A HISTORY OF THE DODGERS IN TAIWAN, CHINA AND ASIA

TAIWAN

The Dodgers’ ties to Taiwan began in the 1980s, as the team laid the groundwork for the first-ever Major League games which were played there in 1993. Following the 1993 regular season, the Dodgers competed in a three-game Friendship Series against the Chinese Professional League All-Stars. Among the players who participated in those games were Cy Young Award Winner Orel Hershiser, future Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, former Rookies of the Year Raul Mondesi, Eric Karros and Mike Piazza, 20-game winner Ramon Martinez and future Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda.

Third baseman Tim Wallach, who returns during this year’s trip as a member of the Dodgers’ coaching staff and manager of their Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, was also on that team.

Following the historic Dodger game versus the CPBL All-Stars in 1993, the club further developed their partnerships in Taiwan. In 1996, The Dodgers formed a working agreement with the Sinon Bulls of the CPBL and the Bulls became the first Taiwanese team to train in Latin America when they visited the Dodgers’ facility in the Dominican Republic, Campo Las Palmas, in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003.

The Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (CTBA) and Taiwan Senior National team also trained with the Dodgers at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, FL in 1998.

In addition, the Dodgers have sent numerous coaches to Taiwan over the years to work with the Bulls and CTBA.

Pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo in 1999 became the first high school player from Chinese Taipei to sign a professional baseball contract. He has since become a mainstay in the Dodger bullpen, earning MLB.com’s Setup Man of the Year honors in 2008.

In November 2002, the Dodgers became the first team with two players on their Major League roster from Chinese Taipei – pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo and outfielder Chin-Feng Chen. On September 9, 2002, Chen became the first player from Chinese Taipei to play in the Majors. Kuo became the fourth after his debut in 2005.

On Jan. 29, 2007, the Dodgers signed right-handed pitcher Chin-hui Tsao to a one-year contract, giving them three out the four players born in Chinese Taipei to ever appear in a Major League game. In 2007, Chin-lung Hu made it four out of the first five.

In November, 2009, Kuo and Hu returned to their high school, Nan Ying, to conduct a two-day clinic for youngsters along with the Dodgers’ Manager of Taiwan Relations, Vincent Liao.

CHINA

In 1980, the Dodgers began a relationship with the China Baseball Association to help the development of baseball in China.

Four years later in 1984, Dodger coaches were sent to Kunming, China for a two-week clinic with Chinese coaches. In the following years, the Dodgers would send many coaches to China to help the national program while continuing to host Chinese coaches in both Los Angeles and Vero Beach.

In 1986, former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley helped build the first practice field in Beijing and paid for construction of a baseball stadium in Tianjin, 75 miles southeast of the capital. Named Dodger Stadium, it still exists and is home to the Tianjin Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, which was founded in 2002.

In 1990, the Dodgers participated in the dedication ceremonies for the first-ever Mitsui Little League Baseball Friendship Field in Guangzhou.

In 2000, the Dodgers held several one-week baseball clinics in Guangzhou.In May 2002, Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda and Director of Asian Operations

Acey Kohrogi visited Beijing as guests of honor at the Chinese Baseball League’s championship game. That following June, the Dodgers hosted the Chinese National Baseball team in its visit to Los Angeles and the team worked out at Dodger Stadium.

In July 2007, an MLB and U.S. State Department sponsored delegation of baseball coaches from China, representing the China Baseball Association, visited with Tommy Lasorda at Dodger Stadium and received instruction in hitting, fielding, nutrition and team management.

In 2008, Dodger Owner and Chairman Frank McCourt continued the organization’s reputation for pioneering as he spearheaded the club’s efforts to take part in this first-ever Major League series in China. The historic two-game series, played at Beijing’s Wukesong Stadium, pitted the Dodgers and Padres against one another and created a new generation of baseball fans in the country.

ASIA

The Dodger franchise’s ties to the continent of Asia date to 1956, when the Brooklyn Dodgers took part in a postseason tour of Japan. Since that time, the team has stayed intricately involved in the worldwide expansion of baseball, becoming the first Major League team to open an office in Asia (1998), the first team to play a game in Chinese Taipei (1993) and in 2008, the first team to host a game in China.

Following their first tour of Japan in 1956, the team made subsequent trips in 1966 and 1993 while the Tokyo Giants visited Spring Training in Vero Beach on five occasions (1961, 1967, 1971, 1975 and 1980).

Visits continued throughout the 1960s, including the fall of 1963 when Dodger minor league manager Pete Reiser visited Japan to coach the Tokyo (Toei) Flyers.

In 1964 and 1965, the Dodgers conducted coaching clinics in Japan. Scouting Director Al Campanis visited Kawasaki to conduct the 1964 clinic for the Taiyo Whales and scouts Tommy Lasorda (a future Hall of Famer) and Kenny Myers conducted the 1965 clinic in Tokyo and Miyazaki for the Tokyo Giants.

In 1966, the Dodgers received a two-ton, 10-foot tall, stone lantern gift from Japanese Hall of Famer Sotaro Suzuki as a token of friendship between the Dodgers and Japan and to commemorate the opening of Dodger Stadium in 1962. The Dodgers re-dedicated the stone lantern in 2003.

In 1979, Lasorda managed the National League All-Star Team in a seven-game series in Japan and two years later, he hosted a week-long baseball clinic in Japan with Senichi Hoshino in 1981. Lasorda also hosted clinic in South Korea at the time, marking the team’s first baseball foray into that nation.

In 1990, the Dodgers hosted the team presidents of the Korean Baseball Professional League for a baseball workshop and seminar, which allowed the executives to study all aspects of the Dodger organization.

After the 1993 season, the Dodgers played five exhibition games in Asia as part of the Friendship Series tour, three in Chinese Taipei and two in the Fukuoka Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.

The following year, pitcher Chan Ho Park became the first Korean to play in the Major Leagues. He played for the Dodgers from 1994-2004 and again in 2008, when he was part of the team’s historic trip to Beijing.

Yet it wasn’t until 1995 that the Dodgers made their biggest mark on baseball in Asia, when they signed Japanese All-Star pitcher Hideo Nomo to a contract, making him only the second Japanese-born player to appear in the Major Leagues. The Nomo signing and his success opened the doors for Japanese players in the United States.

In 1998, the Dodgers became the first Major League Baseball team to open an office in Asia, leading to the working agreement that was signed in 1999 with the LG Twins of the Korean Baseball Organization. The following year, the Dodgers signed a Friendship Agreement with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and Tommy Lasorda visited the team more than 15 times in three years to help with baseball instruction and scouting.

In June 2005, Tommy Lasorda was asked by President George W. Bush to serve as a delegate to the U.S. National Day at the World Exposition in Aichi, Japan, one of more than 15 visits he has made to Japan.