By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter
Choi Hyang-nam, Kia Tigers veteran pitcher, has signed with the Cleveland
Indians of the Major League Baseball (MLB) to play in its minors, taking a
big stride to reach his dream of becoming a big leaguer.
Choi and Jason Lee, a scout for the Indians, reached a deal Wednesday in
Seoul, under which the 35-year-old will pitch for the Buffalo Bisons, a
triple ``A’’ affiliate of Cleveland, for one year in return for $100,000.
He will leave for the United States in February to take part in the Indians’
spring camp.
With the contract, Choi has become the third Korean pitcher from the Korean
professional league to play for U.S. professional entities after Lee
Sang-hoon and Koo Dae-sung. Lee moved from the LG Twins to Boston Red Sox
in 2000 while Koo left the Hanwha Eagles to play for the New York Mets
early this year.
Choi began his career in 1990 for the Haitai Tigers, predecessor of the Kia
Tigers, and went 1-6 in 43 games before moving to the LG Twins at the end of
1996. He accumulated 39 victories through 1997-2003, but was released in 2003
due to a shoulder injury.
Recovering from the injury, Choi launched his journey of long and painful
efforts to get into the Major League, by participating in the test camps,
which ended in failure.
He seemed to give up the dream when he signed with Kia in May and sweated
out the season to go 2-5 with the ERA 4.10. But, he went to Florida last
month to be tested again and pitched four stellar scoreless innings against
the minor league players of the Indians. Choi got the request for the
contract from the Indians a month later.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/sports/200511/kt2005112419031111640.htm
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