Two-time South Korean baseball MVP Park Byung-ho homered in his first game for his new team Wednesday following a controversial trade. After being dealt by the KT Wiz to the Samsung Lions on Tuesday night, Park batted sixth as designated hitter for the Lions against the Kiwoom Heroes on Wednesday at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul. In his second trip to the plate in the bottom fourth, Park drilled a slider from Heroes starter Enmanuel De Jesus and sent it well over the left-field wall for a solo shot. It was Park's fourth home run of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. He is third on the league's all-time home run list with 384. The blast cut the Lions' deficit to 8-2, and they lost the game 11-5. Hours before the Wiz played the Doosan Bears in Seoul on Tuesday, Park's earlier demand for a release went public. Sources familiar with the situation said Park, 37, had grown disenchanted with a reduction in playing opportunities and had asked the Wiz manag ement to find him a new home. The Wiz quickly found a dancing partner in the Lions, who shipped their own 37-year-old slugger, Oh Jae-il. The deal was made official after the Wiz's and the Lions' games Tuesday night. Park won the KBO regular season MVP awards in 2012 and 2013, while playing for the Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes. He blasted 52 home runs in 2014 and 53 in 2015, and remains the only KBO player to post back-to-back 50-homer seasons. Park signed with the Wiz as a free agent following the 2020 season, in which he saw his numbers dip across the board. But in his first season with the Wiz, Park led the KBO with 35 home runs in 124 games. In 2023, though, he only managed 18 home runs in 132 games. And he stumbled out of the gate this season, batting only .198 with three homers in 44 games for the Wiz and eventually losing playing time to Moon Sang-chul -- both at first base and in the cleanup spot in the lineup. Following the trade, Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul said he hoped the deal would give Pa rk a fresh start and that Oh would also benefit from the chance of scenery. Oh has also seen his production fall in recent years. In 2023, Oh only had 11 home runs and 54 RBIs with a .203/.302/.356 line -- his worst numbers since becoming an everyday player for the Doosan Bears in 2016. Oh only had a .222 batting average and two home runs before Tuesday night's game. Then moments before his trade became official Tuesday night, Oh hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth against the Heroes in his final at-bat as a Lion. Oh did not play for the Wiz on Wednesday against the Bears. Source: Yonhap News Agency
Myanmar Clears Path for Junta Leader to Become President
March 30, 2026