Koji Uehara
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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 3rd, 1975 in Neyagawa, Osaka) is a right handed pitcher for the Yomiuri Tokyo Giants. He is 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) tall and weighs 86 kg (190 lb).
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[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.
[edit] Scouting Report
Uehara has two types of splitters, a cut fastball, a slider and an 88-90 mph fastball with late movement. He possesses good control and has a smooth delivery.
[edit] Inclination for MLB
Uehara has been asserting his preference in public to be transfered 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 is eligible for free agency in 2007. 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] Career in Japan
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| Year | Team | G | W | L | SV | CG | SHO | IP | SO | R | ERA | |||||
| 1999 | Tokyo Giants | 25 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 197⅔ | 179 | 49 | 2.09 | Rookie of the Year, Best Nine, Gold Glove | ||||
| 2000 | Tokyo Giants | 20 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 131 | 126 | 53 | 3.57 | |||||
| 2001 | Tokyo Giants | 24 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 138⅔ | 108 | 66 | 4.02 | |||||
| 2002 | Tokyo Giants | 26 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 204 | 182 | 65 | 2.60 | Best Nine | ||||
| 2003 | Tokyo Giants | 27 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 207⅓ | 194 | 76 | 3.17 | Gold Glove | ||||
| 2004 | Tokyo Giants | 22 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 163 | 153 | 54 | 2.60 | |||||
| 2005 | Tokyo Giants | 27 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 187⅓ | 145 | 73 | 3.31 | |||||
| 2006 | Tokyo Giants | 24 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 168⅓ | 151 | 67 | 3.21 | |||||
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Career Total |
195 | 102 | 54 | 0 | 54 | 9 | 1397⅓ | 1238 | 503 | 3.01 | ||||||
*Bold = led league
