Stone Buddha Oh Seung-hwan (41)’s baseball watch is ticking. With a career record of 400 saves, he dreams of Samsung Lions fall baseball.

The oldest players in the 2023 KBO League are Oh Seung-hwan, Choo Shin-soo, and Kim Kang-min (SSG above). Those born in 1982, the first year of professional baseball, are called the ‘Golden Generation’. Kim Tae-gyun and Jeong Geun-woo left the ground first, and Lee Dae-ho also retired last year, but they are still showing off their skills.

The baseball team, which conducted field training in Korea due to Corona, left for the United States, Japan, and Australia this year. Samsung also organized a spring camp in Onna Village, Okinawa, Japan from last month. Oh Seung-hwan came over three weeks before team training started. Oh Seung-hwan said, “It’s been a while since I’ve been abroad, so I thought I should train more. It’s nice to be able to build up my body step by step at the right time. Lim Chan-gyu (LG Twins) said he had good grades when we worked together, so he asked us to do it, so we stayed together for two weeks.” .

Oh Seung-hwan’s body was strong with about a month left before the opening ceremony. Oh Seung-hwan, who said, “I lost a little weight,” said, “I gained a lot of weight because I rested so well in the winter. I trained a lot. I even finished pitching in the bullpen, but I lowered my speed for management.”

Oh Seung-hwan, who entered the professional league in 2005, is in his 19th season. Oh Seung-hwan said, “(The preparation process) is no different from the previous year. After hearing about my age, I thought about changing it, but that’s like admitting that I’m old. Just because I’m working out with my juniors doesn’t mean I’m in good shape.” did. He continued, “I don’t feel burdened by my age. It’s rather comfortable. Coach Hyun-wook Jung and Oh-joon Kwon have been with me since I was a player and know me well. I get a lot of help.”

Oh Seung-hwan played an active part as the best finisher in the Korea-US-Japan professional baseball. After returning to Korea, he became the oldest save king (44 saves) in 2021, his first full-time season. Last year, however, he went 6-2 with 31 saves and an earned run average of 3.32. As Oh Seung-hwan failed to keep the back door consecutively, the team fell into a 13-game losing streak, the most since its founding.

Oh Seung-hwan said, “Everything was disappointing. I don’t have any good memories. Personally or as a team, it was disappointing. It served as an opportunity to come to my senses.” He continued, “If you talk about your physical condition, it is only an excuse. There was a big difference between the good times and the bad times. The virtue that a closer should have is consistency, and even if a slump comes, you have to get out of it as quickly as possible, but I couldn’t do that.” 안전놀이터

Samsung, who recorded the highest win rate in the 2021 regular season and played until the first place match, fell into a 13-game losing streak, the most in team history, and finished the season in 7th place. Oh Seung-hwan delegated his annual salary to the club, and Samsung inserted an incentive (300 million won) clause in the contract with 1.4 billion won, a decrease of 200 million won from last year (1.6 billion won). Oh Seung-hwan said, “I had a lot of conversations with the agent and the club. I am grateful that there are people who look good on the contract.”

Samsung, which was sluggish until the middle, changed in the second half. Park Jin-man, acting manager, achieved a 50% win rate and became the official manager. Oh Seung-hwan said, “The young players must have felt the fun of winning. There is anxiety, but I have high expectations for the young players. The young players work hard, and the veterans are also stimulated.”

Oh Seung-hwan is the KBO League’s all-time leader in saves (370 saves). His goal is to make 400 saves as quickly as possible. Oh Seung-hwan said, “If I make a save, doesn’t it mean that the team wins?” and “If I set a record, my juniors will look at that record and work hard. In the past, no bullpen pitcher had a long run, but young players will also have goals.”

Second-generation players, including Lee Jung-hoo, are very active. Oh Seung-hwan, who married in the winter of 2021, laughed, saying, “I don’t have children yet, but if you say you want to play baseball or sports, I will do it.