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Chan-ho Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Los Angeles Dodgers — No. -- | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: June 30, 1973 | |
|---|---|
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| April 8, 1994 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Win-Loss | 113-88 |
| Earned Run Average | 4.40 |
| Strikeouts | 1511 |
| Teams | |
|
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| Chan-ho Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chan-ho Park (born June 30, 1973 in Kongju, South Korea) is a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is the first Korean-born player,[1] as well as the winningest South Korean pitcher, in Major League history.
Contents |
Park was a sophomore at Hanyang University, Seoul in 1994 when he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. A fastball pitcher, he enjoyed success with the Dodgers who played at the pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. He had his best season with the Dodgers in 2000, when he went 18-10 with a 3.27 ERA and 217 strikeouts.
On April 23, 1999, he surrendered two grand slams to Fernando Tatis in the same inning. Tatis is the only player ever to have accomplished this feat in Major League history. Park gave up 11 runs in 2/3 innings.
Park gave up Barry Bonds' record-breaking 71st and 72nd homers in 2001.
Following a 15-11 season with the Dodgers in 2001, Park was granted free agency and was signed by the Texas Rangers in December of that year to a five year, USD 65 million contract, which was one of the largest contracts for a pitcher at that time. However, during his time with the Rangers, he was hampered by injuries and a home stadium that notoriously favors hitters at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In his first season with the Rangers, Park went 9-8 in 25 starts, with a 5.75 ERA. The following season, he only started seven times due to injuries, going 1-3 with a 7.58 ERA.
On July 29, 2005, he was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Phil Nevin. Padres fans had hoped that Park could repeat his previous success by playing in pitcher-friendly PETCO Park.
Between the 2005 season and the 2006 season, Park represented South Korea in the World Baseball Classic. In the Asia Round games against Taiwan and Japan, Park made appearances as a closing pitcher, shutting out the opposing lineups. He made another appearance as a closer in the semifinal game against Mexico, in which he again shut out his opposing hitters. His performance made San Diego Padres' manager Bruce Bochy believe that Park can be used as an effective reliever as well as a starter. Park started the semifinal game against Japan, in which he shut out the Japanese lineup for five innings. Team Korea won this game, but Park did not get a decision. Park later said that Padres' closing pitcher Trevor Hoffman taught him how to focus in a relief situation. With his shutout performance in 10 innings and three saves, Team Korea finished the World Baseball Classic in the fourth place and Park was selected to the WBC All-Star team along with his teammate Seung Yeop Lee and Team Korea's captain Jong Beom Lee.
In the 2006 season, he was reunited with his former Texas Rangers teammate and friend Chris Young, who was traded to the Padres in exchange for Akinori Otsuka, who became the Rangers closer. Park started the season as a reliever but soon he became a starter. On July 31, he suffered from a mysterious intestinal bleeding and was placed on the disabled list. Several of his teammates, including Jake Peavy, Woody Williams, Chris Young, and Alan Embree, offered to donate their blood but Park graciously refused their offer, as they were vital members of the team. Park accepted bloods from Jake Peavy's wife Katie and Kelly Calabrese, Padres' team massage therapist, and a friend of Parks' for the surgery and returned to the active roster with deep appreciations to everyone who helped and offered to help him. [2] However, Park's recovery did not last long as he suffered from another mysterious intestinal bleeding on August 21. He was hospitalized again, this time along with his wife Rie, who was about to deliver their first child. [3] A very thorough medical examination revealed that Park was suffering from a rare disease called Meckel's diverticulum. Park had a successful surgery and only six days later his wife delivered a healthy baby daughter at the same hospital.[4]
The San Diego Padres advanced to the post-season and Park joined the post-season roster. On October 3, 2007, Park made his first post-season appearance in the National League Division Series Game 1 against the Saint Louis Cardinals for two shutout innings as a reliever. In the 2006 season, Park had an excellent batting average as a pitcher and was considered for the Silver Slugger Award in the National League pitcher category.
On February 8, 2007, the Yonhap News and New York Daily News reported that Park had signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the New York Mets and would report to the Mets' spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida to compete for a starting rotation spot. The Mets sent him down to Triple-A New Orleans following his poor spring performance.[5][6][7] On April 30, 2007 Park was called up from Triple-A New Orleans to start for the injured Orlando Hernandez. On May 3, 2007 Chan Ho Park was sent back down to Triple-A New Orleans. He was designated for assignment on June 4, 2007.
On June 12, 2007 he signed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros. Astros Manager Phil Garner said "Park will have a few starts at Triple-A Round Rock before the Astros decide whether to call him up." Park compiled a 2-10 record over 15 starts with Round Rock, failing to earn a spot on the Astros' 40-man roster.
On November 8, 2007, Park accepted an offer from his original team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to attend spring training as a non-roster invitee. On November 28, 2007, Park asked to be let go by the Dodgers to play for the Korean team. After pitching with no health issues for the Korean National team, the contract was finalized on December 6, 2007. He will receive a invitation to Spring Training with a chance to compete for a spot on the Dodgers 2008 roster.
Park married Ri-hye Park in Nov 29, 2005. Park has one Daughter, Elynne Park (born on August 30, 2006). Park's sister, Seong Kim, is a model for a Korean plus-size clothing line.
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/South_Korea_born.shtml
- ^ http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060804&content_id=1593333&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd
- ^ http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060822&content_id=1622945&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060822&content_id=1623911&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd
- ^ http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060905&content_id=1647881&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd
- ^ English.YonhapNews.co.kr
- ^ NYDailyNews.com
- ^ Sports.Yahoo.com
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Frank's Field of Dreams - Chan Ho Park
| Preceded by Kevin Brown |
Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starting pitcher 2001 |
Succeeded by Kevin Brown |