Seung-hwan Oh (Hangul: ; ; ; born July 15, 1982) is a South Korean professional baseball relief pitcher for the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. He previously played for the Lions in South Korea, the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, and the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). 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), in South Korea and among Cardinals fans.
Amateur career
Oh attended Kyunggi High School in Seoul, South Korea. He had been a pitcher since he began baseball, then switched to the outfield after suffering 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 won 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.
Professional career
Samsung Lions (2005–2013) The Samsung Lions selected Oh in the second round (5th pick, 12th overall) of the 2005 KBO First Year Players draft. After signing with the club, he contributed a strong rookie season as a setup man and closer in 2005, going 10–1 with a 1.18 ERA, 16 saves (sixth in the league) and 115 strikeouts (fifth in the league) in 99 innings pitched over 61 games. In the 2005 Korean Series, he pitched seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts, appearing in three games as a closer to lead his team to the championship. He won the Korean Series Most Valuable Player Award. After the season, Oh was named the KBO League Rookie of the Year.
Prior to his second season, Oh was selected to the roster of the South Korea national baseball team for the inaugural World Baseball Classic. That year, he achieved the first of two consecutive seasons with 40-plus saves, 2006 and 2007. His 47 saves in 2006 set a KBO League record for one season, a total he repeated in 2011.
Recording his 100th save in fewer games than anyone in KBO League history, Oh became the KBO League's all-time saves leader with 277. He collected his 200th save in his 333rd career appearance, making him the fastest player in all of the world's top professional leagues to achieve that total, surpassing the mark of 359 forged by Jonathan Papelbon of Major League Baseball.
A shoulder injury began interfering with Oh's performance in 2009 and continued into 2010. He had his second elbow surgery to remove bone spurs in 2010 and returned to the playoffs in the same year.
While Oh was still playing for the Lions, they became KBO League champions four more times. The Lions defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Nippon Professional Baseball champions, to earn the Asia Series championship in 2011, and become the first non-Japanese team to win. Oh earned his second Korean Series MVP Award in 2011.
He also posted a stellar 1.69 ERA in 444 games over the nine seasons that he played for Samsung Lions. Every season with the Lions, Oh turned in an ERA under 2.00, except 2009–10, which were shortened by injuries.
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. 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.