[Anchor]
Pitcher Kwak Been, the ace who led the national baseball team to its fifth consecutive championship yesterday (September 27), has earned a new nickname: "Martyr Kwak Been." During his days on the junior national team, he wore the Taegeukgi and pitched with all his might, suffering a major injury that threatened his playing career. Overcoming surgery and rehabilitation, he has once again stood tall as South Korea's ace in this tournament.
Reporter Lee Seonghun has the story.
[Reporter]
In 2017, when he was a high school senior, Kwak Been literally sacrificed his arm for the country.
Serving as the national team's ace at the U-18 Baseball World Cup, he pitched more than 14 innings across two games, throwing a staggering 144 pitches particularly against powerhouse USA, which sparked fierce controversy over overworking.
In the wake of this heavy workload, Kwak underwent elbow surgery the following year after debuting in the pros, and even suffered lingering aftereffects that kept him off the field for two years, leading him to even consider quitting pitching.
[Kwak Been / National Baseball Team Pitcher (2021, Phone Interview on "Living for Baseball"): (The ligament) seemed to have suffered a 70% damage. For about three months, I even washed my face only with my left hand. Because it hurt too much when I used my right hand.]
Having bounced back like an tumbler toy, Kwak steadily grew to establish himself as South Korea's top ace this year, and even with the possibility of surpassing his career-high innings in a single season, he once again burned through everything at this Asian Games.
After delivering a stellar performance of six hitless, scoreless innings in the crucial opening game against Taiwan, he threw 111 pitches in yesterday's final—the most ever by a South Korean pitcher in Asian Games history—laying the foundation for the victory with a brilliant one-run outing.
The 19 strikeouts Kwak recorded in this tournament are also an all-time record for a national team pitcher at the Asian Games.
Kwak expressed a sense of relief, saying he has lifted a bit of the emotional burden from the Hangzhou tournament, where he could not pitch a single game due to muscle spasms and had to pass the burden of being the ace to younger teammate Moon Dong-ju.
[Kwak Been / National Baseball Team Pitcher: I felt so sorry because (Moon) Dong-ju seemed to have carried such a heavy burden and pitched at such a young age. I feel like this burden I've been carrying for three years has lightened a bit.]
Earning the nickname "martyr" from fans for sparing no sacrifice for his country, Kwak vowed to remain a player who gladly shoulders the weight of the Taegeuk mark.
[Kwak Been / National Baseball Team Pitcher: If I get selected (for the national team), I believe I must do my absolute best as long as I wear the Taegeuk mark, and I believe I must deliver results without making any excuses.]
(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Reported by Seol Chi-hwan and Yang Du-won | Video editing by Park Jung-sam | Design by Park Tae-young and Kim Min-young)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.