Bucs’ Kang ‘sorry’ about suspended 2-year jail sentence
SEOUL, South Korea – Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang received a suspended two-year prison sentence for fleeing the scene after crashing a car into a guardrail while driving under the influence of alcohol.
The sentence handed down Friday by the Seoul Central District Court was a heavier punishment than the 1$13,000 fine prosecutors had sought, but still clears the 29-year-old Kang to join the Pirates for the baseball season.
“I am sorry, and I am repenting a lot,” Kang said after the ruling.
Kang was previously fined twice on drunk driving-related charges in 2009 and 2011. He is in the third year of a four-year, $11 million contract he signed with Pittsburgh in 2015 after a stellar eight-year career in South Korean professional baseball.
Pirates president Frank Coonelly said in a statement Friday that the team will work to secure Kang’s work visa and sit down with him before deciding whether to discipline Kang.
“We look forward to meeting with Jung Ho as soon as he is able to travel to the United States and having a serious discussion with him on this issue and how he has and will change those behaviors that led to the very serious punishment that has been levied against him in Korea,” Coonelly said.
According to police, Kang didn’t stop after driving a rented BMW into a guardrail at about 3 a.m. while returning to his Seoul hotel in December. The crash damaged the guardrail and the car. Police said Kang’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crash would have been 0.08 percent, which is above the country’s 0.05 percent legal limit.
Last summer, a 23-year-old woman said she was sexually assaulted by Kang at a hotel in Chicago. He has not been charged.
Kang had 21 home runs and 62 RBIs in 103 games in 2016 during his second season in the majors.
Pirates 5, Orioles 2: Baltimore’s Wade Miley gave up four runs, three earned, and five hits in one inning, leaving after Elias Diaz’s liner hit off his left forearm and ribcage.
Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole allowed two hits in two scoreless innings Friday, and Tyler Glasnow gave up one run, three hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings. David Freese had a two-run single in the first and Phil Gosselin went 3 for 3 with an RBI.
Hyun Soo Kim had a pair of hits.