Happy 10-Year Anniversary Of Dae-Sung Koo's Wild Adventure Against Randy Johnson And The Yankees
Before there was Big Sexy Bartolo Colon taking cuts at the plate while making highlights and dreams come true, Mets fans had Dae-Sung Koo. Koo liked to go by the nickname “Mr. Koo”, which made Mets fans fall in love with him immediately. And in the very rare instances he would bat (which was twice in his Major League career), something memorable would happen.
His first career at bat in the bigs was against the Reds on May 15, 2005. Which resulted in Koo standing like a statue as far away from the plate as possible while watching a ball and three strikes go right past him without lifting the bat off his shoulder.
The next time Koo came up to bat was six days later, on May 21, 2005 against Randy Johnson and the Yankees. What resulted was one of the most breathtaking sequences in Mets baseball sports history. I’ll let the YouTube of it tell the story, which also includes the Reds at bat from the picture above.
Koo finished the season with a 3.91 ERA and those two at bats. Unfortunately he also finished the season with a shoulder injury that would end his time in Major League Baseball. So next time Bartolo Colon creates the best baseball “highlight” you have ever seen in a gif or a Vine, don’t forget Mr. Koo, who came in and out of our lives like a majestic comet.
