March 3: Pirates president Frank Coonelly has issued a statement on Kang’s sentencing, via press release, which reads as follows:
“Now that Jung Ho’s legal case in Korea has concluded, we will continue to work with him and his representatives in an effort to secure his work visa so that he may resume his career as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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. We will withhold judgment on what Club discipline, if any, is appropriate until we have had an opportunity to have that discussion. We will also withhold from further comment until we have an opportunity to meet with Jung Ho. Regardless of our decision on the disciplinary issue, we will do everything that we can as an organization to assist Jung Ho as he works to change his behavior and grow into the man that we know he can be.”
March 2: Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang has been sentenced in the DUI case in which he admitted guilt, as Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News reports. Kang received an eight-month sentence, but it has been suspended for two years, clearing the way for him to return to Pirates’ camp.
Kang can avoid any jail time if he does not violate the terms of the suspended sentence. He has two prior DUI arrests in his native South Korea, though still managed to stay clear of a prison this time around. Whether or not he’ll face any discipline from Major League Baseball remains to be seen.
Clearly, there’s a broader issue of maturity at play here for Kang, who has endangered others with his poor decisionmaking. He has also been accused in the United States of sexual assault, though it’s not clear at present whether those allegations have any merit, and whether there’s any chance of prosecution.
On the baseball side of the ledger, there’s no doubting Kang’s importance to the Pirates. The 29-year-old has been a steady producer when healthy, providing Pittsburgh with a cumulative .273/.355/.483 batting line and 36 home runs over 837 plate appearances over the past two seasons. The Bucs guaranteed Kang just $11MM in total for his four-year deal, which also includes a $5.5MM club option for 2019.
What a punk.
i don’t care if he is a baseball player if he has two prior DUI’s he should serve some jail time
Its in south korea, so it doesn’t really mean anything in the US.
It doesn’t mean something?? Really?? In terms of the legality of it, correct. In terms of being an absolute disgrace to your organization and city, you are 100% wrong
The image of the mlb it does. They will hand out their form
The MLB are not the law. They deal in baseball, not criminal justice.
They can issue a suspension if they want, but seeing as this is a USA/Canada based organization and this is a South Korean matter, they may choose not to intervene.
I always felt it was wrong when the MLB suspends players who are acquitted or the charges are dropped in US court.
Basically, you’re guilty even if proven innocent by MLB rules and I’d like to see them let the judicial system take care of punishments, thats what its there for.
If a player has to miss work due to court or legal issues than this is the only time I see fair to issue punishment, just like any other job.
I wouldn’t be punished at work for having legal trouble as long as it didn’t interfere.
Seems like a breach of privacy to share these players legal troubles to the public before they are found guilty.
He was found guilty. As an employer why would you care what country they committed the crime in. Hey you did PEDs overseas but no worries you didn’t do it in the US or CA so no worries. See how ludicrous that sounds. Other non-athletes have had their work visas revoked for DUI conviction.s. This is his 3rd DUI. Also convictions are public record so how is it a breach of privacy?
Not to mention a sexual assault allegation, which has not been proven, but is a very serious matter. I think discipline by the club is in order, or he needs to be released. Is baseball ($) more important than maturation, being a decent human being, or sending the right message to kids (honestly the real fans)? And really 3 DUIs?? Yeah dude should be cut loose!
Legally it doesn’t, but do you think he only drinks and drives in Korea and is a model citizen while living in the US!?!?! MLB should give him the PED suspension at minimum, steroids might be cheating but they’re not risking the lives of innocent people like drunk driving does.
Well-said. I hate how the MLB and NFL punish substance abuse harsher than things that effect others (DUIs, domestic violence, etc.)
He shouldn’t be allowed to drink at all or get kicked out of the team and sent back to South Korea
As a huge Pirates fan, he should be punished in some form. 15-30 games. You also aren’t going to give him the PED suspension…for not using PEDs. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. He’s had one DUI while playing for the Pirates. You can’t hold past behaviors against him. The sexual assault thing is certainly troubling but he’s innocent until proven guilty. Nothing much has come from that since it broke last summer. You can’t suspend a guy for something nobody can prove he did. Look no further than the Duke Lacrosse case for why you can’t just start accusing athletes of things.
