LOS ANGELES — As the Pirates team bus rumbled toward the airport Thursday, manager Clint Hurdle picked up his phone and made the call he knew would be the hardest. He called his 10-year-old son Christian and told him Jung Ho Kang, the boy’s favorite player, had season-ending surgery on his left knee.
The boy was heartbroken. Christian had befriended Mr. Kang in spring training and gotten his own “Kang 27” jersey. He was first on the bandwagon when Mr. Kang, 28, a rookie from South Korea, signed with the Pirates in January.
In late April, Mr.