He’s started games. He’s pitched in the eighth inning to set up a lead. He’s closed games out in the ninth. On September 3, at age 41, KT Wiz sidearm pitcher Woo Gyu-min added one more line to a career that has already covered every job a pitching staff can ask of a man: he became the first right-handed pitcher in KBO history to appear in 900 career games.
It happened in Suwon, at KT Wiz Park, in a home game against the Hanwha Eagles — a game KT was already winning comfortably. But for a league that has existed since 1982, watching a right-hander cross the 900-appearance threshold for the first time ever is the kind of moment that doesn’t need a pennant race attached to it to matter. It’s a record about time, durability, and usefulness — three things that are much harder to accumulate than a single big night at the plate or on the mound.
The Night It Happened: A Routine Relief Outing With Historic Weight
On the surface, Woo’s 900th career appearance looked almost unremarkable. KT was leading Hanwha 10-7 heading into the top of the eighth inning, a comfortable enough margin that the moment could have easily been overshadowed by the scoreline. Woo came out of the bullpen for relief duty, worked two-thirds of an inning, allowed one hit and one run, and struck out one batter. It was a modest, workmanlike outing — the kind he has logged hundreds of times before, in exactly the setup role he has occupied for so much of his career.
That’s part of what makes the record so fitting. Woo Gyu-min didn’t get to 900 games with a signature no-hitter or a walk-off save that will run on highlight reels for years. He got there the way most durability records get set: one unglamorous relief appearance at a time, across nearly two full decades of professional baseball, showing up when his team needed an out and getting it more often than not.
The Numbers
| Detail | 900th Game — September 3 |
|---|---|
| Opponent | Hanwha Eagles |
| Venue | KT Wiz Park, Suwon (home game) |
| Score at time of entry | KT 10, Hanwha 7 (top of the 8th) |
| Innings pitched | 0.2 (two outs) |
| Hits allowed | 1 |
| Strikeouts | 1 |
| Runs allowed | 1 |
| Career appearances (all-time KBO rank) | 900 (3rd all-time) |
Where 900 Games Ranks in KBO History
The KBO (Korea Baseball Organization) is Korea’s top professional baseball league, home to ten clubs including Woo’s KT Wiz, based in Suwon, just south of Seoul. Across more than four decades of league history, only two pitchers have ever pitched in more games than Woo Gyu-min has now: Jung Woo-ram, who leads the all-time list with 1,005 career appearances, and Ryu Taek-hyun, who sits just ahead of Woo at 901. With his 900th appearance on September 3, Woo now holds sole possession of third place on that all-time list — and he did it as a right-handed pitcher, a distinction neither of the two men above him shares.
That right-handed distinction is the headline detail. Jung Woo-ram and Ryu Taek-hyun, the only two pitchers in KBO history with more career appearances than Woo, are both left-handers. Left-handed relievers are prized across virtually every professional baseball league in the world for matchup flexibility, and that demand tends to keep durable left-handed arms employed — and pitching — deep into their careers. A right-hander reaching the same rarefied territory, occupied for decades exclusively by lefties, is a different kind of achievement. Woo Gyu-min is now the first right-handed pitcher in KBO history to ever get there.
The Sidearm Delivery That Built a Two-Decade Career
Part of what has allowed Woo to keep pitching into his forties is his delivery itself. Woo throws sidearm — a lower, sweeping arm angle closer to the ground than a traditional over-the-top motion, sometimes described as a submarine-adjacent style depending on how low the release point drops. American fans may not be familiar with many current sidearm specialists in MLB, but the archetype is a recognizable one: a “funky” arm angle that gives hitters a different look than the traditional three-quarters or over-the-top deliveries they see most often, and — just as importantly for a pitcher trying to last two decades — a motion that tends to place different, often gentler, stress on the arm than a max-effort overhand delivery.
That combination of deception and reduced wear has been central to Woo’s staying power. Sidearm and submarine pitchers are frequently used as matchup relievers precisely because the unusual look they present can neutralize hitters who otherwise feast on conventional arm angles — a value proposition that doesn’t fade as fast as raw velocity does with age. It’s a big part of the answer to the obvious question anyone hearing about a 41-year-old still pitching competitively in a professional league would ask: how?