If he doesn’t get any punishment from MLB, I’ll understand it. It’s not their job to be a judicial system. If you had two DUI’s in your past and get a third while working in another country, do you think your place of employment should suspend you or dock you pay? I certainly don’t. Athletes aren’t gods and shouldn’t be held to some morally higher ground than the rest of us. But if they give him anywhere between 10-30 games (30 seems extreme), I certainly won’t disagree with it.
yeah give everyone who drinks a ped suspension. Even though ped means performance enhancing drug and I can’t think of any way that drinking would actually benefit a players’ performance. But toats give him the PED suspension, well, cuz! /s
It’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard because you actually think I’m calling alcohol a PED… I meant give him 50 games… Putting people’s lives at risk is worse than taking steroids in my book.
Speaking of dumbest things anyone’s heard… You say you can’t suspend someone no one can prove he did when it clearly says he admitted guilt in the first line of this article… So what is there to prove?
As far as holding athletes to higher standards… Do you think the average Joe gets the sentencing he got? We as fans may hold athletes to a higher moral standard because they make millions for playing games and we feel they should be heroes, but how many times do you see athletes do something and the charges disappear or they get off easy. It may not be fair but it comes with the territory.
I question why US immigration would feel compelled to let him stay in the country considering his multiple DUIs in Korea and then getting accused of sexual assault here
because he has no felony convictions in the united states yet and we still have that whole ‘innocent until proven guilty’ thing in place
i know, i know… the Constitution is such an outdated and inconvenient thing
Yup, 3 DUI’s for me or you means actual jail time. My buddy did 30 days on his 2nd one. Definitely a different standard if you got money or fame
I wasn’t talking about the DUI. I meant the sexual assault thing is literally nothing but heresy. That shouldn’t play into any form of punishment.
And of course you’re going to see athletes get reduced charges or dropped charges more than your average joe…they’re public. I don’t know what happened to Mike Smith from Topeka Kansas after his second DUI. News doesn’t report the average joe punishment.
And if anyone holds an athlete to a higher standard and expectation, that’s going to turn into nothing but disappointment for them. I believe he does deserve some punishment. But you can’t suspend a guy 50 games for something that’s happened one time during an MLB tenure. It’s like any other job. Your job isn’t going to suspend you a third of the year because of something criminal, that has nothing to do with your job. If you work at WalMart and get caught stealing from Macy’s, WalMart isn’t suspending you. The justice system and something that happens in the workplace are different things. And MLB is just that, a workplace.
That pesky Constitution with all its silly Rights and what not. Unless he’s charged and convicted under due process in the US then he’s technically innocent. You and I may not like the guy or disagree with his alleged offenses, but we don’t live in Cuba, China or North Korea. We have rights.
And the court of public opinion doesn’t get to make laws all Willy nilly. The people who want to punish him in the US are probably the same people who are OK with millions of people who are breaking our laws everyday because they just know better. Pfffft
No, we are saying he is a criminal alien and if he didnt have an ‘extraordinary’ skill with the bat/glove he would have been barred at the border. As such he should be deported.
How much experience do you have with the legal process in South Korea? None I suspect so to make claims that they let athletes off easy seems baseless on your part.
I don’t understand this argument at all. It isn’t the MLB’s job to hand out the punishment for crimes committed outside the confines of baseball. Sure, they can, and they should, because they have an image to maintain, but it’s like saying the company I work for should punish me more for a DUI outside of work than for cheating at my job.
Really hope you’re being sarcastic
Guys I’m pretty sure he means give them a suspension similar to the PED system when it comes to DUIs, you do PEDs 3 times in the MLB and you’re banned for life, should be a similar rule for things like DUIs or domestic violence with hopefully an even harsher punishment because those are much worse things to do as a human being than cheat at a sport.
1 DUI is sufficient grounds to prevent entry in either USA or Canada. So many double standards in our society. Meanwhile Joe Blow would get bowled over for this.
He was almost the legal limit in the U.S.
He was under it.
I don’t think that’s right. Tribune reported he was at .084:
twitter.com/BiertempfelTrib/status/804482901698088…
The legal limit varies from state to state.
It seems like he’s getting special treatment here somewhat
Just give him time and he will screw up again after all the dust settles from this offense. That will surely expose that he has a problem. I honestly hope he doesn’t cos he is a very talented player with tremendous skills.
How do you figure? Are you familiar with South Korean criminal proceedings and average sentencing?
