Koji Uehara
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| Yomiuri Giants — No. 19 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: April 3, 1975 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Nippon Professional Baseball debut | |
| April 4, 1999 for the Yomiuri Giants | |
| Selected NPB statistics (through 2006) |
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| Win-Loss-Tie | 102-54-0 |
| Innings pitched | 1397.1 |
| Strikeouts | 1238 |
| Teams | |
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Baseball | |||
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| Bronze | Athens 2004 | Team Competition | |
Koji Uehara (上原 浩治 born April 3, 1975 in Neyagawa, Osaka) is a right handed starting pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Central League. He is 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) tall and weighs 86 kg (190 lb).
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[edit] Japanese baseball
He graduated from Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences, and drafted in first pick by Giants in 1998, he had a successful rookie year in 1999, having 15 consecutive wins which breaks the all-time rookie record, claiming the Rookie of the Year, Sawamura Award, and leading in wins, ERA, strikeouts and winning precentages.
In 2001, he finished with a 4.02 ERA, his highest yet. However, in 2002, he rebounded, leading the Central League in wins and collecting his second Sawamura Award.
He was injuried before the 2007 season which made him a late appearance, and in that season, he became a relief pitcher instead, recorded an 1.74 ERA with 4 wins, 3 losses and 32 saves. Through showing a good ability both starting and closing, he would return as a starting pitcher in the 2008 season.
[edit] International competition
He was a member of the Japanese National Baseball team which competed in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. The team eventually won the bronze medal.
In 2006, he joined Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic and earned 2 wins, making his unbeaten record in international competition to 21 appearances with 12 wins. In the World Baseball Classic team Japan beat team Cuba to win the championship. He led the tournament with 16 strikeouts. He was a closer in 2007 Asian Baseball Championships, played in two games and earns his first international save against Korea. He is expected to be chosen as one of the member of the National Team in the Beijing Olympics, being a starting pitcher in main, but also a closer if needed. [1]
Until January 2008, his unbeaten record has extended to 23 appearances, with 12 wins and 1 save.
[edit] Scouting report
Uehara has two types of splitters, a cut fastball, a slider and an 88-90 mph fastball with late movement. But his greatest arsenal is forkball, which is almost unhittable. He possesses good command and believes that to walk a batter is worse than allow a base hit.
[edit] Inclination for MLB
Uehara has been asserting his preference in public to be transferred to a Major League Baseball team, through the infamous posting system. His efforts have (so far) been rebuffed by the Yomiuri Giants front office. He was expected to be eligible for free agency in 2007 (but now postponed to 2008 due to his injury in last season. And he was finally eligible for FA in 4th, April, 2008[2]). Somewhat ironically, back in 1998 Uehara rejected a contract worth $3 million from the then-Anaheim Angels and signed with Yomiuri instead following the advice from his family and acquaintances. The Angels have expressed their continued interest in Uehara, as Scouting Director Eddie Bane has stated that acquiring either Uehara or Daisuke Matsuzaka is a top priority for the team. However, many other teams, including the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Mets have shown interest in bidding for Uehara if and when he becomes available. He also has been a friend of Roger Clemens since Clemens visited Japan in 2004 as a member of MLB all star team. MLB web page provided the episode that Clemens gave Uehara his game-used black glove with autograph[1].
[edit] Personality
Uehara collects other famous players' items as his memories. For example, gloves, bats, caps, shoes, wears and so on.
[edit] Career in Japan
| Statistics | ||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Team | G | W | L | SV | CG | SHO | IP | SO | R | ERA | |||||
| 1999 | Yomiuri Giants | 25 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 197⅔ | 179 | 49 | 2.09 | |||||
| 2000 | Yomiuri Giants | 20 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 131 | 126 | 53 | 3.57 | |||||
| 2001 | Yomiuri Giants | 24 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 138⅔ | 108 | 66 | 4.02 | |||||
| 2002 | Yomiuri Giants | 26 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 204 | 182 | 65 | 2.60 | |||||
| 2003 | Yomiuri Giants | 27 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 207⅓ | 194 | 76 | 3.17 | |||||
| 2004 | Yomiuri Giants | 22 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 163 | 153 | 54 | 2.60 | |||||
| 2005 | Yomiuri Giants | 27 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 187⅓ | 145 | 73 | 3.31 | |||||
| 2006 | Yomiuri Giants | 24 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 168⅓ | 151 | 67 | 3.21 | |||||
| 2007 | Yomiuri Giants | 55 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 66 | 12 | 1.74 | |||||
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Career Total |
245 | 104 | 57 | 32 | 54 | 9 | 1459⅓ | 1304 | 515 | 2.96 | ||||||
*Bold = led league
[edit] Awards in Japan
| 1999 | Central League Rookie of the Year, Best Nine, Sawamura Award, Gold Glove, ERA, Strikeouts and Wins champion of the Central League |
| 2002 | Sawamura Award, Best Nine, Wins champion of the Central League and Japan Series |
| 2003 | Gold Glove, Strikeouts champion of the Central League |
| 2004 | ERA champion of the year |
| Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game | 1999-2005, 2007 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Koji Uehara official site + kouji19.net +(Japanese)
- Japanesebaseball.com - Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics
- ArmchairGM Profile Page for Koji Uehara
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