Good Bye Kuo Hong-Chih
After 19 years in professional baseball, the Fubon Guardians’ left-handed pitcher 郭泓志 (Kuo Hong-Chih) announced his retirement after Game Four of the 2018 Playoff Series.
The 37-year-old former MLB All-Star entered the game in the eighth, where he gave up one hit, struck out and walked two over 1.1 scoreless innings against the Uni-Lions.
After Kuo threw his final pitch in the CPBL, he bent down and kissed the mound for the very last time before walking off to a standing ovation from both the Guardians and Uni-Lions fans.
For that brief moment, there was no animosity among the Guardians and Uni-Lions fans. The score does not matter, the two runners on base do not matter. It was about giving Kuo the respect he deserved.
#Fubon Guardians' 郭泓志 (Kuo Hong-Chih) announced retirement last night. The former MLB All-Star kissed the mound for the last time in Game 4 of the Playoff Series.
37-year-old Kuo finished his 2018 #CPBL season with a 3.71 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 44K over 34 innings. #Dodgers(?pb+) pic.twitter.com/6przLG4KE9
— CPBL STATS (@GOCPBL) October 23, 2018
Kuo’s Plan After Baseball?
“Would love to spend more time with my family, and if there is an opportunity, I will continue to contribute to the Taiwan baseball scene,” said Kuo Hong-Chih after the game. “I have no regrets in my professional career, and I am fortunate to finish my career doing what I love.”
“I will have another chat with Kuo, condition-wise, I think he can still pitch next year,” said the Guardians’ owner Chris Tsai. “We will do what we can to convince him not to hang up the cleats.”
The hard-throwing lefty finished his 2018 CPBL season with a 3.71 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 44 strikeouts over 34 innings. In his four CPBL seasons, he posted a combined record of 3.81 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 147 strikeouts over 111 innings.
