[Courtesy of Hanshin Tigers]
South Korea’s veteran pitcher Oh Seung-hwan has finally made his American baseball dream come true when he signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The 33-year-old ex-Samsung Lions player, who had 357 career saves in South Korea and Japan, signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals, including a club option for a second season, with the value of the contract totalling some $5 million, according to South Korean media reports. . He's expected to be a setup man for closer Trevor Rosenthal, who set a franchise record with 48 saves last season.
Oh and Lim Chang-yong, another ex-Samsung Lions player, were recently suspended by the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) for half of this season after they were charged with gambling in Macau.
Oh said during Tuesday’s press conference that playing in the major leagues has been a dream that came true for him.
He was quoted by local media as saying “I’ve achieved everything in Korea and Japan as a closer. I wanted a new environment and was looking for motivation.”
A veteran of Korea’s 2008 Olympic Games championship team who has played in three World Baseball Classics for Korea, the right-hander enchanted Korean and Japanese fans so much that he earned two nicknames, ‘Stone Buddha’ and “The Final Boss”.
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
