MLB announced Chan Ho Park is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of Seoul Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
MLB previously revealed K-Pop groups Aespa & (G)I-DLE are scheduled to perform at Gocheok Skydome during the two-game set.
Park was the natural — if not only — candidate to take on such an honor. He not only pitched for the Dodgers and Padres during an accomplished Major League career, but became the first MLB player born in South Korea.
Park made his MLB debut with the Dodgers on April 8, 1994. He pitched just one inning, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks, and collecting two strikeouts in a 6-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
The right-hander appeared in just two games that season and again in 1995. Park primarily appeared out of the bullpen in 1996 before becoming a fixture in the Dodgers rotation the following year.
Park spent nine seasons across two stints with the Dodgers, with his best year coming in 2001. In 36 games (35 starts) for L.A. that season, he went 15-11 with a 3.50 ERA, 3.89 FIP and 1.17 WHIP with 218 strikeouts and 91 walks in 234 innings.
In 476 career MLB games (287 starts), Park had 124 wins and a 4.36 ERA. Of those, 84 wins came for the Dodgers and he had a 3.77 ERA with the team.
Over parts of two seasons with the Padres, Park went 11-10 with a 5.08 ERA in 34 games (30 starts).
Padres hire Chan Ho Park
The Padres hired Park as a special advisor in the front office in 2017. He was touted as being key to San Diego signing Ha-Seong Kim as an international free agent out of South Korea, and more recently in the Padres’ addition of Woo-Suk Go.
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