Koji Uehara is the Red Sox closer. You knew that already. And you probably know that he’s practically un-hittable, finishing the regular season with a 1.09 ERA, striking out 15 of the 43 batters he has faced in the postseason, and surrendering just one walk since July 4.
Koji Uehara can’t wait to ‘drink a lot of beer’
The Red Sox closer has been blogging throughout the postseason, and now that it’s translated into English, we know he’s even more delightful than we could have imagined.
Dilip Vishwanat
But what might have slipped under your radar is that he’s also a blogger.
It’s entirely in Japanese, obviously, and Google Translate isn’t the best option to learn what he’s saying, since it yields results like this: “One human eyes, struck out swinging in the split. Split with three balls in a three-ball game. First pitch is wonder was the sweetest ball. Because me miss it, and maybe was able to afford Second person, called out on strikes in fastball. I wonder if was waiting for the split?”
Fortunately, The Boston Globe asked Yohei Oka, a Harvard senior from Tokyo, to provide an actual translation (why it took this long for someone to think of this, I do not know).
After the wild Game 3 ending:
“It’s my fault that I gave up the double,” Uehara wrote. “I’m very ashamed of myself that I threw such an easy ball even after being told by the bullpen coach to watch out for first pitches.”
Following the ALDS win over the Rays, a series in which Uehara gave up a walk-off home run in Game 3, but saved Games 2 and 4:
“There were a lot of articles mentioning ‘nightmares,‘ ... Why do people write such negative articles when I’m trying to be optimistic and trying my best? The Boston media should side more with the players.”
haha good luck with that, Koji.
A few other gems (really, check out the whole piece at the Globe):
- “The team seems to be in a good mood when Papi hits.”
- Koji is excited to have another “champagne fight,” what he calls the celebrations after series-clinching wins
- On the ease with which David Ortiz picks him up during celebrations: ’“Am I that light? Or maybe it’s that Papi is too strong.”
And finally, Koji offers a subtle reminder for the media: “It would be nice if they don’t write negative things about people doing their best.” What a delight.
