Ex-Korean Series MVP Oh Jae-il retires

Oh Jae-il of the KT Wiz hits a sacrifice fly against the LG Twins during Game 3 of the first-round series in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 8, 2024. Yonhap

Oh Jae-il, a hard-hitting first baseman who once captured the MVP award in the Korean baseball championship series, announced his retirement Friday at age 38.

The KT Wiz said Oh decided to call it a career after 21 years in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Oh did not appear in a game in the KBO this year, instead logging just 20 games in the Wiz's minor league affiliate in the Futures League.

Oh made his KBO debut in 2005 with the now-defunct Hyundai Unicorns and went on to play for the Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes, the Doosan Bears, the Samsung Lions and the Wiz.

Oh won three Korean Series titles with the Bears in 2015, 2016 and 2019. He was voted the series MVP in 2019 after batting .333/.368/.611 with a home run, six RBIs and two doubles in a four-game sweep of the Heroes.

Oh hit 215 home runs and drove in 873 runs in 1,491 regular-season games, and also made a name for himself with his slick fielding at first base. In a seven-season stretch from 2016 to 2022, Oh belted 117 home runs to tie for the ninth-highest total in the KBO, with slugger Park Byung-ho.

While with the Lions in 2024, Oh was traded for Park and began losing playing time with his new club.

"I tried to keep my head down and play as hard as I could," Oh said in a statement released by the Wiz. "I would like to be remembered as a hard-working and reliable first baseman."