When I went over to Korea my main goal was to come back at some point.

메릴 켈리, 애리조나 다이아몬드백스 Merrill Kelly Arizona Diamondbacks Kelly signed with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) ahead of the 2015 season. In four seasons with SK Wyverns, Kelly pitched to a 48–32 record and a 3.86 ERA while winning the 2018 Korean Series. In Game 3 of the series, he pitched seven innings allowing two runs to earn the win. 내 최종 목표는 언젠가 다시 미국으로 돌아오는 것이었다. 내가 한국에 있을 때 '넌 여기까지야'라는 생각은 내 머릿속 어디에도 없었다. 나는 한국 생활이 가까운 미래(메이저리그 복귀 순간)가 다가오기 전까지의 커리어라고만 받아들였다. 한국 생활이 내 커리어의 끝이라고는 받아들이지 않았다"고 힘줘 말했다. For a pitcher that needed to go to Korea to play in the KBO for several years to get his career back on track and set him up to pitch in the USA, this is a dream he never gave up on during his time overseas.  Asked if he ever dreamt about this day, he was emphatic "Every day. When I went over to Korea....my main goal was obviously to come back at some point......I definitely had aspirations of being here, sitting in this room talking to you guys, and I think that was part of almost my daily routine. The games are on early in the morning over there when I wake up. So I'd wake and check on -- first, I would check on my guys, my friends in the league and see how they were doing that day. And then obviously pay attention to the teams that I thought towards the end of my time over there that I thought I might have a chance to come back and contribute with." Now he is getting to live out that dream and the moment is not lost on him. "What we're doing right now is every little kid's dream. When you are in the backyard and you're playing with your friends -- it sounds cliche just coming out of my mouth as I'm saying it -- but it's the truth. You ask a lot of guys in this league that have been lifetime baseball fans, lifetime passionate about the game of baseball, we all dream about being in these situations. Obviously the aspirations and dreams are usually the World Series, but the fact that we're knocking on the doorstep is pretty special." "한국은 내게 큰 의미가 있다. 한국에 간 것은 내 인생 최고의 결정이었다. 그곳에서 만난 사람들은 내게 아주 특별하다. 만약 가지 않았더라면 이렇게 애리조나 유니폼을 입고 여기에 있지 못했을 것이다. 지금 이 자리까지 오기에 긴 여정이었지만, 나에겐 큰 의미가 있다. 그 어떤 것과도 바꿀 수 없다"