Chen’s stature made in Taiwan

Nick Christensen

Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.

Finding a fan favorite

LAS VEGAS SUN

On the Las Vegas 51s website (www.lv51.com), a fan poll is being conducted to answer the question "Who is the 51s MVP so far this season?" The results, as of this morning:

Larry Barnes............0 percent

Steve Colyer.............0 percent

Chin Feng Chen......93 percent

Bubba Crosby..........7 percent

Total votes: 60,011

It's hard to believe that a player who is hitting .284 would be a team's MVP, especially when seven of his teammates are hitting better than .300.

But the Las Vegas 51s' Chin-Feng Chen isn't an ordinary player, and if the MVP voting was done online only, he'd be the runaway favorite.

Chen, who became the first Taiwanese major leaguer when he was called up to the Dodgers last fall, has received about 93 percent of the more than 60,000 votes on the 51s' website MVP poll.

For Chen, the attention is surprising. But Sheng-Lu Yu, a reporter for Taiwan's Apple Daily, isn't surprised at all. Yu was part of a news crew from Taiwan that flew to Las Vegas last month to feature Chen.

Chen's popularity in Taiwan goes back to the 1990 Little League World Series. But it was in 2001 that Chen became, as Yu put it, a "national hero."

He was a member of the Chinese Taipei national team in the World Cup of Baseball, and had helped guide the team to the bronze medal game against Japan. "In that game, he hit two home runs, and we called him a national hero, because for a long time, we could not beat Japan," said Yu. "Everybody was crazy about him."

And even with the success of Rockies pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao, who last month became the first Taiwanese pitcher in the major leagues, Yu says Chen remains more popular in his homeland.

The 51s' marketing services manager, Dennis Ebbitt, is also in charge of the team's website. He says Chen's popularity has been a boon to the team's business.

"In Taiwan, Chen is like Michael Jordan. They want every bit of information they can get on him, his stats, stuff like that," said Ebbitt. "We were surprised the first time we put the poll up, how many votes he got opposed to everyone else. We're not surprised anymore."

According to Ebbitt, the team offered a package deal on its website, where fans could purchase a set of tickets and get a Chen bobblehead doll sent to them. The package was very popular -- but no surprise, most of the bobbleheads were shipped to Taiwan and most of the tickets were donated back to the team.

"It's just phenomenal," said 51s general manager Don Logan. "They're buying everything that has his likeness on it," from jerseys to shirts to baseball cards. And on eBay, the popular online auction site, nearly 70 Chin-Feng Chen items can be found, ranging from baseball cards to a $62 snippet of Chen's jersey and helmet.

"Last September, when he got called up to the majors, we watched the game on ESPN Asia," said Yu. "Everybody got up early, the night game is early morning in Taiwan, to watch the game. Even this July, when he got called up again, everybody watched again. The baseball fans are just crazy about him."