SEOUL– At age 38 and in his 16th year in professional baseball, Doosan Bears’ reliever Lee Hyun-seung has pretty much seen it all and done it all.
But he isn’t quite sure if he has ever been on a team quite as resilient as the 2021 Bears, a team that he said Wednesday has lived up to its moniker, “Miracle Doosan.”
The Bears have played in every Korean Series since 2015, and won titles in 2015, 2016 and 2019. Lee, who has been with the club since 2010, said the 2016 squad still sticks out as the most dominant team. But the current team has also left a lasting impression, as the Bears now sit a win away from reaching another Korean Series despite a slew of injuries.
“We don’t have much starting pitching, and we have so many injuries. We’ve done well to even get this far,” Lee said Wednesday before Game 2 against the Samsung Lions in the penultimate series of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason.
The Bears have been competing this postseason without their top two starters, Ariel Miranda and Walker Lockett, due to injuries. Pitcher Yoo Hee-kwan and infielder Oh Jae-won, integral members of past championship teams, didn’t even make the roster this time because of their struggles.
“If you see us play, I think you’ll realize why people call us ‘Miracle Doosan,'” Lee said. “Honestly, there were some games where I didn’t think we would have been able to win. I think we have more magic left in us.”
Lee reserved particular praise for his fellow relievers. Lee Young-ha tossed four shutout innings out of the bullpen to help the Bears clinch the previous series on Sunday. Then on Tuesday, with Lee unavailable, Hong Geon-hui was the first out of the bullpen and threw three innings of one-run ball for a relief win.
Lee did his part by getting the next three outs in Hong’s relief.
“Young-ha and Geon-hui have been tremendous. And I doubt I’ll be able to pitch as well in those situations,” Lee said. “I am just here to support those young guys.”
Lee is pitching in his seventh consecutive postseason, the longest such streak for an active player. He said it has only been possible because he’s been with the right team at the right moment.
“I’ve been blessed to be pitching for this team every fall,” Lee said. “I feel very fortunate to be where I am.”
In the opposite dugout, Samsung outfielder Koo Ja-wook said he doesn’t want to see any more miracles from the Bears.
“We have to be aggressive at the plate and on the field, and make sure we leave nothing on the field,” Koo said. “That’s how we’ll be able to beat Miracle Doosan. They’re such a veteran team that no one seems to be rushing anything. I think we should try to be the same way.”
The Lions are playing in their first postseason since 2015. Koo was a hot-shot rookie back then, and he said he’d waited too long to return to postseason baseball.
In fact, Koo even attended some postseason games in earlier years and watched other teams from the stands. And one thing that caught his eyes was how players’ celebrations of key hits or plays fired up the crowd.
“I figured I could give fans something to cheer about that way, too,” said Koo, who has been particularly demonstrative with his celebrations after hits or home runs. “I watched last year’s Korean Series from the stands. I want to play in it this year.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency