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
Sri Lanka national baseball team Sri Lanka national baseball team The Sri Lanka national baseball team is the national baseball team of Sri Lanka. Baseball was introduced to Sri Lanka in the mid 1980s. American Baseball coach Jim Dimick was the first official coach to teach the game to the players. The team represents Sri Lanka in international competitions. Sri Lanka took part in the first ever Asian Baseball Cup, which was held in Philippines in 1995. Twenty four countries belong to the Baseball Federation of Asia. In May 2009, Sri Lanka qualified for the Semi-finals of the Asian Baseball Championship for the first time.