YOKOHAMA, Japan– It has been nearly a decade since Park Chan-ho last pitched in a professional baseball game, but as he was preparing to call South Korea’s Olympic baseball game on Thursday in Japan, he was getting antsy, as if he would be the one taking the mound.
Park, the first South Korean to play in the major leagues, is in Japan to work as a television color commentator for the national team games during the Tokyo Olympics. Speaking to reporters at Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Park said the Olympics brought back some old memories.
“Last night, I thought about all the little things I did before a game,” Park said. “Baseball players all have their own routines. I looked back on my own career, trying to remember which side of the bed I got up from or if I shaved before a start or not.”
Park, 48, has the most career victories among Asian-born pitchers in major league history with 124 wins. His 17-year career started with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994, and the right-hander pitched for six more clubs.
He has also represented South Korea at international tournaments, helping the country to gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games and to the semifinals appearance at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.
The current national team may not boast the kind of stars that Park played with on those squads. On the pitching front, South Korea will be missing longtime aces who are currently plying their trade in the majors and are thus ineligible for the Olympics: Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kim Kwang-hyun of the St. Louis Cardinals.
But where doubters see a compromised team, Park sees a team with young talent that can carry South Korea for years to come.
“People say our pitching is not as strong this year as in the past, but this is precisely the moment when new heroes can emerge,” Park said. “This is an opportunity to discover young players who can represent the country well at future competitions.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency