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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

in the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

, as well as the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

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 or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. He announced his retirement from Korean baseball on August 15, 2010. He last played for

Geelong-Korea The Geelong-Korea are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League. The team is based in the city of Geelong, Victoria and the team's home ground is Geelong Baseball Park. Geelong-Korea were one of two expansion teams added to ...

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 sh ...

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 (Korean: 한양대학교) is a private research university in South Korea. The main campus is located in Seoul and its satellite campus, the Education Research Industry Cluster (ERICA campus), is in Ansan. ''Hanyang'' (한양, ...

Professional career

Hanwha Eagles

Koo began his professional career in 1993 with the

of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

. 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 performances at each fielding position in bo ...

and the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

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 usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 139

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Koo played for the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n national Olympic team in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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 receive ...

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 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 annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...

. Though he was a

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

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 Stadiu ...

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 is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

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 and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

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 A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

off of

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

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) Amer ...

. This came right when

Fox TV The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

analyst

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinal ...

commented on how Koo's

plate appearance In baseball statistics, 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 ...

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 during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

". 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 a musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006. ...

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

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 Julius Edward "Chuck" Meriwether (June 30, 1956 – October 26, 2019) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire. After working in the American League (AL) from 1988 to 1999, he umpired in both leagues from 2000 to 2009. Meriwether originally wore ...

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 Douglas Andrew Mientkiewicz ( ; born June 19, 1974) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1998 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Minnesota Twins wher ...

fanning him with a towel. On his reception by his teammates, Koo said that "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 22 August 2010, Koo revealed he was to play for the

Sydney Blue Sox The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues use ...

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 representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. With his team up 1-0 against the

Canberra Cavalry The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) is a professional baseball team from Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team is a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground is Narrabundah Ballpark, know ...

, 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 The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaid ...

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 The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. It is ranked as the top team in Oceania, and is the Oceanian Champion, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand wi ...

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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

.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 The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaid ...

at 53 years old, breaking his own record in the process. He pitched one inning and recorded two strikeouts. He then pitched again the following night, recording one hit, two walks, and two unearned runs in one inning of pitching.

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 of 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

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