The 53-Year-Old Pitcher Who Might Never Stop
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For many baseball fans, the name Dae-Sung Koo is synonymous with 2005, when the then-Mets relief pitcher smashed a double off of future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, then proceeded to race home from second base on a bunt. That was the only season that the 35-year-old Koo appeared in Major League Baseball, and if you thought he’d retired after that, it would be understandable. But then, in January, footage surfaced of Koo getting batters out in Australia… at age 53. Today, we take a look at Koo’s remarkable odyssey since that day in New York, why he’s still taking the mound at an age when anyone in their right mind would have stopped, and just how long the ageless lefty might keep going.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the lead, add free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:04.9 | Download the app today. |
| 0:07.6 | Even the Rich is a podcast from Wondery that tells the jaw-dropping stories about the |
| 0:11.4 | tumultuous lives of the world's elite, from the greatest family dynasties to pop culture |
| 0:15.8 | superstars. |
| 0:16.8 | Listen to even the Rich on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:27.0 | Let's turn back the clock for a second to the year 2005. |
| 0:31.0 | It's Shay Stadium, Yankees versus Metz, Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is on the mound for |
| 0:36.1 | the Yankees and into the batter's box, steps left-handed relief pitcher and 35-year-old |
| 0:42.2 | Metz-Rookie, Die Sung Koo. |
| 0:45.0 | Odds are not in Koo's favor here to say the least and that made what happened next? |
| 0:49.9 | Pretty extraordinary. |
| 0:50.9 | If that had been the end of it, it would have been memorable all by itself. |
| 1:16.8 | Then out of nowhere, Koo decided to race home from second after a routine play at first |
| 1:22.8 | on a bun. |
| 1:26.8 | It was truly an unforgettable day in New York. |
| 1:42.3 | That turned out to be the 35-year-old Koo's only season in Major League Baseball. |
| 1:47.4 | And if you assume that he had gone off to retirement, that would be understandable. |
| 1:52.0 | But in fact, 18 years later, Koo is still playing at age 53. |
| 2:09.8 | Today, reporter Matt Monaghan tells us about Koo's remarkable odyssey since that day in New |
| 2:14.8 | York, why he is still taking the mound and just how long the ageless lefty might keep |
| 2:20.9 | going. |
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