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Red Rice Yeast/Beni Koji by Douglas Labs: Red Rice Yeast/Beni Koji 120... fertilitynow.net |
Koji Uehara (上原 浩治 Uehara Kōji, born April 3, 1975, in Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan) is a Major League Baseball Japanese right-handed starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.
[edit] Japanese baseballHe graduated from Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences, and was drafted with the first pick by Giants in 1998. He had a successful rookie year in 1999, with 15 consecutive wins which broke the all-time rookie record, claimed the Rookie of the Year, Eiji Sawamura Award, and led in wins, ERA, strikeouts and winning percentage. 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 injured before the 2007 season which made him a late appearance, and in that season, he became a closer instead, recorded an 1.74 ERA with 4 wins, 3 losses and 32 saves. Though showing a good ability both starting and closing, he returned as a starting pitcher in the 2008 season. He left the Giants after that season becoming a free agent and allowing him to play in Major League Baseball. [edit] International competitionUehara is renowned for his performance in international competition. He participated in international events since he was in the University, he also participated Olympic Games twice, as well as the first World Baseball Classic, and participated in Asian Baseball Championships. He has 12 wins and 2 saves, without a loss in his 25 appearances from the above events. 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, improving his unbeaten record in international competition (including amateur appearances) to 12 wins in 21 total appearances. In the World Baseball Classic, team Japan beat team Cuba to win the championship; Uehara led the tournament with 16 strikeouts. He was a closer in 2007 Asian Baseball Championships, played in two games and earned his first international save against Korea. His performance in 2008 was extremely unstable, even being demoted to farm team in late April. He remained in the 39-out-of-77 men candidate list towards the Beijing Olympics in late June, and was selected to the final 24-men list in mid-July. He was expected to be a set-up pitcher, not a starting pitcher or closer before the Olympic Games due to his instability in that season. But he appeared as a closer in his first appearance against Chinese Taipei, pitching a shutout inning in the game without yielding a hit, winning 6-1. He earned his first Olympic save against Canada, holding a 1-0 victory two days later. However, after the Japan finished fourth in the games, he expressed no interest on participating the World Baseball Classic in 2009 in an interview, meaning that his record has come to an end. [edit] Inclination for MLBBack in 1998, Uehara rejected a contract worth $3 million from the then-Anaheim Angels and signed with Yomiuri instead of following the advice of family and acquaintances. The Angels have expressed their continued interest in Uehara, as Scouting Director Eddie Bane had stated that acquiring either Uehara or Daisuke Matsuzaka was a top priority for the team. However, many other teams, including the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Mets, and Orioles had shown interest in bidding for Uehara if and when he were to become available. Uehara asserted his preference in public to be transferred to a Major League Baseball team through the posting system. His efforts had been rebuffed by the Yomiuri Giants front office. He was expected to be eligible for free agency in 2007 (but that was postponed to 2008 due to his injury). He became eligible for free agency in 4 April, 2008.[1] He is also a friend of Roger Clemens after Clemens visited Japan in 2004 as a member of MLB all star team. MLB.com showed a video in which Clemens gave Uehara his game-used black glove with autograph[1]. [edit] MLB careerOn January 13, 2009, Uehara signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. He is the number 2 starter behind ace Jeremy Guthrie.[2] Uehara has quickly become a appointment in Baltimore. He made his big league debut on April 8 against the New York Yankees. He walked the first batter he saw in regular season play, Derek Jeter. Uehara earned the win, going five innings and giving up just one run. His second outing resulted in a win against the Texas Rangers. On 29 April 2009, Uehara took a line drive off of the sternum for which he was X-rayed and the results came back negative. On September 10th 2009, it was announced that Koji would be out for the season, but will be back for 2010 [edit] PersonalityUehara collects other famous players' items as his memories. For example, gloves, bats, caps, shoes, wears and so on. [edit] Awards in Japan
[edit] References[edit] See also[edit] External links
Categories: 1975 births | Living people | Japanese baseball players | Major League Baseball players from Japan | Major League Baseball pitchers | Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics | Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics | Olympic baseball players of Japan | Olympic bronze medalists for Japan | Yomiuri Giants players | People from Neyagawa | 2006 World Baseball Classic players of Japan | Baltimore Orioles players | Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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