Ex-player wants one more shot

As a new baseball season approaches, Cho Seong-min, a former Korean baseball player who has lately been known more for his marital problems, refuses to give up on his attempt to return to the game.
The 31-year-old former Yomiuri Giants player is overcoming a nagging injury to his right elbow, as well as a bumpy marriage that has been plastered all over the sports tabloids for the past two years.
He was married to actress Choi Jin-sil in December 2001, but the couple have now separated.
The right-handed pitcher played for the Giants in Tokyo from 1996 to 2002. He was released with one year left on his eight-year contract so he could receive treatment for his injured elbow.
Mr. Cho’s first comeback attempt was last April, when he made himself available for the draft. At that time, no team showed enough interest to make a contract offer.
Starting this month, Mr. Cho is once again knocking on baseball’s door as he conditions himself at a health club in Dogok-dong.
The former player says that his sole reason for living is to get back into the game. Mr. Cho desperately wants a chance to once again stand on the mound.
Being a baseball player requires self-discipline and the ability to tolerate physical pain. Mr. Cho said he was determined to take his aging body through yet another grueling phase of conditioning even though it’s been two years since he left the sport. He said he would continue to work out and prepare just for the opportunity to play one more time.
“I really mean it,” he said.

by Lee Tae-il, Brian Lee