach Dodgers in High-A ball. In , he played the whole season at Vero Beach and

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.313 with 23 stolen bases. In , he played for the Double-A

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

. Hu played in the All-Star Futures Game during the All-Star break in both 2006 and . He won the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

award for his performance in the 2007 game. Hu bats in portland 2007

He was promoted to Triple-A

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

on July 12, 2007, and made his major league debut on September 1, , against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. In his second MLB at bat, Hu hit a solo

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against the

reliever

Brett Tomko Brett Daniel Tomko (born April 7, 1973) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Los Ange ...

on September 11, 2007, against the Padres, becoming the first position player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in MLB. (Hu's teammate, pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, had become the first Taiwanese-born player to hit a home run in MLB earlier in 2007). On September 25, Hu hit a two-run homer against the Colorado Rockies' starting pitcher

Ubaldo Jiménez Ubaldo Jiménez García (born January 22, 1984) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. Jiménez was an MLB All-Sta ...

and became the first Taiwanese-born player to hit two home runs. Hu spent most of 2009 in AAA with the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an e ...

and appeared in only five games with the Dodgers after a September callup. In 2010, he again spent most of the year with the Isotopes. He appeared in 14 games with the Dodgers in 2010 and got 3 hits in 23 at-bats.

New York Mets

On December 27, 2010, he was traded to the

in exchange for pitcher Michael Antonini. On May 17, he was outrighted to the minor leagues.

Cleveland Indians

After playing for the

Adelaide Bite The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaid ...

of the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...

and starting shortstop for the World All-Stars at the 2011 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game, Hu signed a minor league contract with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in January, 2012. He was released on March 28, 2012 and signed to a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, however his contract was voided the next day after he failed a physical. He then signed with the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseb ...

for the 2012 season.

EDA Rhinos/Fubon Guardians

In 2013, he signed with the EDA Rhinos of the

. Hu was named captain of the team. On September 11, 2016, Hu hit two home runs as part of a CPBL record eight home runs hit by the Rhinos. Hu and the Rhinos won the 2016 Taiwan Series, before the team changed its name to the Fubon Guardians the next season. While playing in the CPBL, Hu participated in the

2019 WBSC Premier12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship ...

. On April 18, 2020, Hu became the 23rd and fastest player in CPBL history to reach 1,000 hits. He was demoted to the CPBL minor leagues on June 25, 2020, as a message posted on the messaging application Line suggested that Hu advocated for the firing of field manager .

International career

Hu was selected for

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 2006 World Baseball Classic,

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 ...

, 2010 Asian Games and 2017 World Baseball Classic. He missed the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference tie ...

and

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

editions of the event due to injury.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Chin-lung 1984 births Living people 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Adelaide Bite players Albuquerque Isotopes players Asian Games gold medalists for Chinese Taipei Asian Games medalists in baseball Asian Games silver medalists for Chinese Taipei Baseball outfielders Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Columbus Catfish players EDA Rhinos players Fubon Guardians players Gulf Coast Mets players Jacksonville Suns players Las Vegas 51s players Los Angeles Dodgers players New York Mets players Major League Baseball players from Taiwan Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Ogden Raptors players Baseball players from Tainan Southern Maryland Blue Crabs players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in the United States Vero Beach Dodgers players Tomateros de Culiacán players Taiwanese expatriate baseball players in Mexico