The Path of Han

Although a young branch is cut

And inserted into another stem

Curiously,

It bears much better fruit

In spite of the cruel cut.

-- from “Grafting,” a poem

by Korean American Moon Hee Kim

*

First baseman Hee-Seop Choi is producing a bountiful harvest of hits of late, and might blossom into the offensive force the Dodgers envisioned when they acquired him last season in a heavily criticized trade.

Yet players who dazzle in April and May often wither over the long summer. Nearly four-fifths of the season remains, a lot is riding on Choi’s performance, and he knows it.

The pressure to perform has forced him for the first time to confront han, a Korean term describing deep frustration and angst that tests a person’s resilience. When he struggled in his first months with the Dodgers last season, everything that had been so easy for so long became difficult.

“Now I understand han,” Choi said. “Over the last year I felt it a lot. I always thought baseball was just fun. Now I see it is work.

“I changed a lot. I woke up. I see I have to play well.”

Others can hardly believe their eyes when he does. Misgivings seem to accompany Choi even on his increasingly frequent home-run trots. Dodger fans chant his name when he comes to bat, yet doubters outnumber devotees. He is an amiable 6-foot-5 question mark who could as easily become an encumbrance as an exclamation point.

Choi played poorly and sparingly after being acquired from the Florida Marlins last July, was handed a starting job in the spring and sputtered for a few weeks before the recent burst.

In his last 17 games, he is batting .435 with five home runs and 14 runs batted in. Although he began the season three for 23, his average is up to .312 and his OPS -- on-base percentage plus slugging percentage -- is a robust .977, best on the team.

Fortunately for Choi, the one person who has steadfastly remained convinced of his value is the person who matters most -- Dodger General Manager Paul DePodesta.

When DePodesta looks at Choi, he doesn’t see only a former university student from the South Korean city of Kwang-Ju who became the first position player from his country to make the major leagues.

He doesn’t see only an unfailingly friendly and courteous gentle giant who has had difficulty gaining the confidence of Manager Jim Tracy.

He sees Scott Hatteberg.

Exhibit A of the “Moneyball” approach, Hatteberg is in his fourth season as the Oakland Athletics’ first baseman. He is paid far less than the typical salary at his position and puts up acceptable numbers.

In the last three years, Hatteberg has averaged 14 home runs, 68 RBIs and a .272 batting average while walking more than he strikes out each season. Choi would make DePodesta happy by mirroring that production.

“When we traded for Hee-Seop, it was with the idea that in a relatively short period of time he could become league-average offensively,” DePodesta said. “So given his contract status, it made him attractive.”

Choi makes $351,000, less than 5% of the $7.9-million average salary for first basemen. He must produce only close to average numbers to validate a central tenet of DePodesta’s philosophy -- pinch pennies at a normally high-salaried position by going with a young player who hits home runs, draws walks and fields adequately.

If Choi struggles, though, he would become a litmus test of the general manager’s stubbornness when a player in whom he has invested doesn’t pan out. DePodesta has been quick to part with players he inherited a year ago. How much patience he has with “his guys” remains to be seen.

Choi, 26, came to the Dodgers along with pitcher Brad Penny from the Florida Marlins for catcher Paul Lo Duca, reliever Guillermo Mota and outfielder Juan Encarnacion. The trade was widely panned, and it didn’t help that Penny made only one effective start before injuring his arm and Choi batted .161 in 62 at-bats.

Penny and Choi are close, and when Choi had difficulty adapting to new surroundings, the country boy pitcher from Broken Arrow, Okla., called him frequently. Choi’s rudimentary command of English is improving rapidly because he doesn’t use a translator.

“It must be hard coming to a different country,” Penny said. “I think about how it would be if I went to Korea to play.”

Choi is happy in Los Angeles. His sister, a college student, lives with him and cooks Korean dishes. They feel comfortable shopping and dining in the large Koreatown community.

