Say whatever you want about Padres starter Park Chan-ho, but when he’s not drop-kicking opposing pitchers, he’s a pretty classy guy:
“When we lost to Japan, we felt bad. But there was bigger meaning for me. I wanted Japan to be the champion, because we couldn’t be. That’s why I’m so happy they won, for Asia.”
(via JoyNews 24)
28 Comments
Great comment!! True sportsmanship!
I’ll expect that the japanese player can comment the same way if they are in his position.
Even more encouraging is that a member of the Korean media reported wrote a story on it.
True sportsmanship. A classy guy. The Japanese win will be good for Asian baseball and the WBC event showed the world that there are plenty of fine players and fine teams in this part of the world.
The players can lead the way. If more stepped up, then I would think (hope?) that the media would follow suit.
not to sound like i think everything in the world is bad, but this sort of reminds me of the time back in around 2003 when i was talking to a group of Korean-Canadian university students for an article i was writing on World Cup fever in Canada. (the only people who seemed really interested were the more newly arrived canuks.)
basically, they were really excited to see Korea beat Japan in anything, but if Japan went up against America, they wanted Japan to win. there seemed to be a rough split between a “we love Asia” feeling and a “we don’t love America” one.
was this baseball player happy to see Japan win or happy to see America lose, to anyone?
just a suggestion. and i know that i don’t live in his mind, so he could be thinking anything and i”d have a hard time knowing it.
As the estimable Party Pooper pointed out during the Turin games, Korean athletes (with the exception of the speedskate-shuffling soccer stars of 2002) have generally behaved with class in these cases and the real problem has been with the media.
for the record, Park Chan Ho = Chan Ho Park, has never said anything bad about Japanese atheletes since I’ve became aware of him in the MLB. Chan Ho Park was given numerous opportunities by the Korean press to talk crap about Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki. He always said, he was friendly with them, on good terms with them, and he never considered himself in a position to beat Nomo, a teammate, by gathering more wins, gettinga lower ERA, getting more K’s, etc. Very different from Sun Woo Kim, who had a fist fight with Tomokazu Ohka, who was also a teammate. The Korean press also asked Chan Ho Park on numerous occasions how it felt to strike out Ichiro (not a teammate) or get him out. Chan Ho would always say, he wasn’t thinking about such things, and that he roots for Japanese players, because they are Asians, too.
Pretty good guy to be the Jackie Robinson for Koreans.
Another explanation could be that his wife is Korean-Japanese (Park Ri-hye). Although ethnically Korean she’s a Japanese citizen.
That’s why I can’t stop loving this guy. Yes, Park is married to a Japanese Korean woman, but he truly respects all other players no matter where they are from. When Park had a game against Pedro Martinez (NY Metz) last year, Park won the game. When the Korean media asked about his winning over Pedro, Park said that he was just lucky because Pedro had a bad day. Before the game, Park even asked for Pedro’s autographed ball. Park said that he felt so honored to meet and get autograph from the great Pedro.
Anyway, when the Korean men have fame and fortune, they tend to pick their mates from models, actresses, Miss Koreas or hot girls in show biz (of course, nothing wrong with this). But Park got married to a down-to-earth and intelligent girl, who went to C.I.A. and had a decent career in Japan. They are so cute together!
although Park did try to double side kick Tim Belcher in the head…Other than that, I can’t find anything wrong about his demeanor. Park never said anything bad about Japanese players even before getting married.
Really now, who among us HASN’T double side-kicked someone in the head?
Unless of course, you consider Kim Dong Sung tossing the Korean flag on the ice in Salt Lake City and then leading the Ohno kerfuffle along with his coaches and Korean Olympic delegation, who first threatened to boycott the rest of the games and then to sue anyone in a 100-mile radius.
Or gymnasts Kim Eun Dae and Kim Tae Young, who along with their coaches and Korean Olympic officials, pouted and cried, hurled angry accusations, and threatened to sue for weeks after Paul Hamm was given a gold medal on a scoring error. All this despite the fact that the responsibility to protest the error falls on the South Korean coach, who clearly failed to do so, and then also clearly refused to accept responsibility for his mistake…instead blaming Hamm and the Americans. Kim Tae Young also made a point to immediately tear off his bronze after stepping off the podium at the medal ceremony, and then publicly denigrated Hamm for the next few days, despite the fact that Hamm had nothing to do with the scoring error or the failure of the Korean coach to follow the protest rules.
Or boxer Byun Jong Il staging a 67 minute sit-in in the boxing ring after he lost a decision at the 88 Olympics, during which Kiwi referee Keith Walker, who dared deduct a point from Byun, was assaulted and beaten to shit not only by the Korean boxing coaches, but by several of the Korean security guards who were assigned to protect him. He had to flee Seoul the next day.
