Gamboa finds his Korean dream with Lotte

"I wanted to spend the offseason more productively and make some money, so I decided to start a car wash business."

That was what 28-year-old pitcher Mike Gamboa (USA) wrote on Facebook last year after finishing his season with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Alongside his message, he posted a flyer advertising an $80 mobile car wash service. This season, Gamboa pitched in eight Triple-A games, throwing 19 and one-third innings without a win, recording two losses and a 4.19 ERA. A call-up to the major leagues never came.

Then came a dramatic turn. Gamboa signed with the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization and crossed the Pacific Ocean for the first time in his life. He even had to apply for his first passport. Lotte urgently brought him in after their ace left-hander, Charlie Barnes (30), who had been their top starter for four seasons, went down with a shoulder injury.

Gamboa’s KBO debut on May 27 against the Samsung Lions in Daegu was rough. He gave up four runs in four and two-thirds innings. But that would be his only major stumble. In June, he went 5-0 in five starts with a 1.72 ERA, completely turning his performance around.

On July 8, Gamboa was named KBO’s Player of the Month for June. He received 30 out of 35 votes (85.7 percent) from the press and 105,152 fan votes out of 429,664 (24.5 percent). He became the first foreign pitcher to win the monthly MVP award since KT’s William Cuevas did so in August 2023, nearly two years ago. On July 2 against the LG Twins at Sajik Stadium, Gamboa also set a new KBO record for the fastest pitch thrown by a left-hander, clocking in at 158 kilometers per hour.

Not only has Gamboa become more productive, but he is finally making money. As June’s MVP, he will receive a trophy and 3 million won in prize money.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com