Park Chan-ho gets shot at US Baseball Hall of Fame
By Baek Byung-yeul
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star pitcher Park Chan-ho, 41, will be eligible for the Hall of Fame (HOF) in 2016, the baseball league’s official site MLB.com reported, Tuesday.
The news came after the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) announced this year’s newly-honored members ― Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio.
For a player to be eligible for the Hall of Fame, he must have at least 10 years of a MLB career behind him, and be five years into retirement. To reach the next big step ― to be enshrined in the HOF ― the player is required to receive at least 75 percent approval from BBWAA members. Park played in the big leagues from 1994 to 2010.
Since becoming the first Korean Major League player after joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994, he has become one of the most-beloved sports stars in Korea with his legendary fastball speed of around 95 miles per hour.
Throughout his storied career with a number of other big-name MLB teams, including the Texas Rangers, the San Diego Padres, the New York Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, Park recorded 124 wins and 98 losses with a 4.36 ERA (earned run average). He holds the most wins among pitchers from Asia in the Major League, followed by Japan’s Hideo Nomo who has recorded 123 wins.
Park retired in 2012 after a year-long stint with the Korean pro baseball club Hanwha Eagles.
Even as Park has earned the honor of becoming a Hall of Fame candidate for next year, his chances of becoming the “first Asian HOF inductee” look slim, considering the case of Nomo.
Nomo, who played in MLB from 1995 to 2008, qualified for ballot last year, but failed to become an inductee, collecting only six votes, accounting for slightly over 1 percent.
As the HOF regulations state that a player should earn at least 5 percent of the vote to remain eligible for next 10 years, Nomo is disqualified as a future candidate.
MLB.com predicted that former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and retired relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman will be the most likely inductees of 2016.