The first athlete of Korean descent to compete in Major League Baseball, former pitcher Chan Ho Park, is slated to toss the ceremonial first pitch during the season opener between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in Seoul. Park played with the Padres from 2005 to 2006 after making his Dodgers debut in 1994.
Regarding Park’s first pitch, Park’s former teammate Dave Roberts of the Dodgers told The Athletic, “I think that it’s sort of a culmination for him.” “As a Korean-born athlete who immigrated to the United States and rose to prominence, he was a trailblazer.”
Park will start the two-game “Seoul Series” between the clubs at the Gocheok SkyDome, which will be the first regular season games ever played in Korea in addition to the opening games of the regular season.
Other Korean baseball heroes, such as current Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and former MLB players Byung-Hyun Kim and Hyun Jin Ryu, found new paths after Park’s debut as a reliever against the Atlanta Braves. Park, dubbed “The Korean Express,” played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and New York Yankees during his 17 years in the game.
On October 1, 2010, he played his last game as an American with the Pirates, helping him set an MLB record for the most victories by an Asian pitcher with a victory against the Florida Marlins.
Reflecting on the burden he faced as Korea’s representative, Park told The Athletic, “I became a messenger to the people for a lot of positive.” “They were encouraging me, but I needed to perform well to uplift the entire nation as well.”
Park is still active in baseball today as a baseball operations advisor for the Padres. He announced his retirement from the game in 2012 while playing for the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea.
In addition to the excitement around Park’s arrival, Korean baseball fans have been waiting for Kim to return. Kim was a previous standout in the Korean Baseball Organization League and became the first infielder of Asian descent to win the MLB Gold Glove Award in November. Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player who received a $700 million, ten-year deal, to become the biggest player in North American sports history, will also make his Dodgers debut during the series.
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