Obviously not, but the 2 year suspension of the term seems like it’s just so he can continue to play baseball.
Suspended sentences are pretty common in the US as well. Keep you nose clean and you are fine but do something else and you get the suspended sentence plus the sentence for whatever the new violation was.
Ah ok. Thanks.
Absolutely disgusting. Just proves that with money you can get away with anything. Now The Pirates will more than likely welcome him back with open arms and act like nothing ever happened. No matter your status, if you are a big enough idiot to drink and drive, you deserve to be in jail.
This is for the South Korean justice system to decide.
If it were in the USA, he would likey be locked up already after this many offenses. Depending on what state you’re in.
If he were in the US for the offenses, he might not have been over the legal limit (it is only 0.05 in South Korea).
It’s been reported that he was at .084. So he’d be over the limit in any US state.
For this offense. What was his BAC on the other two?
With the amount of money he’s making, hire a driver or use Uber. = (
Is Uber in Korea?
No in the South, definitely in the North with rock bottom prices.
So what happens when he gets in a car wreck when he’s driving d ink and kills someone?
Manslaughter
If it were to occur the U.S. For example, he would either get charged with involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide, depending on the jurisdiction he is in, and also the circumstances of the crash itself. Both of those crimes are pretty serious though.
Depends on whether he can get the passenger into the driver’s seat before the police arrive.
I wish these guys would take notice of the recent deaths of some of their MLB peers and stop this. It usually doesn’t end well.
Ok. Guys who haven’t never had a couple of drinks and driven. Say all you want. But the rest of us, just call us lucky.
Most of the people on here have probably driven over the limit.
Maybe so. But how many times must he have driven drunk to get busted three times for it? Obviously, he’s not just unlucky.
Alright, Pirates. The ball is in your court. Do the right thing and suspend him yourselves.
Two words.. Players Union
Players union didn’t stop Reyes and Chapman from being suspended. And rightfully so.
The Yankees and Mets didn’t suspend their own player though. He’s impying Pirates should
The commissioner of baseball assessed those suspensions under the domestic violence portion of MLB rules agreed upon by the league and the MLBPU. Please learn things before commenting.
Your point is correct, except it was the Rockies that Reyes was with at the time. Not the Mets.
Ah yeah. My bad.
He is a looooser. No mention of his charge for sexual assault in the States. If I were the Pirates I would release him and if the Donald was serious about Dangerous Immigrants he would have him deported pronto.
Third paragraph. Pretty clearly mentioned.
Good lord, you actually referred to him as “the Donald” doesn’t that make you throw up in your mouth a bit?
Yep, I throw up on my shoes very time I see or hear him.
I’m just curious as to where we draw the line between what off-field offenses demand an automatic MLB suspension (e.g. domestic abuse) and which ones don’t (e.g. third DUI arrest)?
I agree but I find it extremely unfair to punish players who have either been found innocent or charges dropped.
The punishment should be parallel with the legal system.
Everyone’s opinion is right on here.
But you’re missing something.
BOTTOM LINE. The judge didn’t do his job. If we did this we would lose our license for at least a year.
If the judge found he was eligible for doing time, make him do the time.
This would be an example to all the other players. But now, they now know they CAN get away with it.
Only if they commit the crime in South Korea and I would bet money that the league will hand out a suspension of some sort
if we did this in South Korea we all may face the same exact penalty because we’d be subject to South Korean law and they may do the sentencing a bit different than we do… i dont know and i’m guessing most of the commenters here don’t either.
So yeah, if you wanna be our guinea pig, go to SK, get hammered, then go out for a drive….
(you seem to be the one missing the part about this being a South Korean court, not an American.)
Little recreational weed in your system? 50 games suspension… 3rd DUI, 1st while with mlb, no ban, lol.
Just wait, it’ll come
when was the last time MLB was quick to issue a suspension for anything? The Union will fight anything it can argue as arbitrary, which is why MLB seems so slow and deliberate about everything.
Give the League some credit for brains have a little patience. the Courts have had their say, now MLB starts the process of determining punishment (if any). They’ve got a month before the season starts and any suspension is put into effect anyway.
mlb players don’t get tested for weed.
