The reluctant closer

If it were up to him, Danny Oh would spend all his time taking cuts in the batter’s box and chasing fly balls in the outfield.

But sometimes Oh, a highly regarded senior on the Jackson baseball team, is required to fill a role he’d just as soon avoid: relief pitcher.

Late in games Jackson coach Kirk Nicholson regularly calls on Oh to take the mound and preserve a victory. One might describe Oh as the Timberwolves’ reluctant closer. Here’s another way to look at it: Oh shrugs off his distaste for pitching for the greater good.

“I don’t see myself as a pitcher. I just want to hit and field, but if it’s something that can help the team win I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Oh, who I wrote about in yesterday’s paper. (Click here to read the story.)

On the mound, Oh is on a mission. He doesn’t stall like some maddeningly deliberate pitchers.

“I just usually go up there and throw strikes and work as fast as I can,” he said. “I’m not going to take much time. I just throw as many strikes as I can. I don’t care how hard I throw. I’m just trying to get back in the dugout.”