Topic: Hong-Chih Kuo

Hong-Chih Kuo (Chinese: 郭泓志; pinyin: Guō Hóngzhì; Wade–Giles: Kuo1 Hung2 Chih4; born July 23, 1981 in Tainan, Taiwan) is a Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Kuo made his debut in 2005, he became the fourth MLB player from Taiwan (after Chin-Feng Chen, Chin-hui Tsao, and Chien-Ming Wang).

Kuo pitched for Taiwan in the Asian Games and in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, allowing three earned runs in two games.

Kuo was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers on June 19, 1999 for a bonus of 1.25 million dollars , but elbow problems prevented him from participating with the team. He underwent two Tommy John surgeries in 2000 and 2003, respectively. It wasn't until 2005 that Kuo was able to pitch again on a consistent basis. That year, he pitched 11 games for the Vero Beach Dodgers and 17 games for the Jacksonville Suns before coming out of the bullpen for his Major League debut on September 2, 2005 against the Colorado Rockies.