The Dodgers have tried to make him as comfortable as possible on the field, handing him the starting job this season. DePodesta did so because he remembered Choi’s production before the trade -- a .270 average and .388 on-base percentage with 15 home runs in 95 games with the Marlins. He also performed well in the Chicago Cub farm system after being signed for a $1.2-million bonus in 1999.

“Because he came over in a high-profile trade, the expectations of the public were that he was supposed to immediately contribute,” DePodesta said. “But last year was his first full season in the big leagues. We are still talking about limited experience.”

The expectations in South Korea are even higher. Great things have been expected of Choi since he was the biggest kid in his Little League at 11. “My coach said, ‘You could be a star on the Yankees,’ ” Choi said. “I didn’t know what he meant.”

At 17 he played on the Korean junior national team in a tournament in Canada. He faced left-hander Rick Ankiel, who threw 97-mph fastballs past him. Choi was undeterred.

“That was the competition I was looking for,” he said. “That’s when I decided to play in America.”

Pitcher Chan Ho Park already had become the first Korean major leaguer. Now there are six. More is expected of Choi than the others because he is so much bigger than most of his countrymen.

“The economy isn’t so good in South Korea, so he provides hope for the people,” Korean reporter Hyun Seok Chung said. “Their suffering is diverted by sports.”

They’ve had plenty to cheer about since a four-hit game April 26. His three-run home run was key in the 9-8 Dodger victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday and Choi, who weighs 240 pounds, showed toughness by staying in the game after a jarring collision with 6-4, 240-pound Scott Rolen, who ended up on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

“Everybody just has to give Hee-Seop a chance,” Dodger outfielder Milton Bradley said. “Anybody who hits the ball the other way as hard as he does, and can also turn on the ball, is a good hitter. All he needs is confidence. People are starting to believe in him.”

Choi credits batting coach Tim Wallach with helping him become more aggressive without compromising his ability to draw walks.

“There is a fine line between being disciplined and being passive,” Wallach said. “Hee-Seop has gone through an adjustment to understand what exactly that means.”

Tracy has benched Choi against most left-handed pitchers, even though in the minor leagues he had a higher batting average against left-handers. In fact, it has taken Tracy a while to warm up to Choi’s entire game.

On defense, Choi is a mixed bag. He has soft hands picking throws out of the dirt and is a big target, but he reacts slowly on hard-hit balls.

At times, Choi seems oblivious to pressure and the perceptions of others. He blows bubbles while running around the bases. He unabashedly performs a feel-good flexibility dance in front of a clubhouse mirror that is a traditional Korean means of coping with han.

That feeling he never knew for so long now drives him.

“We have to serve the han,” Choi said. “When I was a kid, I loved baseball and I thought good things would always happen to me, nothing but good things. I had fun every day.

“I learned last year, it is a struggle. I don’t forget the bad times. I know that now is my chance, my time.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Long journey

South Korea-born players who have played in the major leagues:

*--* Name Years Position Current team Cha Seung Baek 2004 pitcher Seattle-a Jung Bong 2002-04 pitcher Cincinnati-b Jin Ho Cho 1998-99 pitcher Boston-a Shin-Soo Choo 2005 outfield Seattle-a Hee-Seop Choi 2002-05 first base Dodgers Byung-Hyun Kim 1999-05 pitcher Colorado Sun-Woo Kim 2001-04 pitcher Washington-a Sang-Hoon Lee 2000 pitcher No longer active Chan Ho Park 1994-05 pitcher Texas Tommy Phelps 2003-05 pitcher Milwaukee Jae Weong Seo 2002-05 pitcher N.Y. Mets-a Dae-Sung Koo 2005 pitcher N.Y. Mets

*--*

a -- minors; b -- 60-day disabled list.

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Merry month

After a sluggish April, Hee-Seop Choi has been on a roll in May. A comparison of Choi’s numbers in the two months:

*--* Month AB H 2B HR RBI BB SO Avg On-Base% Slug% April 54 14 2 3 7 7 15 259 355 463 May 39 15 4 3 11 6 8 385 467 718

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Major League Baseball