INTERVIEW Surgeon gives behind-the-scenes look at historic baseball game

By Kang Hyun-kyung

In the ninth inning of South Korea’s nail-biting final baseball game against Cuba during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Antonio Castro, the Cuban team’s doctor, cautiously poured water on the Wukesong baseball stadium turf near his team’s dugout.

Just like a Catholic priest blessing something with holy water, the Cuban doctor, who is the son of the late President Fidel Castro, tried to bless the Cuban players to get an upset win for the gold medal.

His ritual came when Cuban batter Yuliesky Gourriel stood at home plate with all bases loaded with one out amid South Korea’s tight 3-2 lead. Cuban players on the bench joined Castro by pouring water on the turf.

Park Jin-young, an orthopedist who headed South Korea’s Sports Medicine Team for the Beijing Olympics, saw what the Cubans did from the South Korean dugout.

“The entire game was nerve-wracking,” he recalled during a recent Korea Times interview.

According to him, the Korean players were resolute to win the game, particularly after catcher Kang Min-ho was ejected by the Puerto Rican home plate umpire as he took Kang’s gesture as a protest. Cuban batter Bell walked after the final pitch thrown by Ryu Hyun-jin was called a ball by the umpire. Kang held the ball for a moment and asked in a low voice “low ball?” to contend it was a strike, not a ball. Kang was sent off.

“The incident united all Korean players and coaching staff and steered them to pursue a single-minded goal to win under any circumstances,” the surgeon said.

South Korea edged out the defending champion Cuba 3-2 after Gourriel hit into a double play. Players and trainers in the dugout rushed onto the field and joined their teammates on the pitcher’s mound to celebrate the historic win and threw manager Kim Kyung-moon, now manager of the NC Dinos, into the air.

Park said he was privileged to watch the historic game up close from the dugout and had the rare opportunity to put himself in the players’ shoes.

The surgeon was one of three non-athletes on the bench. The other two were the trainers.

According to Park, the first thing the trainers did after they arrived at the baseball stadium was hang a big national flag in the dugout.

The flag reminded the players they represented their country. Park said he felt he belonged on the national team and naturally came to be drawn to the game, sensing something akin to patriotism arising from deep in his heart whenever he saw the flag.

“Inside the dugout, players shared tips about how to relax when they stood at bat or on the field to play their defensive positions, while coaches were busy working on a strategy to beat the opposing team,” he said. “The dugout suddenly turned into a war room when a bullpen pitcher of the opposing team was seen practicing pitching. Coaches and managers busied themselves analyzing his pitching style: what kinds of balls he threw best and how fast his pitches were, things like that.”

The Beijing Olympics was a turning point for Park who has been a sports medicine surgeon since 1994. Baseball players became his main patients. Last year, he treated and operated on 450 patients, 75 percent of them being baseball players.

Inside his hospital in southern Seoul, the halls are decorated with framed autographed jerseys, including Oh Seung-hwan’s Samsung Lions uniform and one from Hanwha Eagles outfielder Lee Yong-kyu. His office has several balls that were signed by star athletes, such as Texas Rangers’ Choo Shin-soo.

Asked if he has a favorite team, he declined to answer and said he treats all patients fairly regardless of the baseball club they belong to.

He described Samsung Lions designated hitter Lee Seung-yuop as a man of character. “Lee is humble and genuine,” Park said. “On the national team, he was a senior player but tried to get along with the younger players and sometimes made a joke to break the tension in the dugout or cheer up younger players who were in a slump.”

Park said Saint Louis Cardinals’ relief pitcher Oh Seung-hwan is figuratively a “Stone Buddha” as his nickname indicated. Korean baseball fans call Oh this for his unflappable demeanor amid numerous nail-biting games. “He was quiet and patient,” Park said.

Oh underwent surgery three times for injuries to his shoulder and elbow when playing for the Samsung Lions.

“You’ll see he is a hard worker and has made ceaseless efforts to improve his performance if you look at his muscles. They are strong and as flexible as rubber,” said Park. “He was injured and had three surgeries while playing in the KBO League because he tried to throw his pitches too hard.”

Hanwha Eagles outfielder Lee Yong-kyu, who was also operated on by Park, has a wonderful heart for his teammates, the surgeon said.

While treating athletes for over two decades, he has noticed a high rate of injured pitchers in the KBO League. He teamed up with Professor Lee Seung-jun of Pusan National University Hospital’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery, former LG Twins coach Kim Yong-il and baseball analyst Heo Gu-yeon to see how serious the issue was. They surveyed the medical history of 41 rookie pitchers who graduated from high school in 2013 and joined the KBO League that year.

The results were startling — every three out of four pitchers had shoulder or elbow pain or a history of shoulder or elbow surgery before they joined the league.

Their findings were summarized in their recent article, titled "Shoulder and Elbow Injury Rates and Patterns in Korean Rookie Professional Pitchers" published in the Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow journal in 2016.

Young baseball pitchers suffer the consequences of their excessive pitching and tireless practices during their high school days after joining the professional league. So in their first year in the KBO League they undergo surgery on their elbows and shoulders and spend the rest of the year recovering.

Park and his three co-authors recommended the KBO introduce a pitch count limit and at least a three-month rest for pitchers annually to protect them.