Park Chan-Ho shaves head?

"No matter what, I will reach the 20 win peak."

Park Chan-Ho better known as the `Korean Express` now with 5 years under his belt has shaved his head in preparing for the second half of the season.

Park surprised both his clubmates and fans when he entered the Dodger Stadium for his first start, which was against the Anaheim Angels, after the All-star break. Apparently, Park had shaved his own head at home after finishing his training.

He did not disclose the reason for shaving his head and merely stated "what do you think?" However, the ritual of shaving one`s head is usually done in Korea before aiming for major goals, be it male or female.

For the last 3 years, Park had recorded double digit wins but he has yet to satisfy the requisite of becoming an ace, which requires 20 wins in one season.

With a record of 9 wins(6 losses), Park has the best opportunity ever to reach the goal of 20 wins this season.

But his winning trend has been stunted somewhat as he failed in 2 of 4 games since the game against St. Louis on the 24th of last month. The reason Park shaved his head seems to be to escape from the slump and to improve in the second half.

This is the second time Park shaved his head since last year, as last August he executed the same ritual after suffering his 10th loss. Seemingly, the ritual had a positive effect as he won 7 straight games and again had double digit wins for the season.

Park will pitch against a manageable team in Anaheim Angels, of which he has career record of 2 wins and no losses, on the 16th.

Even when looking at his records, there seems to be good fortune on his side. For the last 3 years, Park has won all of his starts in the first game of the second half and in July alone his career stats are 11 wins and 5 losses.

On the other hand, Kim Byung-Hyun(21, Arizona Diamondbacks) had suffered a loss against the Texas Rangers, where he entered as a reliever in the first game of the second half.

Kim Byung-Hyun took to the mound in the top of the 9th with his team leading 4-1 but during his 2/3rd inning stint, he allowed 5 hits and 5 runs including a 3 run homer. Arizona lost 4-6.

He has failed in two consecutive relief opportunities and got another loss since the Texas game on June 5th. Kim`s ERA has surged from 2.11 to 3.12.