53-year-old pitcher Koo Dae-sung says record-breaking return was unplanned

Baseball

Published: 01 Feb. 2023, 16:10

53-year-old pitcher Koo Dae-sung says record-breaking return was unplanned

Koo Dae-sung pitches for Geelong Korea in a game against the Adelaide Giants at Dicolor Australia Stadium in West Beach, Australia in January. [GEELONG KOREA]

“They asked me to pitch, so I stepped up to the mound again.”

At 53-years-old, Koo Dae-sung, a veteran of the MLB, KBO and NPB, came out of the retirement to return to the mound for Geelong Korea in a game against the Adelaide Giants two weeks ago.

According to Koo, the return to professional baseball was entirely unplanned.

‘I had only gone to the game to support the players that had travelled all the way to Australia to play,” Koo told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday. “When I got there they asked if I would appear as a player on the field.”

Koo made the surprise appearance for Geelong Korea in the Australian Baseball League, a team made up entirely of Korean players.

A post on the official MLB Instagram account celebrates Koo Dae-sung's unexpected return from retirement as a 53-year-old. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Koo formerly coached the team and set the record as the oldest player ever to appear in the ABL when he came out of retirement to pitch for Geelong in 2018. He broke that record last month.

Koo appeared in two subsequent games before hanging up his glove again, at least for now. Over 2.1 innings pitched, Kim gave up one hit and two walks with two strikeouts for a 0.00 ERA on the season.

“I’ve been working out steadily,” Koo said. “I still practice pitching into a net and do weight training.

“I’ve been coaching the Australian youth team and I sometimes train with the players. I’ve never left baseball.”

Despite his experience, Koo was not particularly impressed with his own performance.

“In the bullpen I was throwing fastballs at up to 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour), but on the field I barely touched 120 kilometers per hour,” Koo said. “My slider also wasn’t right. The ball was so slow that the batters didn’t seem to know what to do with it.”

Koo’s return to the mound at 53 is just the latest episode in a long and storied career.

Koo Dae-sung appears for the Hanwha Eagles in a game against the Doosan Bears in 1999. [JOONGANG ILBO]

A left-handed pitcher, Koo started his career in the KBO with the Binggrae Eagles, now the Hanwha Eagles. He was the KBO MVP in 1996 and a Golden Glove winner, becoming one of the league’s top relievers and earning a bronze medal with Team Korea at the 2000 Olympics.

In 2021, Koo joined Orix BlueWave in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. While in Japan he began to appear as a starter as well as a reliever, staying with the BlueWave until 2004 when the club merged with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and Koo left for the big leagues.

Already 35-years-old, Koo played a season with the New York Mets in the majors. Again appearing as a reliever, Koo recorded a 3.91 ERA over 33 games before his MLB career was cut short when he injured his shoulder sliding home on what would turn out to be his one and only major league hit, an unexpected double off Randy Johnson that quickly went down in big league legend.

Koo Dae-sung appears for the Orix BlueWave in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Koo returned to the Hanwha Eagles for four years before moving to Australia with the Sydney Blue Sox in 2010. He played for the Sydney team until 2015, by which point he was already in his mid-40s, returning later as a coach.

Despite being based in Australia since then, Koo has kept an eye on Korean baseball.

“I follow Korean baseball on the news and on TV, and of course I watch Hanwha games,” Koo said. “I can see a lot of good players coming up. We can rebound as much as we want as long as we keep our balance.

“The Doosan Bears are in Sydney for spring training about 30 minutes from my house. Maybe I’ll drive over soon and see how Lee Seung-yeop and his team are getting on.”

BY JIM BULLEY AND KO BONG-JUN [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]