Doosan Bears catcher Park Yoo-yeon, who hid the fact without reporting to the club even after being caught drunk driving, eventually faced an irreversible catastrophe. Doosan Bears made a cool-headed decision to release the player, believing that they could no longer accompany the player who made the mistake. The Doosan Bears team decided to release catcher Park Yoo-yeon after holding a disciplinary committee meeting on the 13th.
It was a preemptive measure taken by Doosan. Although the Korea Baseball Organization’s reward and punishment committee has yet to be held, Doosan took swift action and eventually took out the card of release, which is the biggest punishment for a player. 메이저 토토사이트
Park was caught drunk driving last September. A graduate of Hwajeong Elementary School, Dongsan Middle School and Dongsan High School in Gwangju, Park was the 60th overall player of the Doosan Bears in the sixth round in the second rookie draft in 2017. In the 2017 season, his first year after joining the team, he played in three games and recorded one hit and two strikeouts from three times at bat. As Yang Eui-ji, the main catcher, was injured at the end of June that year, Park was called up to the first team and took the opportunity. And his first hit was in the ninth inning against Hanwha in Daejeon on July 1.
Park was registered as a member of the first team in the 2018 season, but did not get the chance to play. After the end of the season, he applied to join the military of Sangmu, but failed to make the final list of successful applicants. In the 2019 season, he played in two games and recorded no hit in one at bat.
Although he did not stand out in the first division, he was a catcher who consistently performed well for three years in the Futures League. In 2017, he played in 52 games in the Futures League with a batting average of 0.243 (17 hits in 70 at-bats), four homers, six doubles, 13 RBIs, eight runs scored, a slugging percentage of 0.500, and an on-base percentage of 0.321. In 2018, he played 43 games and recorded his first batting average of .300 (0.305, 29 hits in 95 at-bats), recording three homers, 12 doubles, one triple, 21 RBIs, 19 runs, three steals, and 13 strikeouts with 19 walks, 0.547 slugging percentage and 0.4222 on-base percentage. In 2019, he then joined the military as an active member to fulfill his duty as a national defense officer, after recording a batting average of .290 (29 hits in 100 at-bats), three homers, two doubles, 13 RBIs, 13 runs scored, 11 walks, 20 strikeouts, and a slugging percentage of 0.410 and an on-base percentage of 0.372.
After being discharged from the military service, he joined the Futures League in 14 games, recording a batting average of 0.115 (three hits from 26 times at bat). In 2022, Park began to appear in the first division again. In 13 games in the 2022 season, he posted a batting average of 0.235 (four hits from 17 times at bat) with two RBIs, one walk and five strikeouts. Still, he spent far more time in the Futures League. In the same year, he played in 61 games, the largest number of games in his career, posting a batting average of 0.235 (42 hits from 179 times at bat) with six homers and two doubles, 25 RBIs, 17 runs scored, and a slugging percentage of 0.391 with 42 strikeouts and a on-base percentage of 0.303 with 17 walks. Still, he showed off strong potential by consistently hitting home runs in the Futures League.
As Doosan recruited Yang Eui-ji again ahead of the 2023 season, Park competed with Jang Seung-hyun and Ahn Seung-han as backup catchers. However, it was not enough to get many opportunities right away. Eventually, he played in only 10 games in the first division this season, receiving a report card of 0.267 batting average (four hits in 15 at-bats), two doubles and one RBI and four strikeouts. In this year’s Futures League, he recorded a batting average of 0.234 (30 hits in 128 at-bats), seven homers and six doubles, 20 RBIs, 22 runs scored, 21 walks, and a slugging percentage of 0.342 with 23 strikeouts, while never making a single error.
However, his life was completely changed when he was caught drunk driving in late September. When he went on the injured list in early September, he was removed from the first team entry and was in the rehabilitation group. Then, he was caught drunk driving in late September. According to a Doosan official, Park was behind the wheel the next morning after drinking alcohol. However, he was caught in a police crackdown on drunk driving. His blood alcohol level was equivalent to a 100-day suspension of his driver’s license.
Park was a professional baseball player with the Doosan Bears. He should have told the club that he was caught drunk. However, he hid the fact without reporting it to the club. Eventually, the situation got out of hand when a report on Park’s drunk driving came to Doosan’s office. After learning the facts, Doosan held an interview with Park. At the same time, it reported to KBO Clean Baseball Center. Doosan did the best it could after the meeting with Park. “Due to bylaws, we decided to release Park.”
Recently, the baseball community is responding to drunk driving with zero tolerance. More than anything else, there was a very similar case before Park Yeon-woo’s drunk driving, but he overlooked it. This is the case of Bae Young-bin (23), an infielder with the Lotte Giants. Through an internal disciplinary committee on April 16, Lotte announced that it had decided to leave the team after failing to report him voluntarily after he was caught drunk driving. Lotte was also firm. “We recognized the drunk driving violation and the concealing act that he did not report as a serious matter,” a Lotte official said.
Bae Young-bin called a chauffeur service around 1 a.m. after drinking with his acquaintances in Seoul in late October. Bae Young-bin was caught driving 300 meters to pull his car to the roadside, judging that it would be difficult for the chauffeur to come into the alley. Bae Young-bin also had to report this to Lotte’s club immediately, but he did not. Eventually, the club recognized the fact that he was caught drunk driving and reported it to the KBO Clean Baseball Center after confirming it. Earlier this year, Lotte imposed the highest level of punishment: release, as it was forced to be more sensitive to lies due to pitcher Seo Joon-won (23)’s crime against minors.
DUI is no longer tolerated by professional players, creating a social atmosphere. According to the KBO regulations, a suspension of 70 games is imposed, a one-year disqualification for a driver’s license revocation, a five-year disqualification for a driver’s license twice, and a permanent disqualification for a driver’s license three or more times. After being revoked, Bae was given a one-year disqualification from playing in the 2024 season by the KBO. No, the player’s life itself is in danger. If other clubs refuse to accept him, he will effectively have to go through forced retirement.
Rather, Park Yoo-yeon was suspended from his license, which was weaker than Bae Young-bin. Nevertheless, Doosan showed strict punishment for releasing Park without holding her. The same goes for Lotte. Both Park Yoo-yeon and Bae Young-bin were evaluated as resources that could have established themselves in the first division in the future, so the shock was even greater. The two baseball lives, which were covered up due to the one-minute choice, fell into the abyss due to a single moment’s choice.
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