He's no spring chicken, but Mr. Koo will have to do!
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Korean baseball superstar and former Mets reliever/speedster Dae-Sung Koo has agreed to play with the Penrith Panthers, an Australian major league baseball team, for the 2014-2015 season. Koo, now 44 years old, pitched for the Mets back in 2005, making 33 relief appearances and finishing with a 3.91 ERA. He spent just one season in the United States before returning to Korea to pitch for the Hanwha Eagles.
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Nearly ten years later he's still pitching, and he's expected to have a substantial role with Penrith. Coach Shane Summersford noted his excitement for Koo's arrival:
"Dae-Sung has played in three big leagues, in Japan, Korea and in America. He's a big impact in terms of him coming to Penrith. . . he gives us more depth in our pitching and as the high profile guy that he is hopefully a few other guys will want to come over as well."
Whether Koo is successful in Australia is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain: He definitely won't lack experience, having pitched professionally for two decades now. How many seasons does Koo have left in the tank? "When the players [can't] hit my ball that's when I'll stop playing baseball", said Koo.
To some, age is just a state of mind. For Koo, if he can consistently pitch at a high level, sign the guy up until he's 60!