Koji Uehara

Koji Uehara, born on April 3, 1975, is a distinguished former professional baseball pitcher from Japan. His illustrious career spanned both Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB), where he showcased his exceptional skills with teams such as the Yomiuri Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs.

As a right-handed pitcher, Uehara achieved remarkable statistics throughout his MLB career, boasting a strikeout rate of ten point seven K/9 innings and a walk rate of one point five BB/9 innings by the end of the 2017 season. His impressive career K/BB ratio of seven point thirty-three stands as the best in MLB history for any player with a minimum of one hundred innings pitched.

Uehara's accolades include winning the American League Championship Series MVP Award in two thousand thirteen, a testament to his pivotal role in the postseason. He notably closed the final game of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, contributing to his team's victory and solidifying his place in baseball history. With this triumph, Uehara joined an elite group of just sixteen players who have won both a World Series and a World Baseball Classic.