Los Angeles Dodgers Peter O'Malley began reaching out in 1980 by starting clinics in China and South Korea, building baseball fields in two Chinese cities, and in 1998 becoming the first major league team to open an office in Asia. The Dodgers were the second team to start a Japanese player in recent history, pitcher Hideo Nomo, the first team to start a South Korean player, pitcher Chan Ho Park, and the first Taiwanese player, Chin-Feng Chen. In addition, they were the first team to send out three Asian pitchers, from different Asian countries, in one game: Park, Hong-Chih Kuo of Taiwan, and
2014 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting winner Jeff Kent, and 5-time All-Stars Luis Gonzalez. The field included 1995 NL Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo, two MVPs (Kent and Thomas), three Cy Young Award winners (Glavine, Maddux and Éric Gagné). The field included four candidates with at least five Gold Glove Awards: Maddux (18 at pitcher, a record), Mussina (7 at pitcher), Kenny Rogers (5 at pitcher) and J. T. Snow (6 at first base). As in most recent elections, it was expected that the controversy over use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) was likely to dominate the elections. "ESPN.com" columnist Jim Caple noted in the days