Seung-hwan Oh

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Seung-hwan Oh
File:2014T22.jpg
Oh with the Hanshin Tigers
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 26
Relief pitcher
Born: (1982-07-15) July 15, 1982 (age 41)
Jeollabuk-do, South Korea
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Professional debut
KBO: April 3, 2005, for the Samsung Lions
NPB: March 29, 2014, for the Hanshin Tigers
KBO statistics
Win–loss record 28–13
Saves 277
Earned run average 1.69
WHIP 0.84
Strikeouts 625
NPB statistics
(through 2015)
Win–loss record 4–7
Saves 80
Earned run average 2.25
WHIP 0.99
Strikeouts 147
Teams
Career highlights and awards
KBO

NPB
Medal record
Men's baseball
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Doha Team
Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
World Baseball Classic
Silver medal – second place 2009 Los Angeles Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 San Diego Team

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Oh.

Seung-hwan Oh (Hangul:오승환, Hanja: 吳昇桓) (born July 15, 1982) is a Korean professional baseball relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Samsung Lions of the KBO League in South Korea and the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan. He is known as "Dol-bucheo" (Stone Buddha) for being unshaken and maintaining an emotionless face in every situation. His prowess as a relief pitcher also earned him the nickname, "Kkeut-pan Wang" (Final Boss). He is considered to be one of the greatest closers in the history of Korean baseball.

Oh is a 5 ft 10 in, 205 lb right-handed pitcher. His primary pitches include a four-seam fastball typically ranging from 92 miles per hour (148 km/h) to 94 miles per hour (151 km/h), topping out at 97 miles per hour (156 km/h), and a slider. His signature pitch is the four-seam fastball, which, due to its hard rising movement, earned the nickname "Dol-jikgu" (Stone Fastball) in the KBO League.

Amateur career

Oh attended Kyunggi High School in Seoul, South Korea. He had been a pitcher since he began baseball, but he switched to the outfield after getting serious arm injuries in 1999. He joined the 2001 KBO draft at the end of his last high school season, but, despite intriguing some MLB scouts, went undrafted, and Oh elected to attend college instead.

Upon graduation from high school, Oh started his collegiate career at Dankook University, but missed the entire 2001 and 2002 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2001.

In 2003, he came back to the mound, pitching limited innings as a relief pitcher.

In 2004, his senior year at Dankook University, Oh came back - stronger, dominant, in total command and as consistent as ever, sweeping most of the Korean college pitching awards. In June, Oh made his first appearance for the South Korea national baseball team at the 2004 World University Baseball Championship held in Tainan, Taiwan. He led his team to the bronze medal, playing most of the games in closer duty.

Notable international championships

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2004  Chinese Taipei World University Baseball Championship Bronze medal icon.svg

Professional career

Samsung Lions (2005–2013)

Oh was selected by the Samsung Lions in the 2nd round (5th pick, 12th overall) of the 2005 KBO First Year Players Draft. Signed by the Samsung Lions, Oh had a strong rookie season as the Lions setup man and closer in 2005, going 10-1 with a 1.18 ERA, 16 saves (6th in the league) and 115 strikeouts (5th in the league) in 99 innings pitched in 61 games. In the 2005 Korean Series, Oh pitched seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, appearing in three games as a closer to lead his team to the champion, and he was finally named the Korean Series MVP. After the season, Oh was also named KBO Rookie of the Year.

Oh was selected to the roster of the South Korea national baseball team for the inaugural World Baseball Classic prior to the 2006 season.

Oh picked up 40-plus saves in two consecutive seasons (2006 and 2007). He had his second elbow surgery during 2010 season and got back to playoffs in the same year.

He posted a stellar 1.69 ERA and 277 saves in 444 games over the nine seasons that he played for Samsung Lions in the KBO League.[1]

Hanshin Tigers (2014–2015)

On November 22, 2013, Oh signed a two-year, 990 million yen contract with the Hanshin Tigers, the biggest contract for a Korean baseball player in Japan.[1] Tigers' manager Wada Yutaka suggested offering some Korean-language classes for his players to better communicate with their new teammate, especially the catchers and pitching coaches.[2]

All throughout the 2014 season, he played the role as the Tiger's top closer. On the September 24 match with the Baystars, Oh picked up his 36th save of the season and broke the NPB record for saves by a foreign pitcher in his first year in the NPB.[3] Eddie Gaillard (2000) and Dennis Sarfate (2011) each saved thirty-five games in a season.[4] He also now holds the record for the most saves by a Korean pitcher in their first year in Japan, beating the previous record set by Lim Chang-yong, who had 33 saves in 2008 when he started playing for the Swallows.[5] He notched a total of 39 saves for the season, breaking the NPB record for saves by a Korean pitcher in a single season set by Sun Dong-yeol (38 saves) with Chunichi in 1997.[6] Oh had 277 saves from 2005 to 2013 in Korea, and is now at his 316th, making him the second Korean player to break the 300 mark after Lim Chang-yong.[7]

Oh played an instrumental role in Hanshin’s advance to the 2014 Japan Series in October. After pitching four innings in two games against Hiroshima during the first stage, Oh took the mound in all four games against Yomiuri and successfully secured consecutive victories for his team. Including the last five regular-season games, he pitched in 11 consecutive games and recorded the save in all of them. When the Tigers finally won the series in October 18, Oh received the Climax Series MVP award, becoming the first Korean pitcher to do so in his first year in NPB. His fast and heavy balls, together with his calm and unwavering expression even in crisis situations, earned him a new nickname "Stone Guardian" from Japanese baseball fans.[8] While playing in Japan, he had a 2.25 ERA with 80 saves. Through eleven total professional seasons in South Korea and Japan, he recorded 357 saves, a 1.81 ERA, and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings in ​646 1⁄3 IP.[9]

St. Louis Cardinals

On January 11, 2016, Oh signed a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals,[10] with a club option for a second season.[9]

Notable international championships

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2006  United States World Baseball Classic Bronze medal icon.svg 0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA (4 G, 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 K)
2006  Qatar Asian Games Bronze medal icon.svg 0-1, 0 SV, 7.71 ERA (2 G, 2.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 K)
2007  Chinese Taipei Asian Baseball Championship Silver medal icon.svg
2008  China Olympic Games Gold medal icon.svg 0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA (2 G, 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 K)
2009  United States World Baseball Classic Silver medal icon.svg 0-1, 0 SV, 18.00 ERA (2 G, 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 1 K)

Personal life

It was announced in April 2015 that Oh was in a relationship with Girls' Generation's Yuri.[11] The couple were confirmed to have broken up in October 2015 after six months of dating due to the long distance in their relationship.[12]

References

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External links

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