Koo Dae-sung (; born August 2, 1969) is a Korean former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. A left-handed pitcher, Koo formerly played for the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon that competes in the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark. They have won the Korean Series once, in 1999, and the league penn ...

in the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

, as well as the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and the

Orix BlueWave , styled as ORIX, is a Japanese diversified financial services group headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, and Osaka, Japan. ORIX offers leasing, lending, rentals, life insurance, real estate financing and development, venture capital, investment an ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. He announced his retirement from Korean baseball on August 15, 2010. He last played for Geelong-Korea in the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it s ...

Early life

Koo is a left-handed pitcher despite being born right-handed. As a child, he broke his right arm, an injury so bad that it forced him to become left-handed. Koo attended

Hanyang University Hanyang University (HYU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul and Ansan (ERICA campus), South Korea. ''Hanyang'' () derives from the Names of Seoul, former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The u ...

Professional career

Hanwha Eagles

Koo began his professional career in 1993 with the

of the

. In 1996, he won both a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

and the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the KBO with a 1.88

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, 18 wins, 24 saves and 183

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in 139

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. Koo played for the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n national Olympic team in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

games. He led his team to a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in 2000 by pitching a 3-1

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

victory over Japan.

Orix BlueWave

In 2001, Koo joined the

of the Japanese

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

. Though he was a reliever throughout his professional career, he became a starter for the team in 2002, recording the second best earned run average on the team. The

merged with the

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadi ...

in 2004, and he took the opportunity to announce his decision to play in the major leagues.

New York Mets

In 2005, the New York Mets signed Koo as a free agent. He pitched well as a reliever during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

and was selected for the Mets' active roster as the season began. Despite his 35 years of age, and 12 years experience in Korea and Japan, he was considered a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

by Major League Baseball in his first year. He made his Major League Debut on April 4, 2005 against the Cincinnati Reds, and pitched a perfect 8th inning, in the process collecting his first big league strikeout. Koo's most memorable moment as a Major Leaguer occurred on May 21, 2005, when he recorded his only major league hit, a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

off of

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...

of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. This came right when

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analyst

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (October 16, 1941 – February 16, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, television sports commentator, and singer. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1959 to 1980 for four teams, spending almost ...

commented on how Koo's

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

was "the biggest give-up

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

". Koo had taken two pitches and struck out looking on four pitches in his first at-bat, leading everyone to believe that he was ready to go up just to sit down again. On a 1-and-1 count, Koo crushed a deep line drive right over

Bernie Williams Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and current musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through ...

's head one hop off the wall in right-center field. Upon reaching

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

, the home crowd and his teammates in the dugout cheered and chanted "KOOOO!" When asked about what he thought about the hit, Koo responded, "Other people say that I swung my bat with my eyes closed. But, of course I saw it — I hit it! It has been 18 years since I batted last — when I was in high school. Occasionally I went to the batting cages and swung the bat a couple of times. But, there really wasn’t any difference." A slow runner with little base running experience, Koo advanced to third base on a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, a ...

dropped by the following hitter, José Reyes. However, after Koo slowed down approaching third base, he re-accelerated and ran towards a vacant home plate left uncovered as Reyes was getting thrown out at first base. Yankees' catcher

Jorge Posada Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Posada recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and ...

promptly ran towards home in a foot race with Koo. Upon retrieving the thrown ball from first base, Posada applied the tag onto Koo's left shoulder as he slid head first towards home plate on a close play. Home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether called Koo safe on the play, extending the Mets' lead to 3-0. With that, the home crowd once again cheered and chanted his last name. His teammates enthusiastically greeted him, with celebrations ranging from his teammates brushing the dirt off his uniform to Doug Mientkiewicz fanning him with a towel. On his reception by his teammates, Koo said, "They said a lot of things. I just couldn't understand what. I think they were saying 'Good job.'" It was his final Major League at-bat. Unfortunately, it was later revealed that Koo suffered a shoulder injury during this play while sliding into home plate. His stats suffered as well as a result thus forcing him to return to South Korea.

Return to Korea

On March 2, 2006, Koo rejoined the Hanwha Eagles when the Mets sold his contract to them.

Sydney Blue Sox

In a press conference on August 22, 2010, Koo revealed he was to play for the Sydney Blue Sox in the

. Koo made his debut in the opening game of the

2010–11 Australian Baseball League regular season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...

. With his team up 1–0 against the Canberra Cavalry, he recorded the final out by striking out Nick Kimpton to earn the first save in the Australian Baseball League. He finished the season with 12 saves, 1.00 earned run average and opposition average against. Owing to this performance, Koo was named Reliever of the Year. After spending the first two seasons as the Blue Sox closer, he was shifted into the 8th inning role when Matthew Williams took over as the team's closer. However, in the 2013–14 season, Williams moved to the Adelaide Bite and Koo was once again named Sydney's closer, posting a stellar 2.08 earned run average with 11 saves. In four seasons of the Australian Baseball League, Koo had a 2.16 earned run average with 31 saves. In 2016, Koo was the pitching coach for the Blue Sox.

Team Australia

Koo was selected for the Australian national baseball team in two spring training exhibition matches against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

.Horne, Ben (March 5, 2014
Aussies to pitch for and against countrymen
''Ninemsn''

Geelong-Korea

After managing Geelong-Korea for two seasons, Koo came out of retirement, pitching an inning, at 48 years old — making him the oldest player to have played in the Australian Baseball League. On January 19, 2023, Koo came out of retirement for the second time to play against the Adelaide Giants, breaking his own record in the process, at 53 years old. He pitched one inning and recorded two strikeouts. He then pitched two more times on subsequent nights, recording one hit, two walks, and two unearned runs against six batters.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

Dae-Sung Koo
at Sydney Blue Sox, Australian Baseball League
Yahoo! profile
* *
Koo sailing (MLB article about Koo's game on May 21, 2005, also includes video of his two plays)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koo, Dae-sung 1969 births 2006 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Hanwha Eagles players Hanyang University alumni KBO League Most Valuable Player Award winners KBO League pitchers Korean Series MVPs Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from South Korea Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics New York Mets players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Olympic baseball players for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball Orix BlueWave players Perth Heat players Sportspeople from Daejeon South Korean expatriate baseball players in Japan South Korean expatriate baseball players in the United States South Korean expatriate baseball players in Australia Sydney Blue Sox players Geelong-Korea players World Baseball Classic players of South Korea

Early life

Professional career

Hanwha Eagles

Orix BlueWave

New York Mets

Return to Korea

Sydney Blue Sox

Team Australia

Geelong-Korea

See also

References

External links