Park Gets Fatherly Advice

What’s wrong with Chan Ho Park?

That is the question of the moment in South Korea where that nation’s baseball fans are agonizing over the misfortunes of their favorite son.

Park is off to a 1-2 start with a 7.32 earned-run average after going 34-22 with a 3.64 ERA in his first three seasons. The low point came Friday night when he became the second pitcher in history and the first in 109 years to give up two grand slams in one inning.

Korean newspapers, calling it “the worst night of Park’s career,” ran detailed analysis of what has gone wrong with the 25-year-old pitcher.

One fan in particular stayed up all night, studying tapes of Park’s performance and then called the Korean pitcher to report his findings.

The pitcher listened intently to the caller.

It was his father Jae-Keun Park, calling from Kong-Su City.

What the elder Park discovered was that his son has abandoned the rising fastball that had proved so effective in the past.

Chan Ho said that his father is correct, that he has become too focused on keeping the ball down.

“I’m going to use more rising fastballs, up and down,” he said.

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Looking for pitching help, the Dodgers have signed Maddux.

Unfortunately for them, that’s Mike Maddux, not Greg.

Maddux, the 37-year-old brother of the Atlanta Brave ace, was signed to a minor-league contract by the Dodgers, who have assigned him to their class-A team in San Bernardino, the Stampede.

Maddux pitched for the Stampede on Sunday against the High Desert Mavericks, giving up three runs, two of them earned, and three hits in one inning with three strikeouts.

“We just want to make sure his arm is in shape,” said Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone. “He doesn’t have to go to [triple-A] Albuquerque. We probably won’t run him up the ladder. We will just keep him there [for now]. He doesn’t have anything to prove. I told him that there are no guarantees. But the way pitching is, not only in L.A. but in all of baseball, there is always a need for pitching.”

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For those who might wonder why Malone traded right-hander Dave Mlicki a week ago if he is concerned with pitching depth, the Dodger general manager stressed that he was talking about the bullpen, not the starting rotation.

“I love Dave Mlicki,” he said, “but he was a starter who needed three days off [after pitching]. We are talking about a man who can pitch every two or three days.”

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Another member of the San Bernardino staff is right-handed reliever Antonio Osuna, who is attempting to overcome a bone spur in his right elbow without surgery.

Osuna pitched one inning Sunday against the Mavericks, giving up an unearned run and two hits while striking out three.

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Fernando Tatis’ biggest fan may be Mark McGwire.

“I love it,” said McGwire of all the attention being heaped on Tatis after Friday night when Tatis became the first man in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same inning.

“The game of baseball is so much more than one person,” McGwire said. “After what happened last year, people always look to me.”

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This three-game series between the Dodgers and Cardinals drew 154,508, the highest total for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium since a series against the San Diego Padres in September of 1996 drew 159,541.