Making the most of his first Major League appearance this year, Los Angeles Dodgers' Taiwanese slugger Chen Chin-feng (
In front of an Independence Day crowd of 48,538, the 27-year-old native of Tainan entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and his club trailing the Rockies 3-0.
After working Colorado reliever Bobby Seay to a full count, Chen smashed a high bouncer up the middle for a two-run single to cut the Rockies' lead down to 3-2.
PHOTO: AP
The Dodgers would add another run in the same inning on a single by leadoff man Oscar Robles to knot the game up at 3-3 before eventually winning it in the eleventh inning in a 4-3 final.
The hit not only jumpstarted a fierce Dodgers comeback on the night, it was a milestone for Chen as he finally collected his first big-league hit after failing to make good in the 14 previous at-bats over five different callups from 2002 to last year.
Since his signing with the Dodgers in late-1998, after a stellar performance at the 1998 Asian Cup Championship in Bangkok, Thailand, Chen has been mostly a disappointment in the Dodgers' farm system for not living up to his original billing.
While his ability to hit the long ball was never a problem over the past several seasons with the Dodgers triple A affiliate in Las Vegas (with a .288 batting average, ten home runs and team-best 47 RBIs this year), Chen's abilities in the outfield and his high strikeout tendency have been the main reasons why he has not been promoted outright by the Dodgers organization.
Though he carries the distinction for being the first Taiwan-born player to start in the Major League with a Dodgers debut at the end of the 2002 season, Chen fell behind Taiwanese pitcher Tsao Chin-hui for the honor to be the first Taiwanese player to register a major-league hit when Tsao made history on Aug. 19, 2003 by lining a double off Steve Trachsel of the New York Mets.
Chen's latest callup to fill in for the regular starter J.D. Drew (being placed on the 15-day disabled list after fracturing a wrist on Sunday) will probably be his last chance to wear the Dodgers uniform as he spends his seventh season with Los Angeles in what most would agree have been a mediocre tenure.
"He'll [Chen] get some at-bats," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.
"He gets an opportunity to see where he's at, and we get an opportunity to see where he's at," Tracy said.
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