By Hey congrats to Chan Ho Park who has had a long major league career and now has his first chance to appear in a World Series:
NO ONE IN the Phillies’ champagne-splashed locker room Wednesday night could have been happier to be dripping with bubbly than Chan Ho Park. Only 2 years ago, it appeared his baseball career was nearing its end. That year, he played in only one game with the Mets before he was sent down to Triple A New Orleans and later released. Houston then picked him up and assigned him to Triple A Round Rock, where he was an abysmal 2-10 with a 6.21 earned run average. On the wrong side of 30 by that point, he seemed to be just about finished.
But he gave it another shot the following year and some good things began to happen. The Dodgers gave him a seat in their bullpen in 2008 and he pitched well enough to hang on through the season, which culminated in four relief appearance in the playoffs against the Phillies. By the following spring, he had switched caps and signed with the Phillies. He even earned a berth in the starting rotation, only to end up this year as a reliable asset in the bullpen. Now he is heading to a World Series, his first one in a 16-year career that saw him become the first Korean-born player in major league baseball.
“You know the word l-o-v-e? Love?” said Park, standing in an alcove as his teammates popped bottles of champagne. “I feel that for the people back home in Korea, who have always supported me, and for the fans in Philadelphia, who have treated me so well. I am so happy that I did not give up 2 years ago, that now I have a chance to be a champion.” [Philly.com via reader tip]
You can read more at the link.
3:14 am on October 26th, 2009 1
Kim Byung hyun (sp?) was the first in 2001 with Arizona I believe.
4:40 am on October 26th, 2009 2
Way off.
As stated by the previous commenter, not only is Byun-Hyun Kim the first Korean-born player in the WS, but his role in the 2001 World Series is well known. A victim of two consecutive blown saves, he would have been immortalized as a WS goat a la Bill Buckner if it weren't for Mariano Rivera's own implosion in Game 7 which led Kim's Diamondbacks to the title.
Nonetheless, congrats to Park for defying age, injury, and critics and still be productive for a good team.
7:49 am on October 26th, 2009 3
Pride of Gongju!
12:48 pm on October 26th, 2009 4
Yes you are right, I miss read the article. doh!
7:13 pm on October 26th, 2009 5
The article states that Park was the first Korean in MLB and that this is his first World Series. Both facts are accurate.