Kia Tigers’ Park Jung-woo delays wisdom tooth removal during KBO postseason
The outfielder says he wants to keep playing despite pain that has made eating difficult, and plans to have the tooth removed after Kia’s postseason run.
Kia Tigers outfielder Park Jung-woo said before an Oct. 18 postseason game against the LG Twins in Gwangju, South Korea, that he plans to delay removal of a painful wisdom tooth so he can keep playing while his team remains in contention, according to Yonhap News Agency. Park said he had wanted the tooth, on his right side, removed immediately but understood the procedure was not simple.
The pain has made eating difficult, Park told reporters before Game 2 of Kia’s best-of-five Korea Baseball Organization series against LG. He said a fever might have made the tooth pain worse. Yonhap reported that Park missed Game 1 because he was under the weather and that a flu bug had affected several Kia players in the days before the series.
Why Park wants to keep playing
Park said he would have the tooth removed after Kia’s postseason ends. ‘This hurts so much but I think the later I pull it out, the better it is,’ he told reporters, explaining that he wanted the team’s run to continue. He said he expected the pain to be manageable during games unless a pitch struck him in the chin. Those expectations describe Park’s own assessment; whether he played in Game 2 was not immediately clear.
The KBO lists Park as a Kia outfielder and credits him with 110 games and a .403 on-base percentage in the 2026 regular season. Yonhap reported that manager Lee Bum-ho put him in the leadoff spot for Game 2, ahead of hitters Kim Do-yeong, Harold Castro and Na Sung-bum. The lineup decision showed the role Park was expected to fill as Kia sought to advance, although it does not establish that he took the field.
Park also spoke cautiously about his form. ‘Whenever I start believing too much in myself, I tend to become too loose on the field,’ he told reporters. His immediate plan, as he described it before the game, was to keep playing through the tooth pain and arrange its removal after the team’s postseason was over.
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Sources and context
- Tigers outfielder competing in KBO postseason through wisdom tooth painYonhap News Agency
- Park Jung Woo player information and 2026 season statisticsKorea Baseball Organization
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.