A Career Built on Doing Every Job on the Pitching Staff
What separates Woo Gyu-min’s 900 games from a simple accumulation of innings is the range of roles packed into them. Over the course of his career, Woo has pitched as a starter, as a middle-innings setup man, and as a closer — the full spectrum of jobs a pitching staff has to fill across a 144-game KBO season. That kind of versatility is unusual by itself; most pitchers, even durable ones, tend to settle into a single defined role for the bulk of their careers, whether by choice, by skill set, or by how a coaching staff decides to deploy them.
American fans looking for a comparable archetype don’t have to look far. MLB has its own long tradition of what’s often called the “journeyman reliever” — a veteran pitcher who bounces between roles and even between organizations, valued less for a single standout skill than for reliability, professionalism, and the ability to be trusted in whatever situation a manager throws at him. Woo Gyu-min’s career, spanning starter, setup, and closer duty across nearly two decades with a single organization, fits that mold almost exactly, just compressed into one franchise’s uniform rather than several.
That versatility is also precisely why Woo has been able to keep accumulating appearances long after most pitchers his age have retired. A one-dimensional reliever whose value depends entirely on velocity or a single dominant pitch tends to see his role shrink as his stuff declines. A pitcher who has proven, across a career, that he can be trusted in any role a coaching staff needs — a fifth starter in a pinch, a setup man holding a one-run lead, a closer nailing down the ninth — gives a manager a reason to keep finding innings for him, year after year, well past the point where a more specialized arm would have been phased out.
“I Really Want to Pitch in the Korean Series”
Ahead of reaching the 900-game milestone, Woo sat down for an interview with Sports Khan in which he was asked about what still motivates him at this stage of his career. His answer was direct and specific: “I really want to pitch in the Korean Series.”
The Korean Series is the KBO’s championship round — the culmination of the league’s postseason and the equivalent of the World Series in Korean professional baseball. For a pitcher with nearly 900 games and two decades of professional experience behind him, naming a Korean Series appearance as an active goal, rather than looking back on career achievements already banked, says something about where Woo’s mindset still is at 41: forward, not backward.
It’s worth being precise about what is and isn’t confirmed here. Whether Woo actually gets that Korean Series opportunity depends entirely on factors outside his own performance — specifically, whether KT’s regular-season results are strong enough to qualify the club for the postseason at all, and how deep a postseason run the team is able to make if it gets there. Nothing in the reporting around his 900th game confirms KT’s playoff position or guarantees Woo a Korean Series roster spot. What is confirmed is the goal itself, stated in his own words: pitching in the Korean Series is what he’s chasing next.
The Manager Walked Out to the Mound — and Asked Him
One additional detail from the day underscores how the milestone was treated inside the KT clubhouse itself. According to a report from MoneyToday, the KT manager personally walked out to the mound to mark the occasion — and rather than simply signaling for a pitching change, he asked Woo directly whether he wanted to come out of the game.
It’s a small gesture, but a telling one. In-game mound visits are typically brisk, tactical exchanges — a manager or pitching coach checking on a pitcher’s status, discussing the next hitter, or simply buying a reliever warming up in the bullpen a few extra seconds. Turning that moment into a direct, personal conversation about whether the pitcher himself wanted to keep going, on the night he reached his 900th career appearance, reads as a deliberate show of respect for what Woo has built over two decades in a KT uniform — letting the milestone belong to the player, on his own terms, rather than having it dictated purely by matchup strategy.
Why a Number Like 900 Is Harder to Reach Than It Sounds
It’s easy to read “900 games” as just a large number and move on. It’s worth sitting with what actually has to go right, year after year, for a pitcher to accumulate that many appearances. He has to stay healthy enough, season after season, to avoid the injuries that end or shorten so many pitching careers — a nontrivial feat for any pitcher, let alone one who has thrown in relief as often as Woo has, where outings come on short and often unpredictable rest. He has to stay effective enough that a coaching staff keeps calling his number instead of turning to a younger arm. And he has to stay valuable enough, across changing rosters, changing coaching staffs, and a changing league, that “durable veteran” reads as an asset rather than a name on the roster waiting to be replaced.
