Former Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho, left, poses with Chung Seung-jin,

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Park Chan-ho, left, poses with Chung Seung-jin, chief of the Hanhwa Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization, during a press conference held at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul to mark Park’s joining the team, Dec. 20.

The Eagles and the right-hander Park signed a one-year deal worth 24 million won ($20,547), the least amount paid to pro-baseball players. Park said he will donate up to 600 million won of his Hanwha prepared contract to the fund for children’s baseball. It will be donated to build infrastructure to support amateur baseball in the country.

To put it differently, a superstar who at one point commanded a five-year mega-deal worth US$65 million (W84.5 billion at the time) in MLB has agreed to a salary that is usually only reserved for rookies.

(Photo by Newsis, Story by Kim Yang-hee)