Tigers outfielder competes in postseason through wisdom tooth pain

Athletes are often willing to play through all sorts of pain, be it a creaky back or wonky knees, for important games.

But Kia Tigers outfielder Park Jung-woo is dealing with an unusual pain, despite his team being in the thick of the KBO postseason: a painful wisdom tooth on his right side.

“I wanted to get [the tooth] out right away, but apparently, [removing a wisdom tooth] is not a simple procedure,” he told reporters before the Tigers hosted the LG Twins in Game 2 of their best-of-five series in the KBO postseason. “So I’ve decided to take it out after the end of our postseason.”

Park missed the first game of the series on Saturday because he was under the weather. The flu spread through the Tigers clubhouse, and several players experienced high fevers in the days leading up to the postseason.

Park said that his fever might have made his wisdom tooth pain even worse and that he had difficulty eating.

With the Tigers leading the Twins 2-0 in the series and needing just one more win to advance to the next round, Park’s team appears to be at least several days away from the end of its season. And that suits him just fine, he said, as he would gladly trade a few more days of toothache for a long postseason run.

“[My tooth] hurts so much, but I think the later I pull it out, the better it will be [for me],” Park said with a smile. “I want to keep on playing in the postseason. Even if I’m hurting, I’ll still feel pretty good if we go all the way in the postseason.”

“Plus, I don’t think that it will hurt during games,” he continued. “As long as I don’t get hit in the chin by a pitch, I’ll keep on playing.”

Park is not yet a big star on a team with a few of them, but he is still a key part near the top of the lineup. He played a career-high 110 games this regular season and posted a strong on-base percentage of .403.

Manager Lee Bum-ho trusted the outfielder enough to put him in the leadoff spot on Sunday, tasking him with setting the table for sluggers such as Kim Do-yeong, Harold Castro and Na Sung-bum hitting behind him.

“I’m trying to temper my own expectations,” Park said. “Whenever I start believing too much in myself, I tend to get too loose on the field.”

Yonhap