FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Koji Uehara will carry a baseball and high expectations to the mound Friday when he makes his debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
It's only an exhibition game against the Florida Marlins, and it's likely the right-hander won't go more than two innings. Yet the hype surrounding the Orioles' first Japanese import is already churning."It's a big day for major league baseball and for baseball fans throughout the world," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said Thursday. "Tomorrow is the first step in hopefully many more opportunities for something like this to happen. I know Koji is looking forward to it, we're all looking forward to it. It's going to be just a real fun thing to watch."
The 33-year-old Uehara spent the past 10 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most prestigious team. He went 112-62 with a 3.01 ERA, 1,376 strikeouts and only 206 walks in 276 career games. He was selected Rookie of the Year in 1999 and won two Swamura Awards as the league's best pitcher.
Uehara is projected to be the No. 2 man in the Orioles rotation behind Jeremy Guthrie. More importantly, he epitomizes the team's effort to extend its reach beyond North America and the Dominican Republic.
"He's representing more than just himself. He's representing the future," Trembley said.
Some pitchers might yawn at the prospect of throwing in an exhibition game. Trembley suspects Uehara will have a vastly different approach.
"I would think his heart rate might be beating tomorrow. He will probably feel like a kid, that kind of enthusiasm," the manager said. "I'm sure when he goes to bed tonight he'll be thinking about how this happened."
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