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2009 Far East Heroes


2009 Far East Heroes

Masanori Murakami became the first Asian player to appear in the MLB back in 1964 with the San Francisco Giants, three decades later, Hideo Nomo made a big impact with the Los Angeles Dodgers to start the trends of Asian players playing in the MLB. Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners collected 262 hits in 2004 to set the Major League record for hits in a season, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old mark of 257 hits. 58 players from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan has appeared in the MLB as of today. There are also many more Far East talents in the minor league getting ready to taste their first cup of coffee.

South Korean
 Major Leaguers

Cha Seung Baek
#53 San Diego Padres, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-4, Wt: 225

Shin-Soo Choo
 #17 Cleveland Indians, RF
B-T: L-L, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 200

Chan Ho Park
#61 Philadelphia Phillies, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 210
Official Site

Minor Leaguers

Tae-Kyung Ahn
Texas Rangers, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-3, Wt: 185

Hyang-Nam Choi
Los Angeles Dodgers, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 190

Hyeong-Rok Choi
Minnesota Twins, 2B
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 189

Hyun-Wook Choi
Minnesota Twins, LF
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 187

Jae Hoon Ha
Chicago Cubs, OF
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 185

Jae-Hyung Jang
Minnesota Twins, C
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 191

Pil Joon Jang
Los Angeles Angels, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-3, Wt: 190

Su Min Jung
Chicago Cubs, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 190

Young-Il Jung
Los Angeles Angels, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 190

In Kyun Kang
Minnesota Twins, 1B
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 200

Keyong Kang
Tampa Bay Rays, LF
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 200

Jae Yun Kim
Arizona Diamondbacks, C
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 185

Hak Ju Lee
Chicago Cubs, SS
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 170

Ji Mo Lee
Los Angeles Dodgers, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 188

Yoon Hee Nam
Texas Rangers, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 165

Dae-Eun Rhee
Chicago Cubs, RHP
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 190

Japanese
 Major Leaguers

Kosuke Fukudome
#1 Chicago Cubs, CF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 200
Official Site

Ichiro
#51 Seattle Mariners, CF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 170
Official Site

Kei Igawa
#29 New York Yankees, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 210
Official Site

Akinori Iwamura
#1 Tampa Bay Rays, 2B
B-T: L-R, Ht: 5-9, Wt: 200
Official Site

Kenji Johjima
#2 Seattle Mariners, C
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 205
Official Site

Kenshin Kawakami
#11 Atlanta Braves, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 200

Masahide Kobayashi
#30 Cleveland Indians, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 195

Hiroki Kuroda
#18 Los Angeles Dodgers, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 190
Official Site

Hideki Matsui
#55 New York Yankees, DH
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 210
 Official Site

Kaz Matsui
#3 Houston Astros, 2B
B-T: S-R, Ht: 5-10, Wt: 180
 Official Site

Daisuke Matsuzaka
#18 Boston Red Sox, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 185

Tomo Ohka
#16 Cleveland Indians, RHP
B-T: S-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 200

Hideki Okajima
#37 Boston Red Sox, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 195
 Official Site

Takashi Saito
#24 Boston Red Sox, RHP
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 200
Official Site

So Taguchi
#99 Chicago Cubs, LF
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-10, Wt: 170
Official Site

Ken Takahashi
#36 New York Mets, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 200

Shingo Takatsu
#32 San Francisco Giants, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 180

Junichi Tazawa
#63 Boston Red Sox, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 180

Koji Uehara
Baltimore Orioles, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 190

Keiichi Yabu
#22 San Francisco Giants, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 230

Yasuhiko Yabuta
#57 Kansas City Royals, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 189
Official Site

Minor Leaguers

Fumimasa Ishibashi
Los Angeles Dodgers, C
B-T: S-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 190

Katsuhiko Maekawa
St. Louis Cardinals, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 215

Ryohei Shimabukuro
Atlanta Braves, 1B
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 205

Kenta Suda
Seattle Mariners, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 172

Ikko Sumi
Los Angeles Angels, C
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-9, Wt: 200

Ryohei Tanaka
Baltimore Orioles, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 169

Naoya Washiya
Washington Nationals, LF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 160

Taiwanese
 Major Leaguers

Chin-Lung Hu
#60 Los Angeles Dodgers, SS
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 190
Official Site

Hong-Chih Kuo
 #56 Los Angeles Dodgers, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 240

Fu-Te Ni
#59 Detroit Tigers, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 170

Chien-Ming Wang
#40 New York Yankees, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-3, Wt: 240
Official Site

Minor Leaguers

Yao-Wen Chang
Seattle Mariners, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 202

Chia-Chu Chen
Boston Red Sox, C
B-T: L-R, Ht: 5-10, Wt: 175

Chun-Hsiu Chen
Cleveland Indians, C
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 200

Hung-Wen Chen
Chicago Cubs, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 210

Yung-Chi Chen
Oakland Athletics, 2B
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 170

Chi-Hung Cheng
Pittsburgh Pirates, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-1, Wt: 210

Chih-Hsien Chiang
Boston Red Sox, LF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 170

Tzu-Kai Chiu
Cincinnati Reds, LHP
B-T: L-L, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 220

Wei Huang
Atlanta Braves, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 180

Sheng-An Kuo
Colorado Rockies, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 190

Yen-Wen Kuo
Cincinnati Reds, 2B
B-T: L-R, Ht: 5-10, Wt: 165

Chen-Chang Lee
Cleveland Indians, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 175

Che-Hsuan Lin
Boston Red Sox, CF
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 180

Wang-Wei Lin
Minnesota Twins, RF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 6-0, Wt: 185

Wang-Yi Lin
Boston Red Sox, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-3, Wt: 210

Chia-Jen Lo
Houston Astros, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 181

Ching-Lung Lo
Colorado Rockies, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-6, Wt: 190

Kuo-Hui Lo
Seattle Mariners, CF
B-T: R-R, Ht: 6-2, Wt: 188

Chao-Ting Tang
Detroit Tigers, RF
B-T: L-R, Ht: 5-11, Wt: 176

Sung-Wei Tseng
Cleveland Indians, RHP
B-T: R-R, Ht: 5-10, Wt: 195



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