I am sure that his efforts are an inspiration for all of Japan. It’s nice to see a hard-working athlete like Uehara be successful. While it’s true that most professional athletes at this level are hard-working, I am sure Uehara provides inspiration to a lot of Japanese people.
And it seems fitting that Uehara made his way to Boston. With the tragedy at the Boston Marathon and tragedy in New England at Sandy Hook the previous year, I am sure that Uehara feels just as home in Boston, help lifting spirits of those in Boston and New England just as he has helped lift spirits in Japan.
So it seems fitting that Uehara who had an amazing year as the Boston closer with a 1.09 ERA and 0.59 WHIP, with 21 saves out of 24 save opportunities, ALCS MVP, 0.00 ERA in the World Series with 2 saves in 5 appearances out of 6 games, pitches the last inning of the World Series and strikes out the last batter. Even though I am from Texas and he had a solid year with Texas in 2012, hindsight being 20/20, I am sure he is glad he parted ways with Texas as Ranger manager Ron Washington never really seemed to appreciate him. Even with a 1.75 ERA last year, Washington only used him 37 times while Boston has used him twice as much this year. Through a translator, Uehara sagely comments:
“There’s no point really in worrying about stuff in the past. Those times will never come back.”
But actually, I want to move on to how Uehara ended game 4. With Boston trailing the series 2-1 and the tying run at the plate for the Cardinals, for the first time in MLB post-season history, the game ended when he picked off the baserunner.
You can click the above image for the video for MLB.
However, what’s almost as amazing is how this play sounds in Spanish!
http://soundcloud.com/bubbaprog3/pickoff
Click the above link to hear the play in Spanish. I was just waiting for one of the announcers to say “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAALLLLLLLLLL!!!”
PS:
- Both links above will automatically move onto the next video/sound clip at the end of the current one. You’ll need to terminate the video/soundclip yourself.
- It would seem to me that professional announcers (referring to the video from Fox Sports) should know how to pronounce player’s names. The first announcer said “O-ahara”? There’s no “O” in his name. How did he get “O-ahara”? (And for the record, it is pronounced “U-e-hara” where “e” is pronounced like “e” in pet.)
- Since 1918 was the last time when Boston won the World Series championship at home, Helen DcGonagle who was 2 years old at that time anxious awaits seeing the Red Sox win the series at home. Here is an interview with her: http://www.wcvb.com/news/sports/Quincy-woman-was-2-years-old-last-time-Red-Sox-won-World-Series-at-home/%2D/9848968/22721906/%2D/12kt2qf/%2D/index.html
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