Chin-lung Hu

Chin-lung Hu

New York Mets – No. 25
Shortstop
Born: February 2, 1984 (1984-02-02) (age 28)
Tainan City, Taiwan
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
MLB debut
September 1, 2007 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics
(through 2010 season)
Batting average     .191
Home runs     2
Runs batted in     17
Teams
Medal record
Competitor for  Chinese Taipei
Men’s Baseball
Asian Games
Gold 2006 Doha Team
Silver 2010 Guangzhou Team
Asian Baseball Championship
Bronze 2007 Taichung Team
Silver 2009 Sapporo Team

Hu Chin-lung (Chinese: 胡金龍; pinyin: Hú Jīnlóng; born February 2, 1984) is a Taiwanese professional baseball player. He is currently an infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. Hu, along with his countryman Fu-Te Ni (a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers), has the shortest surname in Major League Baseball history. He is the fifth player—and first infielder—in Major League Baseball from Taiwan.

Contents

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

Hu was signed by the Dodgers on January 31, 2003, and began his professional career with the rookie league Ogden Raptors in 2003. He split 2004 between the Columbus Catfish in A ball and the Vero Beach Dodgers in High-A ball. In 2005, he played the whole season at Vero Beach and hit .313 with 23 stolen bases.

In 2006, he played for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. Hu played in the All-Star Futures Game during the All-Star break in both 2006 and 2007. He won the MVP award for his performance in the 2007 game.[1]

He was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas on July 12, 2007, and made his major league debut on September 1, 2007, against the San Diego Padres. In his second MLB at bat, Hu hit a solo home run on September 11, 2007, against the Padres, becoming the first position player born in Taiwan to hit a home run in MLB. (Hu's teammate, pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, had become the first Taiwanese-born player to hit a home run in MLB earlier in 2007). On September 25, Hu hit a two-run homer and became the first Taiwanese-born player to hit two home runs. Hu spent most of 2009 in AAA with the Albuquerque Isotopes and appeared in only five games with the Dodgers after a September callup.

In 2010 he again spent most of the year with the Isotopes. He appeared in 14 games with the Dodgers in 2010 and got 3 hits in 23 at-bats.

New York Mets

On December 27, 2010, he was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for pitcher Michael Antonini. On May 17, he was outrighted to the minor leagues.

International career

Hu played for Chinese Taipei in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He is currently playing for Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League.

References

  1. ^ Singer, Tom "Dodgers prospect named Futures MVP", MLB.com, 07/08/2007

External links