Chan-ho Park is being interviewed after the San Diego Padres youth baseball clinic held at the baseball field in Yongsan Children's Garden in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 16th. 

Former major leaguer Park Chan-ho (51) wished the San Diego Padres good luck ahead of their opening game against the LA Dodgers in the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Tour Seoul Series.

Chan-ho Park met with reporters after the San Diego Padres youth baseball clinic event held at Yongsan Children's Garden in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 16th and said, "I hope the Padres, which has Korean players such as Ha-seong Kim and Woo-seok Ko, will do well in the opening game. “I especially hope the Korean players do well,” he said with a smile.

On this day, the San Diego team arrived at Yongsan Children's Garden at 12:40 PM for a youth baseball clinic. This event was organized by Team 61, headed by Chan-ho Park.

As the 18 star corps, led by Kim Ha-seong and Ko Woo-seok, Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado, Yuki Matsui, Fernando Tatis Jr., Robert Suarez, and Joe Musgrove, arrived at the ground, the students erupted in cheers.

The San Diego team dispersed by division and taught the students with sincerity.

Ha-seong Kim gave advice by looking at the students' posture while playing defense, and Woo-seok Go corrected the students' pitching posture. Pitchers Matsui and Jeremiah Estrada also directly taught the student athletes how to grip their breaking balls.

After all events were over, Chan-ho Park expressed his gratitude toward the San Diego team in a media interview. Chan-ho Park said, “I am grateful that the Padres players took the time to come to this event even though they were not here for an event but to play a regular game.” He added, “Initially, only a few players were going to come, but (Kim) Ha-seong and other players, including Tatis Jr. and Machado, came.” He persuaded me to buy him food so more people came. “I’m really grateful,” he said. Chan-ho Park said, “When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, the OB Bears team trained in Gongju. “I was very motivated when I saw the OB team bus near the school I attended,” he said. “But this time, how much better would it have been for the young students to see the major leaguers in person. “It would have made my dream of baseball even greater,” he said with satisfaction.

Chan-Ho Park will throw out the first pitch in the opening game of the MLB regular season between the Dodgers and San Diego, which will be held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 20th at 7:05 pm.

Park Chan-ho, the first Korean major leaguer, debuted with the Dodgers and played for a total of seven teams, including San Diego. He has ties to both teams and is currently a special advisor to San Diego. When asked which of the two teams he supported, Chan-ho Park laughed and said, “I hope the Padres, which has Korean players, does better.” He continued, “I was sick for three days after pitching the first pitch during the SSG Landers home game the year before last. However, he looked forward to it by throwing a little ball while guiding the students today to warm up.”

Recently, the return of Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles), who accumulated 78 wins in the big league, has become a hot topic in Korean baseball.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who left Hanwha and joined the Dodgers at the end of the 2012 season, returned to his former team after 12 years. He has some overlap with Park Chan-ho, who played his last active role at Hanwha in 2012.

Chan-ho Park said, “I felt it was great to see Choo Shin-soo go to SSG in 2021 and win the championship in 2022. “This time, Ryu Hyun-jin came, and it means a lot to him that he returned to his former team when he was healthy,” he said. “In the past, Ryu Hyun-jin was said to be the ‘head of a child’ at Hanwha, but now he has returned as an ‘adult head of the family.’ “We will see and learn a lot from Hanwha’s prospects, so it is a great fortune for the team,” he said. 고스톱