A country boy from the Aboriginal Ami tribe in Hualien County once stood on a baseball diamond and pitched his way into the nation's consciousness, but now Chen Yi-hsin (
The 39-year-old Chen, once known as "The Flying Knife," is running for a Taipei City councilor seat.
After he lost his bid in last year's legislative election, Chen joined the DPP and he is in high gear as he campaigns for the seat. The election is slated for Dec. 7, the same day as the mayoral elections for Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.
Before getting his feet wet in politics, Chen played professional baseball for 10 years. He was named the most valuable player of the year for four consecutive years and he struck out 1,000 players in eight years.
Prior to his career in Taiwan, he played professional baseball in Japan for three years.
Self-confident and good-looking, the internationally acclaimed pitcher thought his professional career would reach its climax as a player for Taiwan's Brother Elephants (兄弟象).
Yet gambling scandals and the creation of another pro-baseball association prompted baseball fans to turn their backs on the sport.
The Chinese-Taipei Baseball Association (
In 1997, the Naluwan Professional Baseball Company (那魯灣職棒公司) began a second pro league, the Taiwan Major League (台灣大聯盟).
Many baseball observers attribute a decrease in the quality of play to the establishment of the second league as the creation of many more teams made it significantly easier to go pro.
Eventually fans became disenchanted with the already struggling game and the sport suffered a near-fatal blow when a betting scandal surfaced.
Among the players alleged to have taken bribes from organized crime to throw games, Chen -- dubbed by some critics as a "sleek demon" for his personal characteristics -- was singled out by the press as the player most likely to have committed a crime.
The Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau failed to find any evidence against him and exonerated Chen.
Commenting on Chen's candidacy, a senior sports reporter covering baseball said that it did not strike him as surprising to see Chen entering politics.
"He's intelligent and an extraordinary baseball player. We've known all along that he's interested in politics," the reporter said, who refused to be named.
He added that Chen had intended to go back to Hualien to run for a county councilor position after losing his legislative bid last year but decided to stay in Taipei.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he made a comeback if he loses this time around," he said.
Lo Shih-hsing (
Lured by more money and better benefits to the Naluwan Professional Baseball Company, Chen left the Brother Elephants to pursue a better playing environment.
The move, however, drew much criticism because many fans considered him as "ungrateful."
Lo, however, disagreed.
"It's not all about money, you know. The message he wanted to get across here is that talented players deserve better pay and better treatment," Lo said.
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