Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop recalled Dustin Nippert’s retirement ceremony at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Tuesday. He also mentioned whether Nippert will take the mound or not.
Nippert is a legendary foreigner in the KBO League. After joining the Korean pro baseball league by joining the Doosan Bears in 2011, he stayed with the Bears until 2017. In 2018, he joined the KT Wiz. During the eight seasons, he played in 1,291 ⅓ in 214 games, displaying 102 wins, 51 losses and one hold, 3.59 ERA, and 1,082 strikeouts. He is also the longest-tenured foreigner in history and the only player who achieved 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts.안전놀이터
Notably, when he was a member of Doosan Bears, he boasted 22 wins, 3 losses and an ERA of 2.95 in 2016, and was honored as the MVP of the regular season. Since then, he has been named the 40th anniversary legendary All-Star among foreign pitchers in 2022.
In addition to simple records consisting of numbers, he earned the nickname “Nine” by showing his sincere attitude in work ceremonies and social contribution activities, which always put the team first. He was greatly loved by fans. Notably, Doosan fans still remember Nippert beautifully.
Nippert left the KBO League at the end of the 2018 season, but he runs the ‘Big Dream Youth Baseball Team’ to foster players. He is also active in various broadcast programs such as JTBC’s ‘Strongest Baseball.’
The Doosan Bears will host legendary pitcher Dustin Nippert’s retirement ceremony at the KT Wiz match in Jamsil on the 14th. Courtesy of the Doosan Bears
Doosan has decided to hold a retirement ceremony for Nippert at the KT Wiz match in Jamsil on Wednesday. The theme of the retirement ceremony is “Remember the ACE.” This implies that Nippert will be remembered as the ace forever by fans. Prior to the game, he will hold a fan signing event and throw the first pitch. After Doosan’s defense ends in the top of the first inning, he will display his signature high-fives during air shift. He will also perform a reading ceremony of Nippert’s letter after the game ends.
Doosan plans to register Nippert as a “special entry” on Wednesday. In 2021, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) decided to allow players who are retired to register more than their capacity if they need to register their entry for the retirement ceremony.
Furthermore, the possibility of Nippert taking the mound in real games is open to him. Doosan first announced Kwak Bin as its starting pitcher for the game on Tuesday.
“Many fans will come to remember Nippert,” Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said. “The best scenario is that Nippert actually takes the mound. However, we also need to see the score and the game situation. It would be nice if we have a situation where we can pitch.” “It would be nice if we win by a big margin,” he added with a smile.
“He is a really good pitcher, the best pitcher. He is the first and only foreign pitcher to have 100 wins. I understand that he has great loyalty to his team. When I was active, I saw him take the mound in the Korean Series for a few days without resting. He always pitched really well.”
Manager Lee stressed, “I think he was such a good pitcher that he was flawless in his ability and personality.”
However, Nippert was also a natural enemy of Lee and Samsung when he was active. He showed off a 0.909 winning percentage by 20 wins and 2 losses in a total of 34 games and 212 innings against Samsung. He also showed excellent ERA with 2.38. He was stronger than any other team. Lee also had a batting average of 0.188 (12 hits in 64 times at bat) and one homerun and two RBIs in games against Nippert.
“My performance was not good against the other team. It would have been nice if I could have joined the team when I was in my heyday, but I met him after I lost some strength,” Lee said, smiling awkwardly, before complimenting him, “Nippert is a really good player.”