Posted August. 05, 2004 22:14,
Choi Hee-seop (25) said, When I was young and watching Park Chan-hos games, I dreamt of wearing the blue Dodgers uniform and playing at their stadium.
His dream came true. On August 5, Choi, wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform, stood in Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles. It was his debut at the Dodgers home game. Playing his first game before the home fans, his first impression was extremely important.
Playing first base and batting sixth, Choi took his turn at the plate in the bottom of the second inning with the score 0-0. The first pitch was a strike. The second was a ball. The third was hit foul. And the fourth ball, although a curve thrown below the strike zone by Josh Fogg, the starting pitcher of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was hit hard by Choi.
It was a double near the first base line. A great round of applause came from the 30,000-large crowd.
Choi scored when the next hitter, Jose Hernandez, got a hit. Choi scored both a run and hit a double in his first at-bat in his first game home. In his following at-bats, Choi struck out and flew out.
Although the Dodgers, leading by one run, allowed a run in the third inning, Alex Cora hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers barely won by one run, 2-1. Eric Gagne, the guardian angel of the Dodgers, went to the mound in the ninth inning and finished the next three hitters easily to record his 32nd save of the season. The Dodgers, winners of three games in a row, remain the leaders of the National League with 63 wins and 43 losses.
Getting one hit in three at-bats before being substituted when a left-handed relief pitcher took the mound for the Pirates in the eighth inning made for a successful home debut for Choiin particular, the double in the second inning that helped the team to gain the lead by one run.
The local press in Los Angeles, who criticized the team for trading with the Florida Marlins the day before, had nothing to whine about since Brad Penny from the Marlins gave up only two hits and no runs while throwing eight innings, and Choi showed himself as a power hitter. However, this is only the beginning.