So Taguchi

[Brandon Glick]

So Taguchi played professional baseball for 20 seasons, splitting that time between the NPB (12 years) and MLB (eight years). He spent six games of that long career with the Chicago Cubs.

Taguchi starred for the Orix BlueWave (now Orix Buffaloes) of the NPB for a decade before making his way stateside at age-32, becoming the first (and only) Japanese player to play for the St. Louis Cardinals (not including Lars Nootbar, who is half Japanese but was born in the United States). He got the first hit of his major league career off the Chicago Cubs in 2002, and he put up a fine career in six seasons in Missouri, slashing .279/.332/.385 while accruing 2.5 bWAR and all 19 of his career home runs.

In 2006, Taguchi won the World Series with the Cardinals, notably hitting the game-winning home run off Hall of Famer Billy Wager in Game 2 of the NLCS. Two years later, he became the first Japanese player to win the World Series with two teams, winning it all again with the Philadelphia Phillies. Following the 2008 season, his option was declined by Philadelphia, and Taguchi became a free agent.

The Cubs signed Taguchi as a reserve outfielder, replacing Jim Edmonds' spot on the roster in an effort to give Kosuke Fukodome a teammate he could communicate with more easily. Taguchi spent nearly the entire 2009 season in the minor leagues, only making his Cubs debut in September after Sam Fuld and Alfonso Soriano went down with injuries. In six games (12 plate appearances) with the Cubs, Taguchi slashed .273/.333/.364 (79 OPS+), accumulating no other counting stats.

Taguchi was one of two players in franchise history to wear No. 99 along with Todd Hundley, the son of 1970s Cubs stalwart Randy Hundley. The number hasn't been all too effective on the North Side, producing a cumulative -0.8 bWAR (-0.1 from Taguchi, -0.7 from Hundley). He took the number originally with the Cardinals because his NPB jersey number of No. 6 is retired for Stan Musial, No. 66 was worn by Rick Ankiel at the time, and the flipped number (No. 9) is retired for Enos Slaughter. He was generally well-liked by fans, players, and broadcasters alike, even bowing to umpires before at-bats as a sign of respect.

Following his (incredibly brief) tenure in Chicago, Taguchi returned to the NPB to play for Buffaloes for two more seasons. He retired on July 31, 2012, announcing his decision on his personal blog.

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