Living legend Oh Seung-hwan (42) set another meaningful record.
Oh Seung-hwan took the mound in the ninth inning against Kiwoom at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 26th to keep the score gap of 3-0.안전놀이터
Taking the mound in the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead, Oh successively hit Kiwoom’s Choi Joo-hwan and Ko Young-woo with fly balls. Kim Jae-hyun then hit a double over the left field, but he struck out Bae to end the game.
The team showed a special ceremony on the day. Oh Seung-hwan and catcher Kang Min-ho used to show their finger-pointing ceremony together after the game, but all the players on the ground gathered on the mound to do the same.
Thanks to the special record, all players gathered together. Oh’s save on the day was his 408th in his career. Oh, who was drafted by Samsung as the fifth pick in the second round in the 2005 rookie draft after graduating from Gyeonggi High School and Dankook University, has posted 408 saves in the KBO league alone.
This is the new record for most saves in a single league in Asia. The previous record was 407 saves set by Iwase, who played for the Chunichi Dragons in the Japanese pro baseball league.
Samsung’s Oh Seung-hwan smiles brightly after being hit by players’ water wash after the game against Kiwoom in Gocheok on the 26th. Gocheok | Reporter Kim Ha-jin
Oh made 16 saves in the 2005 season, the first year since his debut, achieving double-digit saves from the first year. In the next season, he garnered a whopping 47 saves to win the title holder in this category.
Starting with that, Oh has grown into a closing pitcher representing the KBO league. When it comes to saves in 2008 (39 saves), 2011 (47 saves), 2012 (37 saves) and 2021 (44 saves), Oh continued to win trophies.
It is all the more meaningful that Oh achieved the new record by posting saves only in the KBO League despite playing overseas including Japan and the U.S. after the 2013 season. He has displayed consistency in the KBO League while building up saves.
Oh, who became a free agent after finishing the last season, stayed on a two-year contract. Prior to the opening of this season, he competed with Kim Jae-yoon, who joined Samsung as an external free agent, and secured his position by himself by winning the competition. He continued to secure his back door, achieving the milestone in the end.
Last year, Oh made 400 saves in the final home game. This time, he achieved the record in a good atmosphere, which is all the more meaningful.
During the last winter, Samsung only focused on strengthening its bullpen. It erased its weaknesses by not only remaining in the team but also recruiting a large number of external resources.
Samsung is showing signs of improvement this year. As of Wednesday, Samsung is ranking third. Samsung, which ended the season in eighth place after fighting for elimination from last place last year, is at the top of the list this season. It is thanks to its solid backdoor policy.
“Not only does the bullpen continue to function stably, but it also comes up to the seventh, eighth and ninth innings,” Oh said. “It’s a stable return, and the effect appears one by one.”
“It was a shame because it was the last game and the team’s performance was not good,” Oh said, recalling last year. “This year is early in the season but we are on a good track. I hope all players have good personal and team records so that they know that they can show what they have prepared by saying, ‘Now our team is strong’ without having any doubts,” he said. “I hope they stand out a lot without having doubts.”
Oh also set a new record. “I have the fewest blonshaves among the 10 closing pitchers,” he said. For this reason, he expressed his hope, saying, “I think it would be best to bring what the players have prepared well to the end of the game in a good mood.”