Oldest pitcher in active service Oh Seung-hwan makes debut as a starting pitcher

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Yesterday, Oh Seung-hwan, the oldest pitcher in active service, made his debut as a starting pitcher.

The feeling of starting for the first time in 19 professional seasons.

Reporter Lee Myung-no heard it himself.

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620 games as a reliever alone.

Yesterday was really special for Oh Seung-hwan, who has gone through all kinds of battles.

The attention was focused even before the game started.

[오승환/삼성]

″(Fans) It’s a scene that you don’t usually see well… so I tried not to be very conscious, myself. It’s just one game, but since I seem to have a lot of importance in starting (mounding)…”

The newest thing was a clean mound.

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″Feels like starting? I think the feeling of throwing the first ball (of the game) was a bit new. The mound was very clean and nice. I always went out to the place where everything was dug in the back…”

Unlike a stone Buddha, there were many facial expression changes.

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″I was so sorry. It’s too bad that I just gave it 3 points, and I shouldn’t have conceded… I think it came out a lot from the expression on my face because I was very sorry.”

He went down to the 2nd team for a while to return to his place, but he also achieved his original goal of recovering his pitching sense to some extent.

[오승환/삼성]

″(During the game, pitching coach Jung Hyun-wook) talked about the balance of throwing the ball or the pitching form. He’s been feeling the power on the ball little by little, and even though he’s scoring, I’m sure he’ll get better.”

Oh Seung-hwan, rather than attracting attention as a starting pitcher, will rebound quickly and help the team.

I gained more strength from the fans’ support that poured in after yesterday’s appearance.

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″(There were a lot of cheering messages) I thought I won the Korean Series. A lot of people contacted me saying that I did a good job, and there were people who said they were sad… I thought I should work harder.”

He dismissed rumors of retirement and promised a different look with the remaining goals.

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″(500 saves in Korea, the US, and Japan) I want to do it quickly, lightheartedly… that kind of heart is rather bigger. Retiring after showing a bad image doesn’t seem right to me either… I think it’s right to rebound and retire with a good image and image… I think I still have to put in a bit more effort than retiring.”

This is MBC News Lee Myung-no.

Video editing: Kwon Tae-il