Pretty wild situation reported by Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports (Via BBTF):

Less than an hour after the Dodgers and San Diego Padres played to a 3-3 tie at Wukesong Stadium on Saturday in the first Major League game in China, a group of about 40 fans of Korean descent converged at the door of the Dodgers clubhouse as Park exited, wanting their longtime national hero and countryman to sign balls, jerseys and caps.

Park, who started for the Dodgers and allowed one run in five innings, tried to oblige but was blocked by a string of green-clad guards, who locked arms and would not allow the pitcher to greet the fans. The boisterous fans pressed against the officers and Park became visibly upset, for several minutes refusing to board the Dodgers bus until having a chance to sign the items.

“These Korean people came a long way to see me and to get my autograph,” Park said. “I’m not leaving without signing at least a few things.”

This is a fascinating little exchange and there are a lot of different possibilities as to what was actually going on. I’m wondering if these were Korean fans from Korea, or ethnic Koreans from China. I’m guessing the former since there seems to have been some miscommunication between the guards and fans.

But it also sounds like there was some national pride being thrown around, probably by both sides.

The officers were not aggressive, but they wouldn’t budge, either. Park was just as stubborn, behaving as if national pride was at stake. Like the game, it was a stalemate.

I think it’s a little bit exciting that Park Chan-ho fans were being so adamant about seeing their national hero, who is unexpectedly playing well at the moment, and has an outside chance of pulling off a fairly remarkable comeback.

Of course, if the Korean fans were drunk off their asses, and I think there’s a a fair chance that was the case, then it’s a different story entirely. There’s been nothing about this in the Korean media, so far as I’ve seen.

In the game Park pitched five innings and allowed no earned runs. His scoreless streak is now up to 12 innings during spring training. Unfortunately for Park,  Esteban Loaiza has also pitched well this spring, and would probably get the nod over Park as the Dodgers 5th starter. But there’s still more baseball to be played. Park has a small chance.