Players are tested for “drugs of abuse” (see section 2A for list, including Natural Cannibinoids, which is the first substance listed). If there is any reasonable cause that a player has used, possessed, sold, or distributed any drug of abuse, they player can be made to enter a testing program within 24hours.
mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf
Miguel Cabrera literally fell out of his car screaming at police officers holding a bottle of tequila and nothing happened. MLB needs to view DUI’s the exact same as domestic violence and way harsher than PED’s. MLB already has dealt with so much tragedy at the hands of drunk drivers, and it’s totally insulting to the legacies of guys like Nick Adenhart that they continue to not view DUI’s even as seriously as PED’s.
When you drink and drive you put every person near you at risk of death. Dont take this the wrong way, but if anyone wanted to argue DUI’s (effects any human within a radius of the car) are actually worse than domestic violence (only effects the family) and PED’s (only effects one person) I wouldn’t say anything.
I agree completely.
I understand the PEDs vs. DUI thing though. PEDs directly effect the league and competiveness or whatever, so MLB has a much easier time explaining/compromising/whatevering that one one with the union. In order to start suspending players for DUIs they’d likely have to have an agreement with the union like they did for domestic violence.
Should they do that, or at least start work in getting it? Yes. is it long over due? yes. Is it as easy as the league just saying ‘you drink and drive = suspension”? probably not.
So shut down all the bars and put a cop at the door of every liquor store…
This is not a hard problem to solve – problem is that most solutions make the modern day Al Capone very rich…
Nobody said anything even remotely like that. All anybody wants is for people who break the law and endanger others be held accountable for their actions. Or do you not believe in consequences?
Have you ever gotten in a car after having a beer or a glass of wine – if never then you are awesome -,most people have and have not been caught…
Do some research-a .086 is three drinks in an hour for a 200 pound man – which Kang is…
He would have been just as impaired had he not slept for 24 hours
How about, as a functioning, law abiding adult, you spring for $7 and get an Uber when you drink instead of getting behind the wheel of a car?
Or, if you make millions of dollars, Maybe you call a cab?
Or a limo?
Or a cab built inside a limo with strippers and a wet bar?
MLB’s policy (or lack thereof) about DUI is absurd and hypocritical. It is an issue just as important as domestic violence and should be treated as such.
Trouble is following Kang everywhere, he obviously has a serious issue and the top priority seems to be getting him back into the states and to training camp.
He sounds like a guy who needs to be in some form of rehab.
Still, it was something the judge should have taken care of.
Loved reading these comments- very entertaining….
There are some REALLY stupid people out there…
Joe Girardi always drives drunk and he never gets in trouble…
I’ll be serving free kimchi margaritas for special customers in Wrigleyville when the Pirates are in town.
I don’t mean anything against Kang but the one thing major sports needs is when someone does something wrong is to make an example out of them. In other words if you give them the harshest punishment you can then these things will stop. Athletes are supposed to be role models for kids and if allowing them to get away with this means kids will want to be an athlete just to be above the law
See the wisdom of Charles Barkley on the role model thing…
I he was a 3 time loser in Ontario, he would be in the slammer, he would be paying a crippling fine, and his drivers license would be suspended for life.. Let’s just hope he doesn’t kill someone.
MLB has a domestic violence policy, and this should be another area where they impose discipline.
And what about the real victim here….that sick black BMW he wrecked….that car was bad A$$
A leopard does not change its spots. The Pirates had best draw a clear line in the sand and prepare to act on same – grow up, Kang, and do so quickly.
I’d like to here from someone with knowledge of the South Korean legal system – everyone else is ignorant for commenting. No one cares about your opinions.
Thank you for sharing your opinion.
And what makes your opinion the only one that matters?
He was the color commentator on Wipeout for a couple years
The league and the Pirates should be ensuring that he receives whatever resources are possible regarding his problem behavior. I’m not going to sit here and assume that he’s an alcoholic, but his repeated drunk driving instances are a serious issue that should be treated with rehabilitation. If they suspend him, it’s pointless unless he’s also getting counseling and other relevant assistance as a condition of his reinstatement at the suspension’s end.
BS!!! Serve his 8 month sentence then apply for entry into US like any one else.
They should’ve made him do the time immediately none suspension BS
Korea idiot – they do their law their way – this is normal outcome from the reports I have read…
Shame you decided to just spout stupidity instead of doing a little reading and researching.
To think my autopick just drafted this guy in fantasy…..