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.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS