Topic: Chien-Ming Wang

Chien-Ming Wang (born March 31, 1980) is a Taiwanese Major League Baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Washington Nationals. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees for the 2000 season, and played for the Staten Island Yankees. He was considered the Yankees ace pitcher for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, after winning 19 games in both years, to finish among the Major League leaders in victories.

Wang Chien-ming, which is the correct name order for his name in English, pitched for the Chinese Taipei national baseball team in the 2002 Asian Games. In 2004, as the apparent ace of the staff, Wang led the Chinese Taipei national baseball team to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Against Australia, he allowed just three hits with no walks, and at one point retired nine batters in a row, to earn the win. He also limited Japan to just five hits in the first six innings.

He is the fourth major leaguer from Taiwan, following Dodgers outfielder Chin-Feng Chen, Rockies pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo. Since being called up to the majors, Wang has been idolized in Taiwan where all of his games have been televised nationwide, many on public big screens to large audiences. Because of this popularity, he was named one of the Time 100 for 2007.