WASHINGTON – Byung Ho Park dressed quickly Friday. He was one of the first players in the Twins dugout, where he stood and watched the Nationals take batting practice. Friday's 4-3 spring training loss at Nationals Park was the first time he had ever swung a bat in an American major league stadium, and he was clearly taking it all in.
"Biggest stadium," he nodded, gesturing toward the 41,000-capacity seating bowl. "Bigger than Korea."
But the South Korean slugger should have no problem fitting in to his new surroundings, manager Paul Molitor said.
"The regular season is different for everybody. For him, it's going to be a change — these ballparks, the atmosphere, day in and day out the quality of pitching he's going to see," Molitor said. "I don't think he's overly fazed by the size of the park. He commented to me the Korean parks aren't very good, period. I think he's going to enjoy playing in these parks."
Why D.C.?
The Twins normally close their spring schedule in Fort Myers, Fla., playing the Red Sox on the final couple of days, whether at Hammond Stadium or up the road at JetBlue Park.
But they got word late last summer that their usual matchup wouldn't be available. The Red Sox had been invited to Montreal to face the Blue Jays in a pair of games that sell 50,000 tickets apiece at Olympic Stadium.
That left few options for finishing close to home. Tampa Bay, which trains in nearby Port Charlotte, opens the season Sunday and didn't want to play Saturday. The Pirates, headquartered in Bradenton, had a game scheduled for Class AAA Indianapolis.
"We didn't want to play the Orioles [in Sarasota] because we open the season with them. And you don't want to take long bus rides at the end of camp," said Bill Smith, the former general manager who now is in charge of Twins scheduling. "So we were left without anyone local to play."