Woo Gyu-min has now done all three of those things longer than every right-handed pitcher who has ever thrown in the KBO. Only two players in league history — both left-handers, Jung Woo-ram and Ryu Taek-hyun — have pitched in more games. That’s the whole list. Every other pitcher who has ever taken the mound in a KBO game, across more than four decades of professional baseball in Korea, has appeared in fewer games than a 41-year-old sidearm pitcher who is still active right now.
Quick Facts
- Player: Woo Gyu-min, sidearm pitcher, KT Wiz
- Age: 41
- Milestone: 900th career KBO appearance, reached September 3 against the Hanwha Eagles at KT Wiz Park (Suwon)
- 900th-game line: 0.2 innings, 1 hit, 1 strikeout, 1 run allowed, entering with KT ahead 10-7
- All-time KBO rank: 3rd in career appearances, behind Jung Woo-ram (1,005) and Ryu Taek-hyun (901)
- Historic distinction: First right-handed pitcher in KBO history to reach 900 career games
- Career roles: Has pitched as a starter, setup man, and closer
- Stated goal: “I really want to pitch in the Korean Series” — told to Sports Khan
- Notable moment: KT’s manager walked out to the mound and personally asked Woo whether he wanted to leave the game, in a gesture of respect for the milestone, per MoneyToday
Source: Sports Khan, Newspim, MoneyToday, Joongboo
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that Woo Gyu-min is the first right-handed pitcher to reach 900 games?
It means that in more than four decades of KBO history, only two pitchers have ever appeared in as many or more games than Woo — Jung Woo-ram (1,005) and Ryu Taek-hyun (901) — and both of them are left-handed. Woo is now the first right-hander in league history to cross the 900-appearance threshold, a distinction that had, until September 3, belonged exclusively to left-handed pitchers.
What is a sidearm pitching delivery, and why does it matter for Woo’s longevity?
A sidearm delivery is a lower, more horizontal arm angle than the traditional over-the-top or three-quarters motions most pitchers use. It gives hitters an unfamiliar look, which can be an effective weapon in relief situations, and this type of motion is generally understood to place different physical demands on the arm compared to a max-effort overhand delivery — a factor that has likely contributed to Woo’s ability to keep pitching competitively into his forties.
Will Woo Gyu-min actually pitch in the Korean Series?
That’s not yet determined. Woo has said pitching in the Korean Series is a goal he’s chasing, but whether it happens depends on KT’s regular-season results and the club qualifying for and advancing through the postseason. Nothing currently confirms that KT will reach the Korean Series this season — it remains Woo’s stated ambition, not a guaranteed outcome.
What roles has Woo Gyu-min played over his career?
He has pitched as a starter, a middle-innings setup man, and a closer — covering the full range of jobs a pitching staff needs filled across a season. That versatility is part of why he has remained a valuable, active piece of KT’s pitching staff well into his forties, rather than being phased out as a single-role specialist might have been.
What happened during the mound visit on the night of his 900th game?
According to MoneyToday, KT’s manager walked out to the mound himself and asked Woo directly whether he wanted to leave the game, rather than simply making the substitution unilaterally — a gesture reported as a way of honoring the milestone and letting Woo have a say in how the moment ended.
Looking Ahead
Records built on volume rather than a single dramatic moment tend to get less attention than they deserve, and Woo Gyu-min’s 900th career game is a good example of why that’s a mistake. There was no walk-off, no strikeout for the ages, no viral highlight — just two-thirds of an inning, one hit, one strikeout, and one run allowed, in a game his team was already winning comfortably. But strip away the box score and what’s left is a 41-year-old sidearm pitcher who has now appeared in more KBO games than every right-hander who has ever played in the league’s history, and who trails only two left-handed pitchers on the sport’s all-time list.
What comes next is genuinely open. Woo has been explicit about wanting a Korean Series appearance before his career is finished, and how KT’s season plays out over the coming weeks will determine whether that goal becomes reachable this year or has to wait. Either way, the number on the scoreboard the night he reached 900 mattered far less than the number attached to his name in the record book — a mark that, for now, no other right-handed pitcher in KBO history has ever matched.