Los Angeles Dodgers

History: One of the oldest franchises in professional baseball, the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Southern California in1958. The team has won five World Series titles since moving to Los Angeles (one in Brooklyn in 1955), the most recent coming in 1988. The Dodgers have not been back to the World Series since.

Names and faces: The Dodgers are bringing a relatively unknown roster of players to China as some of their major stars pulled out at the last minute due to injury. Manager Joe Torre is probably the best known Dodger, having led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles as their manager. Torre left New York at the end of last season and this is his first year with Los Angeles. Outfielder Andruw Jones is one of the Dodgers' most exciting batters, and Korean pitcher Park Chan-ho is scheduled to start Saturday's game.

Asian connection: Along with Park, the Dodgers' lineup this weekend will feature two players from Chinese Taipei; shortstop Hu Chin-lung and left-handed pitcher Kuo Hong-chih.

(China Daily 03/14/2008 page22)