Chan Ho Park

Chan "The Man"

My hero is Chan Ho Park who is a famous baseball player. His position is pitcher. He pitches well. He is not only good at baseball, but also has donated a lot of money for poor people and to improve the Korean league for youth. His best season of his career was in 2000 - 2001 for the Los Angeles Dodgers which is one of the really good MLB teams. Between 2000 and 2001, Korea had an IMF which is the same as a depression in their economy. Chan Ho Park saved Korea from its IMF. Korean citizens watched his plays and were inspired to overcome the depression of the economy. It was really helpful to Korean citizens. He also donated money to improve the youth league and taught children to play well, so Korean baseball could be better than now.

He was born in June 30, 1973 in Gongju, South Korea. He played baseball for about 20 years. When he was in high school, he won team Most Valuable Player for three consecutive seasons. He also became MVP at four national prep tournaments. He has played on the Korean national team since 1992, but he only plays for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 and quit the Korean national team. Park came to America in 1994. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him as a free agent. His professional debut was on April 8, 1994 against the Atlanta Braves. He was really worried about the depression in Korea because his family lived in Korea. All he could do was to play well and gives Korean citizens hope that we could overcome the depression. He worked really hard, and he showed his ability to his team, so he played as a starter. In 2002, Korea overcame the depression.

Chan Ho Park was traded to the Texas Rangers and got a $65 million contract, which was one of the largest contract at that time. He spent hard times playing for the Texas Rangers because he had a really terrible injury. He didn’t give up. When I was in middle school in 2006 in Korea, the World Baseball Classic was held in United States. I have been interested in baseball since 2006 because I didn’t actually recognize him before the tournament, but he became a hero to me. In 2008, the Beijing Olympics were held in China, and there was a baseball tournament. This tournament was the last tournament that Chan Ho Park played for the national team. Korea won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I was really happy because it was the last tournament that Chan Ho Park played. After the Olympics, he went to the Los Angeles Dodgers and signed for one year because he wanted to have another good season for the rest of his career as a professional. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies now and has been preparing for another good season.