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| Minnesota Twins' Park Byung-ho, center, high-fives teammates in the dugout after hitting a grand slam in the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla., Sunday. / AP-Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Minnesota Twins' Park Byung-ho made a strong impression Monday (KST), delivering a grand slam during a spring training game.
At Charlotte Sports Park in Fla., the Korean slugger hit a home run in the first inning off the Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi in a 5-4 win for the Orioles. It was Park's first home run during the exhibition season.
Park, who led the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in home runs for four consecutive years since 2012 while playing for the Nexen Heroes, joined the Twins on a four-year contract worth $12 million in the offseason. He is also the only hitter who reached at least 50 home runs in two consecutive seasons in the Korean league.
After hitting a grand slam, he reached home on an error in the fourth but was struck out in the sixth. He was replaced with Max Kepler in the bottom of that inning, recording 2-for-11 with a batting average of .182 during training so far.
The U.S. media also gave major coverage to Park's first long ball, citing his team's manager Paul Molitor's comment.
"He put a nice swing on a fastball and hit it so high, I knew he hit it well, but I wasn't sure," Molitor told MLB.com. "We saw some balls get knocked down in batting practice. It shows you a little bit about his strength out there. I didn't talk to him after, but I'm sure it's a good feeling for him to get that one out of the way."
However, Park maintained his poise, saying that he only made "solid contact."
"It wasn't really on my mind," Park said."These are just exhibition games, so I'm just out there to give 100 percent, trying to get things to fall into place for the regular season."
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles outfielder Kim Hyun-soo remained hitless after going 0-for-3 against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.
Batting fourth, Kim struck out twice and was replaced by Alfredo Marte in the sixth. He is 0-for-16 in five games. Kim, who joined the Orioles as a free agent with a two-year contract worth $7 million, will play against the Twins, today (KST).
At Surprise Stadium in Ariz., two Korean major leaguers ― Lee Dae-ho and Choo Shin-soo ― played against each other, but both went hitless.
Lee batted fifth for the Seattle Mariners and went 0-for-2, while the Texas Rangers right fielder Choo also went 0-for-2.
Lee agreed to a minor league deal with the Mariners last month after playing in Korea for 11 seasons and in Japan for four.
