KBO’s ERA leader disqualified from award due to bullying history
The pitcher who led the South Korean league in ERA and strikeouts this year has been disqualified from the country’s top pitching award because of his past bullying.
An Woo-jin of the Kiwoom Heroes had the lowest ERA in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) this season at 2.11 and also led all pitchers with 224 strikeouts, one shy of the single season record. An came up one category shy of a pitching Triple Crown, as he finished second in the league with 15 victories.
Under normal circumstances, An would have been a runaway winner of the Choi Dong-won Award, which recognizes the best KBO pitcher each year. It was created in 2014 by the Choi Dong-won Memorial Foundation in honor of the late namesake pitcher, considered one of the best hurlers in KBO’s 40-year history.
An was suspended for 50 games in his rookie season in 2018, after the Heroes learned of his physical abuse against high school teammates. The bully label has continued to dog An, who may also be kept off the national team for the World Baseball Classic next March because of that past. An is also ineligible for the Olympics and the Asian Games.
“An Woo-jin is really a great player, but his candidacy goes against the spirit of the award, since Choi Dong-won almost had to quit baseball because he was also bullied and abused by teammates,” said Kang Jin-soo, secretary-general of the foundation. “With school violence remaining an important social issue, we didn’t want to leave this decision to our voters. The board of directors decided to keep An out of consideration.”
Candidates for the award must meet the following criteria: at least 25 starts, 180 innings pitched, 12 wins, 150 strikeouts, 15 quality starts, a sub-3.00 ERA and 35 saves for relievers.
Kang said the foundation will add a new clause and limit candidates to “players of exemplary dignity and character.”
With An out of the race, the final candidates are: Kim Kwang-hyun of the SSG Landers, and three LG Twins pitchers — starters Casey Kelly and Adam Plutko, and closer Go Woo-suk.
Kim finished second in ERA at 2.13. Kelly led the league with 16 wins, and Plutko tied for second in wins (15) and was alone in third in ERA (2.39). Go led all closers with 42 saves.