Philadelphia Phillies Korean reliever Chan Ho Park injured his right hamstring in mid-September. Photo from The Korea Times.
Down two runs in the top of the ninth inning the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies have advanced to their second consecutive National League Championship Series (NLCS) with a come from behind win last night in Denver against the Colorado Rockies. They now face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rematch of last season’s National League Championship Series, a series the Phillies won four games to one on their way to the second World Series title in their 119 year history.
An interesting storyline in the Korean community lays in Chan Ho Park’s return to the Phillies bullpen from a strained right hamstring sustained in mid-September. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel remains optimistic that Park can return in time for the NLCS, though an exact timetable for his return has not been set. Park is currently rehabbing the injury at the Phillies spring training complex in Clearwater, Florida and last pitched on September 16th against the Washington Nationals.
Park has enjoyed somewhat of a career revival the past two seasons, his first big league seasons being featured as a relief pitcher. Last season Park returned for a second stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers and had perhaps his best season since bolting the team following the 2001 season in favor of a lucrative five year/$65 million free agent contract with the Texas Rangers.
If his right hamstring permits, Park will essentially be switching dugouts for this year’s NLCS. Park appeared in four games during last year’s NLCS for the Dodgers but did not figure into any decisions. Hit hard as a starter to begin the season, Park was converted to his relief role towards the end of May and has been a consistent option out of the Phillies bullpen for 2/3 of the season.
While he is just a small part of the larger puzzle at this point in his career, does Chan Ho Park’s return to the Phillies bullpen have a significant impact on this year’s NLCS? Overall, what are your views on Koreans in the sport of baseball? Are Korean baseball players significant contributors at the Major League level?
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Wow the Phillies are using Park all over the place. His two-seam fastball is moving like crazy. Great series so far, Dodgers better hope they don’t have to face Cliff Lee again.
Anyone watch the Angels/Yankees game today?
Game of inches…saw it again today in the Yankees/Angels game.
Tough loss of Park yesterday. I heard there may be some concern that Utley’s hip injury could be playing into the two throwing errors he has committed so far. That’s just talk though so who actually knows?
We’ll see what the change of scenery brings to the series.
Very sloppy. How can any team at this level make a throwing error?
Isn’t that a requirement to be a professional baseball player? Twice in one series by same player?
There is no excuse.
Angels making error in catching the ball. It’s embarrassing to call this a World Series. US is not the World by the way.
Hope Phillies recover and win the championship again. Go Phillies!!!
Chan Ho puts me in a dilemma… I wanna root for him, but damn the Phillies!
Great game last night, and really nice to see Chan Ho Park back in action. I didn’t catch the game on tv, but it looked like Park pitched a quick and efficient 7th inning, striking out one batter and stranding one inherited runner on 15 pitches.
Pedro and Padilla tonight.
One physical appearance note. Did anyone see that fresh bread Park was rocking out there yesterday? My jealously of this man’s facial hair arrangement cannot be expressed; my only course of action is to attempt a cheap replication. I attempted something similar after seeing Ahn Jung Hwan’s hair throughout the 2002 World Cup and was moderately successful.
Chan Ho Park is back in the active roster for Phillies!!!
Go Park! Close it out like you did in Baseball Classic!!
Let’s go DODGERS!!!
I agree that Park was solid for the final three months of the season, but I don’t know if he is the Phillies’ solution in terms of closing out games. I definitely understand where you’re coming from as the Phillies have a huge problem at closer and will have to get more and more creative if they are to advance to the World Series. Trusting Park, who hasn’t pitched since September 16th, to close out games in the NLCS would be too risky though. I think Park is best suited for the 6th or 7th inning with Blanton coming in to close out. That will only be possible if Manuel employs a 3 or 4 man rotation through this round of the playoffs, something he should consider given Madsen and Lidge’s struggles. All things mentioned, baseball is a crazy game and anything can happen.
I don’t know about other Korean baseball players but I think Chan Ho Park has the experience to withstand and deliver strikes at the pressure situations. I hope they use him as the closer when he returns.