Oh Seung-hwan steals show

Oh Seung-hwan pitches during the World Baseball Classice opening game against Israel, Monday. / Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Baseball fans at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul suddenly burst into applause in the eighth inning of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) opening game between Korea and Israel on Monday.

With runners on first, second and third and two outs, the national team’s only Major Leaguer Oh Seung-hwan was called upon by manager Kim In-sik and took the mound with a mission to save the team in peril. Korea and Israel tied at 1:1 at that time.

Oh, a closer for the St. Louis Cardinals, dominated during the 1 and 1/3 innings he pitched. He silenced Israel with a scoreless inning by striking out Israeli shortstop Scott Burcham. Oh’s dominance continued in the ninth inning with two more strikeouts and fastballs.

Park Chan-ho, a Major League pitcher-turned-commentator, lauded Oh and said he set a great example for his fellow Korean pitchers.

“Confidence is the first and foremost thing pitchers should have when they pitch,” Park said. “As you can see, Oh pitches with confidence and he knows how to pitch. His ball control is excellent. These are the lessons Korean pitchers should learn from him. The importance of ball control cannot be overstated. It’s more important than the speed of the ball.”

Park, Korea’s first Major Leaguer with the nickname of “Korean Express,” made the comments as the six Korean pitchers who pitched before Oh allowed too many bases on balls and failed with their ball control, one of the leading causes behind Korea’s frustrating defeat before home fans in the opening game.

“As a pitcher, you need to have your own plan about how to pitch, not simply follow what the catcher calls,” said Park.

Oh’s flawless pitching gave home fans, who were tired all during the dismal game before he came to the mound in the eighth inning, a brief respite from disappointment about the national team.

“Now I understand why manager Kim In-sik was so desperate to have Oh on the WBC roster before,” internet user actoric wrote in response to an online news article about the WBC opening game.

Oh, 35, was not included in the initial national team’s WBC roster which was unveiled in November. Manager Kim reportedly felt pressure putting his name on the list because of Oh’s past involvement in overseas gambling.

Kim changed his mind in the last minute and put Oh on the roster in January while updating the list. He made a case for his decision by reiterating that the national team desperately needed him amid worries that the team was the weakest it has been since 2006 when the WBC tournament was launched.

Baseball fans witnessed Oh becoming even stronger than before. Korean baseball fans were able to see the pitcher, nicknamed “The Stone Buddha” for his unflappable demeanor, in person again after three years. He left the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league shortly after the 2013 season. During the 2014 and 2015 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, Oh had 2.20 ERA out of 127 appearances. He led the league there in saves during his two seasons. In 2016, the Cardinals’ closer had six wins and three losses, as well as 19 saves with 1.92 ERA.