The Chan Ho Park Drop Kick

June 5th, 1999, Dodgers vs. Angels

When you hear the phrase “disproportionate response,” you tend to think someone is talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or the escalation of World War II. But a surprising amount of disproportionate responses can be brought to your attention while watching baseball. Some of these things are entertaining, some are distrubing, and some are just downright confusing.

You’re left asking yourself, “Why, exactly, did that just happen?”

For example, during a Yankees-Mariners game a few years back, Ichiro was caught in between first and second base. As Ichiro ran toward second, Derek Jeter, ball in hand, ran toward Ichiro and was just a few feet away from tagging him. Ichiro, knowing he was dead in the water, veered sharply left and ran off the field. Ichiro was immediately called out for leaving the basepath, and Jeter was left holding the ball with a weird smile on his face. Sure, Jeter is a somewhat controversial figure, and many fans (and presumably some players) don’t like the sanctimonious treatment he receives, but is he really so detestable as to drive Ichiro straight into the dugout, simply by approaching him?

When asked to comment after the game, Ichiro brushed it off as, “I don’t like to make physical contact when it can easily be avoided.” But considering the cultural differences brought to light by Chan Ho Park in June of 1999, should we have really been surprised that Ichiro didn’t want to be tagged out?

————————-

Earlier in the game, Park had thrown near the head of Angels’ 2B Randy Velarde TWICE. As George W. Bush famously said, “Fool me once, shame on….shame on you. Fool me – can’t get fooled again.” Or, in terms more easily understood by baseball fans (and the English-speaking world), “Once is a mistake, twice is a message.”

Velarde didn’t retaliate, even though I’m sure he got the message, and the brushbacks went (relatively) unnoticed by those watching the game. Maybe Park just temporarily lost his control. It happens to the best of us.

But when Park came to the plate in the 5th inning, a sacrifice bunt, NOT an errant pitch, would become the beginning of one of the most memorable fights in baseball history. Angels pitcher Tim Belcher fielded the ball cleanly, and tagged Park half-way up the baseline. Park apparently felt the tag was “too hard,” and after a brief exchange of words, Park threw a forearm in the general direction of Belcher’s head before unleashing a flying dropkick to Belcher’s midsection. Belcher essentially caught Park in midair and slammed him to the ground.

The benches and bullpens cleared, but no further violence occurred. Park was ejected, and Belcher was allowed to stay in the game.

Was Park really THAT offended by the tag? After all, he DID throw at Velarde’s head twice, and Belcher chose not to throw at Park. But, then agan, Belcher knew Park was going to give himself up as an easy out; Belcher would have been crazy to hit him, so maybe a hard tag was his only chance at extracting revenge.

Sure, there was probably a little “extra” on the tag, but certainly not enough to warrant being dropkicked, right?

This begs the question: Is a dropkick ever really warranted?

Baseball fights tend to have several unwritten rules. Chief among them is: “No bats, no helmets, no kicking. We settle this with fastballs and/or fists.”

But maybe that’s only American baseball. Maybe in Ichiro’s native Japan, it’s acceptable for players to run off the field in avoidance of a tag; as if tagging a player directly is some kind of cultural faux pas. Maybe in Park’s native South Korea, a dropkick is a perfectly reasonable way to react to a tag.

When viewed in this light, it’s very possible that Ichiro avoided the tag to avoid an international incident. The Pride of Japanese Baseball dropkicking The Pride of American Baseball. I can see the headlines.

Maybe Park was defending his honor back home. You don’t want to head back to South Korea with everyone knowing you were tagged directly.

Shameful.

————————-

Regardless of the possible (however unlikely) cultural differences that caused this conflict, Park clearly overreacted here, and his dropkick ultimately landed him on the All-Time List Of Disproportionate Responses.

Even if it was pretty awesome to watch.

And it was pretty awesome. Just look at that picture.