Chan-ho Park
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Template:Koreanname noimage Chan Ho Park (born June 30, 1973 in Kongju, South Korea) is a Korean baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Major League Baseball Texas Rangers.
A popular player in Korea, Chan Ho Park has not proven to be as popular in the United States. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1994. A flyball pitcher, Chan Ho Park had good 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.
Following a 15-11 season with the Dodgers in 2001, Chan Ho Park was granted free agency and was picked up by the Texas Rangers later that year with a 5-year, USD $65 million contract. However, during his time with the Rangers, he was hampered by injuries and a home ballpark that notoriously favored hitters at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. In his first season with the Rangers, Chan Ho Park only went 9-8 in 25 starts, with a 5.75 ERA. The following season, he only started seven times, going 1-3 with a 7.58 ERA.
Chan Ho Park proved to be largely unpopular with the local crowds and Dallas-area media, considering the underperforming pitcher and his large contract to be a waste of money that hampered the team. However, they generally didn't consider Chan Ho to be a poor player, but rather a player that would never fit the Rangers organization, which traditionally focuses on batting and prefers power pitchers who strikes out batters often, like Nolan Ryan and Kenny Rogers, not finesse pitchers that stimulates flyball outs, which risks in allowing more home runs. Nevertheless, Chan Ho Park remained a popular player in his native Korea, with many Koreans following Texas Rangers ballgames where Chan Ho Park pitched.
Park's place in the annals of baseball history is secure, nonetheless, as the pitcher who gave up Barry Bonds's record-breaking 71st home run in 2001.
On June 4th, 2005, Park became the first South Korean to ever reach 100 Career Wins in the majors. He was also the 31st player to reach the milestone in Major League Baseball History. He was 26 days short of his 32th birthday when he reached milestone.
See also
External links
- ESPN: Chan Ho Park (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5187)
- Baseball-reference.com: Chan Ho Park (http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/parkch01.shtml)ja:朴賛浩