Chin-Hui Tsao

Chin-Hui Tsao (曹錦輝)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 177 lb.
• High School Kao-Yuan Technical High School
• Debut July 25, 2003
• Final Game May 21, 2016
• Born June 2, 1981 in Hualien, Taiwan

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Biographical Information

Chin-Hui Tsao pitched in the Major League, TML and CPBL for 10 years. He is the uncle of Kuo-Hui Lo, Kuo-Long Lo, Kuo-Lin Kao and Kuo-Hua Lo.

Tsao represented Taiwan in the 1996 World Youth Championship, 1997 World Junior Championship, 1999 World Junior Championship. In the 1999 World Port Tournament, Tsao pitched 3 scoreless innings for Taiwan. He won Bronze with them in the 1999 Asian Championship. Tsao pitched 3 games for the Kaoping Fala of the TML, then the Colorado Rockies signed him with a 2.2 million signing bonus on October 11.

The Hualien native was 11-8 with a 2.73 ERA for A Asheville Tourists in 2000, and he attended the 2000 Futures Game. Tsao was ranked 15th by "Baseball America" in 2001. However, he underwent the Tommy John surgery, and nearly missed the entire 2001 season. Tsao came back in 2002, and he had a 2.09 ERA in 9 games for A+ Salem Avalanche. Tsao dominated AA in 2003, having a 11-4 record with a 2.46 ERA for Tulsa Drillers. He was also selected into the 2003 Futures Game.

The Rockies promoted him in July, and he debuted against the Milwaukee Brewers. Tsao was the first Taiwanese pitcher, and the second Taiwanese in the Major League (following Chin-Feng Chen). He pitched 6 1/3 innings, only allowed 3 runs and got his first career win. On August 18, Tsao became the first Taiwanese player to get a hit in The Show, hitting a double against Steve Trachsel of the New York Mets. Trachsel lost a no-hitter due to this hit. Tsao ended up 3-3 with a 6.02 ERA in his rookie year.

In 2004, Tsao had a 3.86 ERA in 10 appearances. He notched a save against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 29, and that was the first save by a Taiwanese in the Major League. He also represented Taiwan in the 2004 Olympics, and he notched a save against Australia. Due to right shoulder injuries, Tsao only played 10 games with a 6.55 ERA for the Rockies in 2005. After he torn his labrum and missed the 2006 season, the Rockies decided to no-tender him.

Tsao then signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers. On June 29, 2007, Tsao and Hong-Chih Kuo made history by being the first two Taiwan-born players to appear in the same game on the same major league team - the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tsao pitched four innings in the 2007 Asian Championship, striking out four and allowing three runs.Tsao allowed two runs, 2 walks and one hit in 1 2/3 IP over 3 games in the 2008 Olympics for Taiwan, as one of their lesser hurlers.

The Brother Elephants drafted Tsao in the first round of the 2008 CPBL Draft. He was 8-8 with a 3.94 ERA in the 2009, and he ranked 8th in wins (6 behind Itsuki Shoda). He also attended the 2009 CPBL All-Star Game, and he pitched 1/3 of a shutout inning. Tsao dominated in the 2009 Taiwan Series. He pitched 5 innings with only 2 runs allowed (none earned runs), and he was no-decision. He then struck out 4 in 6 innings in Game 7, and he only surrendered one earned runs. Tsao got the loss because Luther Hackman of the Uni-President Lions outdueled him.

However, it was revealed Tsao had agreed to throw two CPBL games for gamblers in 2010. One was canceled due to a typhoon and the other game-throwing was canceled when not enough of his teammates agreed to go along. However, the revelations were enough to get Tsao banned from the league. His career appeared to be over at that point, and he settled into running a barbecue restaurant, although he also kept in shape.

After being out of baseball for five years, he found out that the ban did not apply to Major League Baseball and in 2015 he was invited to spring training by the Dodgers, the last big league team for which he had played. He was assigned to the AA Tulsa Drillers at the end of spring, and after four games there, moved up to the Oklahoma City Dodgers of the Pacific Coast League. His ERA was 7.20 for Tulsa, but 3.86 in Oklahoma City, where he was 2-1 with 5 saves in 21 games. He received a call-up to the majors on July 8th.

He made his first major league appearance in 8 years for the Dodgers on July 10th and was credited with a win in a relief appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers, his first in over a decade. He took over for starter Mike Bolsinger in the 7th inning with the Dodgers down, 2-0, and allowed two hits but no runs. His teammates then rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the inning and relievers J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen closed out the win. It was the longest between major league wins since Johnny Lindell in 1942-1953. Tsao had a 10.29 ERA with the Dodgers in 2015, and he only pitched 2 games for them in 2016. He then announced his retirement after the 2016 season.

Tsao's repertoire included a fastball (peak 100 mph), sinker, slider, changeup and cutter.

Overall, Tsao was 5-6 with a 5.75 ERA, struck out 67 and pitched 97 innings in 6 seasons in the MLB.

Notable Achievements

• 2000 MVP South Atlantic League Asheville Tourists

Related Sites

• Chin-hui Tsao on mlb.com