Which leads us to Park Si Hun, the boxer who maintained, along with his coaches and Korean boxing officials, that he clearly beat Roy Jones, despite landing 32 punches to Jones’ 86, as well as taking a standing 8-count in the 2nd round, in a bout that the referee himself said was one of the worst beatings he’d ever seen a boxer take. Referring to Park, not Jones.
Read Andrew Jennings book The Lords of the Rings for the whole sordid story of how Korean Olympic officials and politicians met before the Olympics to determine which sport Korea had the best chance of winning gold medals in (boxing), and then conspired with a Korean businessman to bribe the judges to make it happen.
The Morroccan judge that scored the fight for Jones later admitted that he did it so as not to “embarrass the host country.” In fact the 3 judges that voted against Jones were later suspended for 2 years by the IOC, and Jones was given the Outstanding Boxer of the Olympics award, despite winning the Silver medal.
Interesting side note as far as proof goes. When the Berlin Wall fell and the old files of the Stasi (East German Intelligence) were opened up, there were documents from Stasi agent Karl Heinz-Wehr, stating that a millionaire Korean businessman, in collusion with Korean politicians, had bribed top Olympic boxing brass as well as numerous boxing judges to help Korean boxers. It even had a list of all the judges and the amounts each were given.
In fact the book claims that the Byun sit-in occurred because Byun had been “promised” a gold by Korean officials, but the referee’s penalty made it impossible for them to fix the result without it looking as blatantly obvious as the Jones fight, and Korean boxing officials were beginning to worry that their plan would be uncovered.
Now tell me again, which of the above involved the Korean media?
IHBB - Wow, that is awesome. Can you show us what else you have in your “Dirt on Koreans” favourites folder? Your dedication to detail is truly inspiring. You seem to balance out the hardcore unltranationalist Koreans, that’s for sure. Good work. Any examples from recent events which didn’t involve Korean media? I’m sure you MUST have some.
You know you’re fighting a losing battle when you refer to facts as “dirt.”
Fortunately for the rest of the world, most major international sporting events only occur every four years, so the opportunities for Koreans to display their trademark boorishness are limited. If the WBC and the flag-planting/whining about format (from at least one player on record) are any indication, we can certainly add that event to the Olympics and World Cup as having absorbed the Korean stain of “sportsmanship.”
Oh no I’m not battling with you at all. I just find it amusing, because I do agree with you. I guess this is a Korean blog, so you didn’t need to mention the misconduct of athletes and fans from other parts of the world, which has been common occurance since the day sports was invented. If ever I had to dig up dirt on Koreans to keep them in check. I know who to ask (among few others here):) I think if everyone in the world could find that level of conviction for something in their life, hopefully to make a positive impact to those around them, then the world would be a much better place to live in. But that’s just me hoping.
It is just job action. He may some day play in the Japanese league. Why say something anti-Japanese now and lose that opportunity?
Baseball is an entertainment and players are entertainers.
Why say something that may shrink your chance of performing there?
Many Korean baseball players have played and want to play in the Japanese league where they can make money easily. American leagues are more of previlege and fame mainly because only a percentage of players can be from Asia. There is a strong quota against them. After all, it is an entertainment sold to home crowd. American public do not want to see too many Asians in the team.
In Japan, Korean players can mingle and pretend to be apanese. Change last name and learn to speak some Japanese and they will be mistaken as the Japanese.
iheartblueballs wrote,
“leading the Ohno kerfuffle along”
This is the second time this week I’ve read or heard someone use the work “kerfuffle.” Strange considering I’ve previously seen it used maybe once in the last 10 years. The other attribute, oddly, was from our lexiconally challenged President, George W.
Coincidence? I think not.
Park’s behavior is notable precisely because it is so strikingly non-Korean. Occassionally a Korean with exposure to the outside world begins to break free of the oppressive burden of Korean racial consciousness and its attendent delusions.
‘Lords of the Rings’, huh? Won’t go out of my way to order a copy but certainly worth a look if I see a used copy around. The descriptions sound about right, and from what I’ve heard of the whole Roy Jones Jr. debacle doesn’t sound so surprising. It’s old news though -the guy was robbed.
Our crazy friend baduk writes (more or less):
Racial quotas in Major League Baseball? The league which is almost 30% Latin players somehow has a hidden racial quota to keep Asians out?
Baduk, you’re either flat-out ignorant, a raving conspiracy nut, or both. Major League Baseball (and all American professional sports leagues for the matter) doesn’t use race or nationality as a negative determining factor when evaluating talent.
In fact, you could probably argue the exact opposite. Some Asian players are given more opportunities to gain or keep roster spots simply for the marketing aspect, in order to draw Asian fans, especially with teams like the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mariners, Yankees, and Red Sox…all of which are in cities with significant Asian populations.
The Rangers paid Park Chan Ho far more than his market value in part because they thought the added attendance and support from the Korean population in Texas would offset the contract. Same with Choi Hee Seop. He’s failed on every team he’s been with, but he continues getting more chances (picked up off waivers by the Red Sox today, which Yonhap erroneously reported as him being “traded,” probably to mask the fact that the Dodgers simply didn’t want him and dumped him) because despite the fact that he’s subpar, he draws Korean fans.
