Koo Ja-wook received a golden glove in the outfield category along with Hong Chang-ki (LG Twins) and Park Gun-woo (NC Dinos) at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Golden Glove Awards held at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, Seoul on the 11th.

Koo received 185 votes (63.6 percent) out of the 291 total valid votes, comfortably beating his rivals. He is the second individual to win the prize after 2021.

In an interview before the award ceremony, he said, “I envy the Golden Glove more than the individual title. The Golden Glove Trophy is cool. It’s an award I’ve dreamed of since I was a child,” and that wish came true. 경마

Koo Ja-wook, who was called the winner, took the stage but failed to express his joy due to the broadcasting schedule. He also had to give his acceptance speech too briefly.

Koo Ja-wook, whom he met after the award ceremony, said, “There are a lot of people I’m grateful for, but I couldn’t say it properly.” “Park Jin-man is the first official coach this year, and I’m so sorry that the players couldn’t help me. I’ll try harder to smile more days next year.”

Koo also thanked the two older brothers, Oh Seung-hwan and Kang Min-ho. “I’m the captain, but the actual captain in the team is (Oh) Seung-hwan to the pitcher and (Kang) Min-ho to the fielder. I really wanted to say thank you to the two seniors,” Koo said.

Oh Seung-hwan, the eldest brother of the Lion Army, took care of Koo Ja-wook more generously than anyone else. “I live in the same apartment as him. When I had a hard time, he called me out and talked a lot (in the apartment complex). He sometimes served me delicious meals,” Koo said. “I spent a lot of time with him this year.”

Taking advice from Oh, Koo has enjoyed flying wildly this season. He played in 119 games in the KBO League, ranking second in batting average (0.336), second in on-base percentage (0.407), fourth in slugging percentage (0.494), and 10th in hits (152).

Oh is the best closing pitcher with 400 saves overall in the KBO League, having played in Korea, the U.S., and Japan. However, his decision to sign a free agent after the end of the season has yet to be finalized. Samsung and Oh are currently negotiating.

Koo Ja-wook said Oh is an essential player for Samsung. “He is the best physical player among the 10 teams. He realized that age is just a number,” Koo said. “He is the past, present and future of Samsung. He is the only one that younger players can lean on. I sincerely hope that a good contract will be signed.”

Meanwhile, Koo Ja-wook confessed that he was so jealous of Oh Ji-hwan (LG Twins), who won the Golden Glove shortstop category.

Oh Ji-hwan said at the award ceremony, “I won the title for the first time in 29 years, and now is the starting point. I will try to build a dynasty by winning a unified title next year.” Koo Ja-wook, who has no experience in winning the title, caught the ear of Koo Ja-wook.

Koo Ja-wook smiled, saying, “When I win the next Golden Glove, as Oh Ji-hwan said, ‘I’m so glad I won. It was the best year’.”