Koreans In Major League: Seo Pitches and Choi Hits

Seo Jae –wong, 27-years-old pitcher of the New York Mets and who had been unable to pitch because of his injury from a foul ball, made his successful season debut in an exhibition game on March 11. Choi Hee-seop, 25-years-old of the Florida Marlins who had performed less than perfect since his transition to a new hitting style, slugged a long hit in his third consecutive game. Two pitchers, Park Chan-ho, 31-years-old of the Texas Rangers, and Kim B.K., 25-years-old of the Boston Red Sox, threw cleanly in their first game of the season on March 7. However, Park suffered an acute muscle pain, and Kim performed below his standard.

It was Nice Guy Seo’s day. In a game against the Houston Astros at Osceola Stadium in Florida, Seo did not give up an inch to Houston’s ace Roy Oswalt, who allowed three base runners, one hit, and no runs in three innings pitched. Seo had just one strikeout but threw four scoreless innings with three hits, two base runners, and one walk. He demonstrated excellent crisis management and did not allow a score in the first inning although the bases were loaded after a triple and two walks, and again in the third inning with a hit and a hit by pitch. However, the Mets lost 1-0 by allowing two consecutive hits. Choi, also known as Big Choi, who hit a double in a game against Montreal and a game-deciding home run against the Mets on March 10, took on the L.A. Dodgers as the designated hitter in two consecutive games. He hit a two-bagger, continuing his upward trend.

With one hit in two at-bats in the two last exhibition games, Choi posted a total four hits in 17 bats with a 0.235 batting average. Although his batting average still hovers around 0.200, his slugging percentage jumped to 0.529, thanks to his recent long hits.

The latest issue of USA Today’s Sports Weekly praised Choi’s potential saying “The trade of Derek Lee for Choi was not a losing deal for Florida. It was a fair trade.”

Sunshine after Cloud--

Korean Express, Park Chan-ho, who was preparing for a big comeback, discontinued his training a day ahead of his season debut as acute muscle pain attacked his right flank. Park is attempting to dismiss it as simple muscle pain and wants to pitch against San Francisco on March 12. However, Texas Rangers Manager Buck Showalter said, “Even negligible injuries must be taken care of seriously.” He added, “I will finalize the decision regarding him pitching on March 12 after carefully observing the status of his pain.”

Kim B.K., who is suffering the same pain as Park, pitched as a starter against the St. Louis Cardinals. However, he left the mound after allowing a walk in the third inning. He got two strikeouts but allowed three hits, two walks, and two errors.

Cha Seung-baek, 23-years-old, the rising starlet of the Seattle Mariners, posted one strikeout and no hits and walks in two innings against Anaheim. Bong Jung-kuen, 25-years-old of the Atlanta Braves, cleanly threw two innings against Philadelpia but allowed two hits.

Hwan Soo Zang zangpabo@donga.com