The teams that pick up Asian players also see a large boost in merchandising (you never saw Dodgers or Red Sox hats or t-shirts in Korea before Park and Kim Byung Hyun were signed) and benefit from television deals struck with Korean broadcasting to televise their games.
The Seattle Mariners have made huge profits through Ichiro, just through marketing their merchandise and selling broadcasting rights in Japan, not to mention the tour packages they sell to Japanese citizens to come to Seattle from Japan to watch Mariners games, and the additional revenue they earn from Japanese companies that advertise in their stadium that would otherwise never do so if there weren’t a Japanese player on the team.
Asian players often earn teams money in peripheral deals regardless of their performance, and for that reason are given the benefit of the doubt when being evaluated while other black, latino, or white players would not receive that extra consideration.
Baduk is obviously confused with Korean pro sports, where the teams do have a cap on the number of foreign athletes.
“Baseball (and all American professional sports leagues for the matter) doesn’t use race or nationality as a negative determining factor when evaluating talent.” -iheartblueballs
Well, but what is baseball? It is an entertainment. Many people try to make it into more than what it is. It is a money-making venture. Baseball owners want to sell tickets and earn sufficient return on their investments.
They choose players, not only on their talents but also on their “saleability”, their ability to sell tickets. With ticket cost up in the range of $30 and parking($10), a hotdog($5), every player has to bring in crowd.
So, would you have a 100% Asian team in Atlanta, GA? No way. How about, Houston, TX.
It is Hollywood, man. Talents do not sell tickets. Personality does. People want to see their kind hitting home runs. Sports, my foot. Entertainment!
WBC was a big failure. Team USA could not even make top four. ESPN lost tons of money. Whoever bought the rights to the games probably no longer works there.
It is all money, folks.
Some umpires try to help out by issuing questionable calls. But, the Japanese, Koreans, even Mexicans were not easy to beat. Too much egos on American team prevent them playing together?
I don’t know if there will be WBC games next year. This year’s games surely were not good for American baseball. Many people with bruised egos may forgo another round of chastisement.
Have you noticed that whenever a city builds a new baseball stadium it somehow gets into the finals and draws a big crowd? Baseball team owners often get together to talk about the league, rules and “other things” to help their business. Somebody should record their conversations. Blacks sox scandals did not disappear; it just went underground.
Money.
How come Kim Byunghyun always give up homeruns at the crucial point of the game? He must owe some favor to some don(who may be a Japanese Yakuza).
baduk, you’re wrong about new stadiums equaling playoffs. Pittsburgh got a new stadium, Milwaukee did, Braves did (new stadium, but no World Series, they’re good perenially anyway), SF you have an argument (but they built a cheat alley for Barry Bonds who also used roids), Angels (I guess, but 2002 was more of a miracle year, and after that it’s about big money like you said, so got a point there), Phillies new stadium, no playoffs, I guess you have a point with the White Sox (but that’s kind of a miracle year too), Seattle got nothing unusual, Texas got nothing, Can’t really say Houston’s Enron Minute Maid Field took them to the playoffs, Florida won with the worst stadium in the league (still nobody comes out in Florida), …Well, I can’t prove anything, but I don’t think a new stadium puts anyone into the playoffs. Oh, yes Detroit ! Nothing out of a new stadium.
baduk,
You’re always good for a laugh.
Maybe to a very small degree. As a sports fan, I’ll take a winning team over a group of personalities any day. And besides, are you implying that Asian ballplayers have no personality? Then how do you explain the fact that Ichiro is one of the most popular players in the U.S.?
“So far it’s maybe been better than I thought. I admit I went in believing it would be good, but this has really, really been good.” - Bud Selig, commissioner of MLB.
“Everybody involved in the tournament thinks the World Baseball Classic has been a total success. The tournament has a bright future.” - Lou Menendez, vice president of MLB operations.
“He (Bud Selig) had good expectations about the Classic coming in, but they have been exceeded as far as television audience, merchandising sold and the fans’ support. It really has been extremely positive.” - Pat Courtney, vice president of public relations, MLB.
“We still don’t know if we will make money, but this event was not about money in its first edition. This is about developing baseball and creating roots for the future.” - Gene Orza, vice president, MLB players’ association.
“No one could have predicted the World Baseball Classic would have worked this well.” - Peter Gammons, senior writer, ESPN.
I could go on and on and on with the quotes.
No. There won’t be WBC games next year. The format is for every three years. Check back in 2009.
In the cases where this is true, it is because the team has invested large amounts of cash into building their team. Good team, large crowds. Where is the conspiracy? On the other hand, you might want to consult with the fans of the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates about how many World Series their team has been to since opening new stadiums.
Because he sucks.