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| "Korean Express"Park Chan-ho's record of 124 wins for major league Asian pitchers in his 17 seasons is not expected to be broken for the time being. As Darvish, a promising new record candidate, underwent elbow surgery, the record is likely to be maintained for at least the next 10 years. Park Chan-ho's dynamic pitching scene during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sports Chosun DB |
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| "Korean Express"Park Chan-ho's record of 124 wins for major league Asian pitchers in his 17 seasons is not expected to be broken for the time being. As Darvish, a promising new record candidate, underwent elbow surgery, the record is likely to be maintained for at least the next 10 years. Park Chan-ho's dynamic pitching scene during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sports Chosun DB |
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"High-end luxury goods" increase in value as time goes by.
The greatness of Park Chan-ho (52), who threw a spark of hope into the hearts of Koreans who were directly hit by the IMF in the late 1990s, also falls into the category of top luxury goods. As time goes by, it is revealing how great his achievements really were.
It has been 15 years since Park Chan-ho retired from active duty, but the record he set is still unbroken. It's not just that. It is likely to remain a solid wall for at least the next 10 years. It is the record of the most wins (124 wins) by an Asian pitcher in the Major League.
Although it is better known by today's generation as a meme too much talker, Park Chan-ho's true identity will remain not only in Korea but also in major league history'Base Legend'. Park Chan-ho's record of winning the most ML Asian pitchers, which has not been broken for 15 years so far, is likely to be maintained for a long time.
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| 다르빗슈. AP Yonhap News |
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This is because Japanese pitcher Darvish Yu (39, San Diego Padres), who was the most likely candidate to break a record, underwent elbow surgery again. Considering his age and injury history, his return to active duty is not expected to be simple. Even if he returns, it is questionable whether he will be able to recover his normal pitching and play the starting rotation.
On the 5th (Korean time), Darvish said on his SNS page "I had an operation to reconstruct the flexor tendon in my right elbow by Dr. Keith Meister last Wednesday. I couldn't throw it in 2026. I'll work hard on rehabilitation so that I can throw the ball comfortably again" he said. It's already my third elbow surgery.
The expected rehabilitation period for this surgery is 12 to 15 months. Therefore, he cannot throw a ball in the 2026 season. It is a situation where we can look to return to 2027 only after spending a whole year on rehabilitation. In other words, Darvish can only return to active duty at the age of 41.
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| 다르빗슈. AP Yonhap News |
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Darvish, who made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2012 after playing for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the Japanese professional baseball league, has won 115 games (93) through Texas and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres for a total of 14 seasons so far this year. This is the third place for the most wins by an Asian pitcher. The first place is Park Chan-ho. In second place is Hideo Nomo's 123 wins.
Until he underwent his third surgery, it seemed only a matter of time before Darvish surpassed Park Chan-ho's record. With 10 more wins, he could have surpassed Park Chan-ho.
Darvish is still a competitive starting agent, even if his ball power has dropped due to his age. This year, he started 15 games and recorded five wins (five losses) with a 5.38 ERA, narrowing the gap between his career wins with Park Chan-ho to nine wins. Above all, Darvish signed a six-year-$108 million (about 156.1 billion won) extension contract with San Diego in February 2023, so he was guaranteed active until the 2028 season as long as his health allowed him.
Therefore, if he added 10 wins in the three years guaranteed by the contract, he could become the new owner of the title 'Most wins for Asian pitchers in Major League Baseball ever'. If only five wins in a season like this year, there was a possibility of breaking the record around 2027.
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| 스포츠조선 DB |
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| 스포츠조선 DB |
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| 스포츠조선 DB |
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However, with this third elbow surgery, all of these plans became meaningless. Darvish's return to normal cannot be guaranteed. Even if the whole process goes smoothly, he will not return until 2027, when he is 41, but considering his age and injury history, it is unclear whether he will be able to enter the starting rotation.
Therefore, it can be evaluated that Darvish is very unlikely to surpass Park Chan-ho. We can weigh the probability that a pitcher in his 40s, who underwent a third elbow surgery, will enter the major league starting rotation.
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| 스포츠조선 DB |
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As a result, Park Chan-ho's record of 124 wins (98 losses) left when he retired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010 is likely to remain solid for the time being. Assuming that Darvish fails to add 10 wins and retires, no one will exceed Park Chan-ho's stronghold for about 10 years.
Currently, the active Asian pitcher with the second most wins after Darvish is Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers). Ohtani has 39 wins (20 losses) in six seasons as a pitcher. He has 86 fewer wins than Park Chan-ho.
Ohtani, who did not play as a pitcher for elbow surgery rehabilitation last year, prepared to return to the starting lineup by gradually increasing the number of innings this year. Starting next year, the starting rotation will begin in earnest. Assuming that Ohtani continues to play the starting rotation without injury and achieves an average of 10 wins every year, he can surpass Park Chan-ho's record after the next nine seasons. In the 2034 season, Ohtani may become the owner of the record of 'ML Asian pitcher wins'.
This is the story of `if every process goes smoothly.' Injuries may occur in the middle or there may be cases where the victory is not well taken care of. Then, Park's record can be firmly maintained for at least 10 years. The more I go through all the records, the more I can see how great a feat 'Korean Express' has been.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
