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Ex-MLB pitcher Park Chan-ho gives to Vietnamese youth team

June 23, 2015

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho (fourth from left, second row) poses with members of a Vietnamese youth baseball club, Hanoi Capitals, during his visit on June 19, 2015, in this photo provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) — Former Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho gave equipment and a free lesson to a youth club in Vietnam, informed sources said Monday.

Park, a goodwill ambassador for the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, met with the Hanoi-based club Hanoi Capitals last Friday, and offered them gloves and cleats, the sources said, adding the former right-hander also gave a brief clinic.

The EDCF is a state fund launched in 1987 and is designed to help less-developed countries by giving loans with low interest rates. The Export-Import Bank of Korea, the state-run lender, is in charge of administrative operation of the EDCF.

“I hope to see great players come out of the Hanoi Capitals,” the bank quoted Park as saying. “I wish them the best of luck at youth tournaments in Japan and China this July and August. They’re playing in difficult environments, but if they keep at it with passion, they will leave their mark in Vietnamese baseball.”

Park, 41, became the first South Korean to play in the majors when he debuted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994. He pitched in parts of 17 seasons with seven different teams in the bigs and earned 124 career wins, more than any other Asian-born pitcher.