Park settles lawsuit with ex-teammate Chad Kreuter

Pitcher Park Chan-ho has settled a lawsuit he filed against a former Major League Baseball teammate over an unpaid loan, a court clerk in Los Angeles said Thursday.

According to City News Service in Los Angeles, the terms of the settlement between Park and Chad Kreuter, once Park’s catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, were not disclosed. The two were battery mates on the Dodgers in 2000 and 2001.

Park filed the suit at the Los Angeles Superior Court in December 2009, accusing Kreuter of failing to fully repay a $460,000 loan.

Park claimed he loaned Kreuter the $460,000 in October 2005 and it was to be repaid with interest a year later. The pitcher said Kreuter only paid back $290,000 in April 2007 and the unpaid balance at the time of his filing amounted to $281,869, including interest.

Park, 37, has signed to play for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan this year for $1.2 million plus up to $1 million in incentives, ending his 17-year Major League career. In 1994, Park became the first Korean to play in the majors.

Park enjoyed his best seasons in the U.S. with Kreuter as his catcher, winning a career-high 18 games in 2000 and then 15 games with a career-best 218 strikeouts in 2001. He also made the All-Star team in 2001.

Kreuter, who spent three of his 16 major league seasons with the Dodgers, retired in 2003.

Yonhap