Lotte Park Se-woong (28) was the most senior member of the Hangzhou Asian Games baseball team.

Park Se-woong is the team’s biggest brother and led the national team to victory. Park Se-woong took the mound in the first game of the Super Round against Japan on the 5th and pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, and no runs, contributing to Korea’s advance to the finals. And in the dugout, he consoled the players and shouted “fighting” whenever the mood got down, strengthening his determination to win the gold medal.굿모닝토토

After winning the gold medal of his dreams, Park Se-woong handed the medal to someone else. During the ceremony after winning the final against Chinese Taipei held in Hangzhou, China on the 7th, he was caught taking a photo with bullpen catcher Nuri Kwon.

While other players were sharing their joy by taking pictures together or making video calls to acquaintances, Park Se-woong hung his gold medal around the bullpen catcher’s neck and took a picture with them.

The reason Park Se-woong did this was because his gratitude to him was too great to express in words.

Park Se-woong, who joined his team Lotte on the 9th, said, “My (bullpen) catcher brother accompanied the national team four times before and never achieved good results, but this time he achieved good results.”

Kwon Nuri dreamed of making his professional debut, but he could not achieve it. However, as he began his career as a bullpen catcher at SK (now SSG) in 2014, he indirectly achieved his dream of becoming a baseball player.

Bullpen catcher Kwon Nuri was the only bullpen catcher in this national team. The number of AD cards, which are used to authorize access to the competition facility, was limited, so he had to go alone. Personally, it was my 5th time accompanying the national team. He helped the players focus on the game by not only receiving pitches from pitchers but also doing small tasks for the national team.

Park Se-woong said, “In Korea, there are many people who assist each team (for each team), but in this competition, I came alone and did all the dirty work. “I wanted to take care of them because they went through a hard time together, but I thought there was no way, so I did it,” he said.

Other players agreed. Na Kyun-an, who debuted as a catcher but then switched to a pitcher, knew better how a catcher feels. He said, “Nuri said to me, ‘There are other pitchers, but I had the hardest time catching the ball.’ “I also used to be a catcher, so we became closer while talking about the difficult parts,” he said.

Although Dong-hee Yoon was a fielder, he knew well the hard work of a bullpen catcher. Dong-hee Yoon said, “Nuri not only played the role of bullpen catcher, but he also did all the dirty work, including batting balls, by himself. I think I should have hung a medal around my neck too. He expressed his gratitude, saying, “I am grateful and thank you for your hard work.”

In addition, Park Se-woong did not forget to call his trainer and say thank you. For that reason, he explained, “I contacted them because they were the ones who checked my physical condition the most when I was on the team and worked hard behind the scenes for us.”