Park Byung-ho headlines Asiad roster

Park Byung-ho, the two-time reigning MVP in the Korea Baseball Organization, headlined the South Korean baseball roster for the upcoming Asian Games announced on Monday.

Park, the slugging first baseman for the Nexen Heroes, was among the 24 players named to represent the country on home soil when the western metropolitan city of Incheon hosts the Asian Games from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

Ryu Joong-il, manager of the three-time defending KBO champ Samsung Lions, will manage South Korea, the reigning Asian Games baseball champ. He announced the roster of 11 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders at the KBO headquarters in Seoul.

Park, 28, won the league MVP in 2012 and 2013, and is a strong candidate to win another one this year. He led the league in homers in both of the past two years and is in first place this year also, with 31 homers, only six shy of his career high set last year.

Park was a controversial snub for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He was left off in favor of veterans such as Lee Seung-yuop of the Samsung Lions, despite coming off his first MVP season.

For South Korean male athletes, in baseball or other sports, the Asian Games and the Olympics present a huge carrot in the form of exemptions from their mandatory military service. An Asian Games gold or a medal of any color at the Olympics excuses them from two-plus years in the armed forces. (Yonhap)