Once teammates, and now rivals in a different country, Hideki Matsui and Koji Uehara have a ton of similarities:
- Both are 34 years old and were born in Japan.
- Both players were first round picks of the Yomiuri Giants.
- Both players showed superb skills during their playing days in Japan.
- Both players were also friends off the field.
But now the biggest difference is that one is in pinstripes and the other is an Oriole.
Koji Uehara was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in January 2009 on a two-year deal. He will now be the Orioles No. 2 starter behind Jeremy Guthrie. The Orioles are also expecting big things out of the 34-year-old who sports a 3.01 career ERA in Japan.
Tomorrow (7:05 EST @ BAL,) the New York Yankees starting line-up with take on Koji Uehara and the Baltimore Orioles.
Matsui has excelled since coming into the MLB as a two-time all-star participant with a career .295 average. The Orioles are hoping for the same conversion for the two-time Sawamura Award Winner (1999, 2002) from the Yomiuri Giants, Koji.
While teammates for four years, Matsui and Koji managed to win both Pitcher of the Year (Sawamura Award) and MVP of the Japanese Central League in the same season, 2002.
Both players were superstars in their native country. Matsui won the League MVP award three times, lead the league in HR three times, and was the RBI King three times as well.
Koji also has many prestigious feats to go along with Matsui, winning the ROY award, the two-time pitcher of the year, and a gold glove. He also lead the league in ERA and was the strikeout champion in his Japanese career.
Let's see how Matsui can fare against his former teammate tomorrow night during the debut of Koji Uehara.
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