“Park Chan-Ho’s 19 Wins – Kim Byung-Hyun’s 22 Saves”

U.S. baseball magazine, `Baseball Weekly`, predicted strong performances of Korean players in this year on the 14th.

Baseball Weekly looked out that Texas Rangers’ ace, Park Chan-Ho (29), will score his best record of 19 victories and average earned-run of 3.88 to take tied second position after Mike Mussina (20 wins. New York Yankees) not only in American League, but also in the full list of most wins.

In the second-position group, Randy Johson (Arizona Diamondbacks) is the only one in National League, and Freddy Garcia (Seattle Mariners) and Mark Mulder (Oakland Athletics) also are the only ones in American League. It has proven Park’s high reputation once again.

Also, Arizona’s Kim Byung-Hyun (23) is said to be capable of winning 5 relief-wins and 22 saves in this year. Analysts also said that Kim would not step down to the middle pitcher line, even if the original relief pitcher Matt Mantei returns.

Meanwhile, in the home run race, which gained great attention last year as Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) set a new record of 73 home runs, Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) is expected to hit 59 home runs to outrun Bonds (51 home runs) and Ken Griffey Jr. (47 home runs. Cincinnati Reds).

Along with this, Choi Hee-Sup (Chicago Cubs) ranked 37th, Song Seung-Jun (Boston Red Sox) 50th, and Seo Jae-Eung (New York Mets) 61st in the list of top 100 minor leaguers.

Hwan-Soo Zang zangpabo@donga.com