A retirement ceremony for Lamigo Monkeys elder statesman No. 52 Chen Chin-feng has overshadowed the onfield action, despite his team and the EDA Rhinos being engaged in a heated race at the top of the CPBL standings.
The two teams are to wrap up their three-game series in Taoyuan this weekend, but all the attention is on Chen, who announced that this will be his last campaign, having decided to hang up his cleats at the end of the season.
Fans and players are paying tribute in recognition of his stellar career for Taiwan and Lamigo.
Photo provided by the Lamigo Monkeys
At today’s game, the Lamigo Monkeys ballclub is to unveil a statue of Chen that weighs 4 tonnes and is sculpted out of white marble. The statue is to go on permanent display at the plaza outside the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium.
“The statue is our way of honoring Chen,” said Pu Wei-ching, deputy general manager and spokesperson for the Lamigo ballclub. “He deserves this statue in recognition of his contributions to Taiwanese baseball, which no one else comes close to emulating.”
Pu said the club hired two master rock sculptors, both with more than 30 years of experience, and they worked for three months to finish the statue.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In addition, the club has organized a special exhibition, Chen My Life, with baseball items, awards and MVP trophies, photographs, press clippings and publications documenting the 38-year-old’s career.
The exhibit opened on Thursday and closes tomorrow, when a retirement party and ceremony are to be held prior to the game.
CPBL officials said that tomorrow’s game was nearly sold out as of last night, while tickets were still available for today’s contest.
Born to Siraya parents in Tainan’s Tanei Township, Chen made history, breaking the “Taiwanese MLB barrier” by playing in the US major leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His first game for the Dodgers was on Sept. 14, 2002.
Rhinos captain Hu Chin-lung followed Chen to the Dodgers, playing in the MLB in 2007 and 2008, before returning to Taiwan in 2012.
“Chen was the first to make it into MLB and he opened the door for other Taiwanese players,” Hu said. “He is revered like a founding father, we all have the greatest respect for him.”
“Chen had several outstanding seasons in the Dodgers’ minor league system. This made US baseball scouts pay attention to Taiwan,” Hu said.
They invested money and resources to send people to Taiwan, to find the young talent. Due to Chen’s success, Taiwanese baseballers headed to US in droves, and to this day, 10 of them have made it to the MLB,” Hu said.
Tagged with the nickname “Big Cannon” for his explosive power and clutch hits, Chen is known as the greatest player to have worn the national team’s uniform, hitting big home runs at international tournaments, especially against Asian archrivals Japan, South Korea and China.
Chen is the baseball star most revered by Taiwanese fans, and is said to be the only sports figure to transcend the nation’s fractious pan-green and pan-blue political divide.
Although he struggled to remain in the Dodgers lineup, Chen remained Taiwan’s baseball superstar and he returned hame to join the La New Bears in 2006. The franchise relocated to Taoyuan in 2011, with the team name changed to the Lamigo Monkeys.
After 11 seasons in the CPBL, with injuries and a persistent back pain catching up, Chen said this would be his last campaign, after leading the ballclub to four championship titles — with the Bears in 2006, then with the Monkeys in 2012, 2014 and last year.
Prior to yesterday’s game, EDA Rhinos manager Yeh Chun-chang said he felt the same way most fans did in wanting Chen to play on.
“He still has the power and skills to remain a strong hitter on any team,” Yeh said. “We all regret his decision to retire, because many players look up to him as their hero.”
In results from last night, the Brothers Baseball Club beat the Uni-President Lions 8-7 at the Sinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, while the Rhinos and the Monkeys were locked 8-8 going into the 12th inning at press time.
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