On October 29, 1993, the Los Angeles Dodgers began a three-game Friendship Series against the newly formed Taiwanese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) All-Star team.
The Dodgers roster for the exhibition series consisted of 25 players, including Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser, future Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martínez, former Rookie of the Year winners Eric Karros, Mike Piazza and Raul Mondesi.
The Dodgers were managed by future Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, and hitting coach Ben Hines and pitching coach Ron Perranoski also made the trip to Taiwan. Vin Scully additionally traveled with the team to be the commentator of the series and Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo was on the trip as well..
The Dodgers won the series opener, 4-2, behind a solid start from Martínez that saw him allow two runs (one earned) over four innings of work. Piazza went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored.
The CPBL took Game 2 by a final score of 1-0 in a game that wasn’t decided until the 10th. Tom Candiotti, Roger McDowell and Steve Wilson combined to yield just the one run on seven hits in 9.1 innings pitched.
Then in the rubber match, the CPBL earned a 6-5 victory over the Dodgers to win the series. Jonathan Hurst gave up four runs without recording an out.
As for the 1993 MLB season, the Dodgers went 81-81 and finished in fourth place of the National League West division. They closed out the season by losing seven of the final 10 games on their schedule.
Dodgers roster for Friendship Series
Pitchers (10): Pedro Astacio, Tom Candiotti, Jim Gott, Kip Gross, Orel Hershiser, Jonathan Hurst, Pedro Martínez, Ramon Martínez, Roger McDowell, Steve Wilson
Catchers (2): Carlos Hernandez, Mike Piazza
Infielders (8): Rafael Bournigal, Dave Hansen, Lenny Harris, Eric Karros, Jose Offerman, Jody Reed, Mike Sharperson, Tim Wallach
Outfielders (5): Brett Butler, Raul Mondesi, Henry Rodriguez, Cory Snyder, Darryl Strawberry.
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