Park Is Sent to San Antonio

OK, so it wasn’t exactly Fernandomania.

The much-heralded rookie season of Dodger right-hander Chan Ho Park, the first Korean in major league baseball, has been put on hold with Wednesday’s announcement that Park is being sent to the minor leagues.

Park, who has been compared to former Dodger rookie phenom Fernando Valenzuela, has been optioned to the San Antonio Missions, a double-A club in the Texas League. The Dodgers have recalled Omar Daal, a left-hander from triple-A Albuquerque to replace Park.

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, and Manager Tom Lasorda emphasized the move should not be regarded as a demotion.

“Some guys are sent down because they are not doing the job,” Lasorda said. “This wasn’t the case with him. We’re sending him down for his betterment. . . . This guy has an outstanding arm and, believe me, he’s going to be an outstanding pitcher.”

That’s the way it looked in spring training when he made six starts and was 2-1 with a 2.16 earned-run average.

But once the regular season started, Park did not play much. He has made only two appearances since opening day, both in relief, amassing an 11.25 ERA in four innings.

With the Dodgers getting a lot of innings out of their starters, there hasn’t been much need for a long reliever.

“It would have been unfair to have a talent like that just sit here and not be able to develop for lack of work,” said Ron Perranoski, Dodger pitching coach.

Park agreed with the Dodgers’ decision.

“It’s an opportunity for me to throw more,” he said through his interpreter, Don Yi. “And I really appreciate that. It’s an opportunity for me to learn more.”

Park says there is much to learn about how to pitch and how to think.

He seemed confident in the spring, but once the season started, he seemed to lose his edge.

Between innings of Park’s second appearance, a game in St. Louis, Perranoski took him into the clubhouse and told him to be more aggressive.

The change in environment won’t be easy for Park, according to Baik Sung, a writer for the Korea Central Daily who has been following Park.

He said Park will miss the ties he had developed with Los Angeles’ Korean community.

“San Antonio will be a strange place for him,” Sung said. “Here, he had friends. There, he will have to stay in a hotel with Don Yi. Here, he could eat in Korean restaurants. There, they are going to be hard to find. He does not have any experience being so far away.”

It might not be for long, Claire said.

“I would have no reservations about calling him (Park) up to the major league level if we had a need.”