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Much is revealed about Korean superstar baseball pitcher Dong-yeol Sun by his dragged-out decision not to enter the major leagues. Expectations of Sun's advancing to MLB, fueled by lots of wrong guesswork in this year of the millennium, were laid to rest with his comment, "I still want to challenge the major leagues, but I have decided not to," at a press conference held in Nagoya, Japan on January 21st, 2000.
The story of Sun's advancing to MLB was leaked at Las Vegas (the obligatory destination for Japanese series victors) by his agent Jin-won Park without Sun's consent.
At that time, he clung to his position, saying, "I am already retired." He admitted, however, that he was badly shaken when Poite Tevint, the East Asian Scouter for the Boston Red Sox, said on December 24th that "Boston needs Sun desperately, although he is retired." Sun said, "His comment caused me to rethink my retirement decision every 30 minutes."
The one-month flip-flop came to end at last with the first (and last) 3-way talk in Tokyo between Red Sox Scouter Tevint, Sun's agent Park, and Sun himself. We can understand Sun's decision to retire at very the moment of realizing his dream - becoming a major leaguer - on two grounds.
Firsly, Boston's way of bringing in him was in appropriate. Boston offered an 1+1 option (the contract is extended to a second year only if the first year record is satisfactory) to a retired man. Check ability first, make contract later. To the veteran who has made unthinkably great records, right at the point of retiring and planning a second period of his life, such an offer amounts to a general's serving as a private in the army.
Moreover, for a person who had painful experiences such as getting twice homered in a game and being sent to Japanese minor league (because of shortage of advance study about Japanese baseball, his mother's sudden death, journalists' obsessive coverage, etc.) guaranteeing two years is a minimum and indispensable condition. This 1+1 conditional option must have been a heavy burden for him.
Secondly, competing with his old friend, Samson Lee, in the Red Sox might have troubled him. If his position as a fireman were secured from the beginning, the competition would be less troublesome. But with his position decided through a competition like CBS TV show "Star Search", there's no doubt that the biggest victim would have been Samson Lee.
Though Samson says that he's content being a major leaguer, he did hard jobs for Sun - like being switched with Sun to give him a save point after Samson made 2 outs in the 9th inning. Since Boston's mighty fireman, Gordon, is disabled, it's a nice chance for Samson to take the fireman position as an underdog. But if Sun joined Boston, Samson could not avoid fighting with his Korean idol.
It appears that Sun, leaving his great career behind, will do administrative support in Korea to mediate disputes between Player's Association and KBO (Korea Baseball Organization) in his role as the greatest player ever in Korean history.