VERO BEACH, Fla. -- This possibly being his last spring in baseball, Chan Ho Park figured that he might as well take his shot at reclaiming major-league glory in the place where he was once an All-Star.
The details of the contract didn't matter. He wanted to be a Dodger again.
The 34-year old Korean right-hander is back in Dodgertown for the first time in seven years. The man who once signed a five-year, $65-million contract with the Texas Rangers is in camp as a non-roster player who will earn $500,000 if he makes the team, and that's a big if, considering that he is one of 35 pitchers vying to be on the Dodgers' opening-day roster.
"I know it's not going to be easy," Park said.
But neither were the last six years, marked by repeated trips to the disabled list, a decline in the velocity of his fastball that used to be in the mid-90s and the constant reminders of failed expectations. He spent most of last season in the minors, posting earned-run averages of 5.57 and 6.21 with the triple-A affiliates of the New York Mets and Houston Astros, respectively.
Park said he considered walking away from baseball in recent years, but couldn't.
Raised in South Korea, he was taught never to quit, a trait that he now thinks derailed his once-promising career and nearly cost him his life.
Whenever he was hurt with Texas, he said, "I was trying to come back before I was 100% ready and I would get hurt again."
He lasted 3 1/2 seasons with the Rangers, posting a 22-23 record and 5.79 ERA.
But it was two years ago with the San Diego Padres that he barely averted disaster.
Finding massive amounts of blood in his stool in late July, Park had a stint on the disabled list but returned to action without discovering the source of the bleeding.
The bleeding returned on a day Park was scheduled to pitch and only an angry phone call from teammate Woody Williams convinced him to go to the operating table instead of the mound.
As it was, Park said, he lost half of his blood.
"[Williams] was yelling," Park recalled. "He said, 'Think about your family. You have a daughter on the way.' If I was single, I probably would've pitched. My wife and baby probably saved my life."
Doctors removed a small bulge in the small intestine, and, a week later, his wife, Rie, gave birth to their daughter, Elynne. Park's life was spared, but he wasn't sure if his career had been.
