Koo: Interpreter, assistant, best friend
Meet the critical right-hand man for Colorado’s right-handed relief pitcher Oh
Over the past three seasons, Seunghwan Oh, who came to America as one of the best relief pitchers in Asian baseball history, has proved that his “Final Boss” talents translate well to the major leagues.
Cementing that consistency, as well as the pitcher’s growing comfort with American culture, is Oh’s interpreter, Eugene Koo. The Cincinnati-born Koo, who lived in South Korea from elementary through high school before attending New York University, has been the right-hander’s right-hand man since his introductory news conference with the Cardinals in January 2016.
“We’ve lived together since I came here, so we naturally became pretty close, and that’s a little different than other interpreters you’d typically see,” Oh said. “Over the past several years we’ve developed a bond, and I depend on him on the field and off it.”
Thus Koo, technically a fulltime Rockies employee from the day Colorado acquired Oh from Toronto on July 26, is more than just an interpreter. He’s Oh’s assistant, best friend and — as Rockies manager Bud Black quickly noticed — the critical linguistic bridge between the reliever and the rest of the team.
“The language barrier is real, but Eugene is such an effective communicator,” Black said. “He enables us to get certain teaching points across plus scouting reports, in-game strategy and all the places between whether it’s in the bullpen with (coach) Darren Holmes, in our preseries meetings or in mound visits.”
Koo originally linked up with Oh, who is from South Korea, when the pitcher’s agent called Koo, then working in sports marketing at an advertising firm, out of the blue and asked him to assist with an introductory news conference. The Cardinals hired him when Oh signed with St. Louis, and over the past three seasons the 32-year-old said he has improved in the art of ingame translating.
“It’s pressure just to be out there and making sure I’m not making any mistakes when surrounded by about 40,000 people and it’s a onerun game in the eighth inning,” Koo said. “You have to make sure everyone is on the same page, and there’s not that much time or margin for error.”
While Koo always jogs into the game from the bullpen when Oh’s number is called, this season the duo have had to put in extra time studying English because of the umbrage umpires are taking with the interpreter being on the mound without a coach.
The issue first arose July 8 during Oh’s appearance against the Yankees, when the umpires shooed Koo, then pitching for Toronto, off the mound, They told the Blue Jays’ John Gibbons that the manger or a coach had to be present during mound visits in which an interpreter was there. And from the time Oh was traded to Colorado, the duo has continued to run into the now-enforced but vague rule.
“I’ve made the point to the umpires (Koo should be allowed without a coach), and actually they agree,” Black said. “I think there might be some change at some point moving forward in the rule book where when a non-english speaking pitcher comes in, the interpreter should be able to meet with the catcher and the pitcher to talk about defense.”
A rule change passed before the 2013 season permits interpreters to accompany managers and coaches to the mound; yet MLB’S official online rule book this season makes no specific mention of the exact rules for using interpreters during a game. Even though he can’t accompany Oh without using an official mound visit now, Koo isn’t worried, explaining that extra side meetings with catchers Chris Iannetta and Tony Wolters have helped make up for the inability to interpret upon Oh’s arrival into a game.
“With the Blue Jays, that was the first time all year and in Oh’s (MLB) career they brought up the situation,” Koo said. “We’re just trying to make the signs right — I’m not trying to share any military secrets out there. I just try to make him comfortable, and the other players comfortable.”
Koo is also the link between Oh and the other Colorado relief pitchers, both in the bullpen and outside of game day, a unit with a mix of young and veteran pitchers who often pick each other’s brains on strategy and technique.
Before a game during the last homestand, Mike Dunn was using Koo to explain to Oh the various weighted training balls he was throwing with, and how to use each particular ball. The conversation was seamless: a universal language of baseball via the conduit of Koo.
It was a tableau that epitomized not only where Koo is — an integral part of a team locked in a playoff race — but also the potential of what he believes could be just the beginning of a lifelong career in professional baseball.
“The game is always trying to expand internationally, and from my experiences in this and at the global advertising firm, I’m interested in helping the sport do that,” Koo said. “The discussions of future games in the offseason in Japan, South Korea or somewhere else — I want to be a helpful connection, hopefully, down the road for those types of things either in terms of player relations, on the club side or on the league side.”