is a right-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

The are a Japanese baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. The team was bought on January 28, 2005 by the SoftBank Corporation.The team was formerly known as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. In 1988, Daiei bought the team from Osaka's Nankai Electric Railway Co., and its headquarters were...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's Nippon Professional Baseball. He played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic

2006 World Baseball Classic

---------Pool B:-------------Pool C:-------------Pool D:-------------Pool 1:-----------------Pool 2:-------------Finals:-Semifinals:-Final:-Final standings:...

. Originally a starter, Mahara was converted to a closer partway through 2005 season and has been an efficient closer since then.

His best season was in 2007, when Mahara broke the team record for saves by recording 38 and also recording a 1.47 ERA. The previous record-holder was Rodney Pedraza, who had 35 saves in 2000. Mahara did not blow a save until late in the season, when Orix Buffaloes

Orix Buffaloes

The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan. They play in the Pacific League. The team is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo....

 slugger Tuffy Rhodes

Tuffy Rhodes

Karl Derrick "Tuffy" Rhodes is a professional baseball player. He played six years in Major League Baseball in the US, and eleven years in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan....

 cracked a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th at Skymark Stadium

Skymark Stadium

is a baseball park in Kobe Sports Park, Kobe, Japan. It is primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the Orix Buffaloes.The stadium opened on March 6, 1988 and holds 35,000 people....

.

With the exception of the 2008 season when he missed half the season due to injury, Mahara has recorded at least 22 saves each year since 2005.

External links