So Taguchi is a professional baseball player from Japan who plays as an outfielder. Taguchi attended the Kwansei Gakuin University and played baseball while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. He joined the Orix BlueWave as an infielder and played in the Pacific League of the Nippon Professional Baseball league. Later in his career, Taguchi was moved out to the outfield, a position he mans till date.
In 2002, as a free agent, Taguchi was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals when he was 33. He started at the New Haven Ravens and then played for the Memphis Redbirds, rising up through the minor league system. He had a .262 batting average and had 6 homers with 51 RBI. His call up came in September the same year and he recorded his first hit against the Chicago Cubs on his debut.
In 2003, he got another bit of time to play at the top level and in 2004, got some more time leading to 109 appearances in his time with the Cardinals. In the post-season, the Cardinals included him in the roster and he played twice in the 2004 World Series. Taguchi became a regular starter in 2005 after Larry Walker and Reggie Sanders hit the disabled list. He responded brilliantly, with a .288 with the bat and a .396 at-bat with 8 home runs and a 53 RBI. He played all three outfield positions and helped the Cardinals to their 100 game win record, the best in the National League.
In 2006, his playing time came down a bit and had .316 at-bats. Despite this, he would still make it to the Playoff roster for the Cardinals and would later have a sensational play in the post season.
In the National League Championship Series, he hit the go-ahead homer off Billy Wagner, at the top of the 9th inning in a game that the Cardinals eventually won 9-6. In the World Series, Taguchi played 4 out of 5 games and hit at .182. Cardinals beat the Tigers 4-1 in the series and Taguchi would get his ring. He signed on for another year with the Cardinals.
In 2007, he batted at .290 but mostly as a part time player in just 130 games. After the season, the Cardinals decided not to continue with the Japanese and he was released in December. He signed for a one year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies and left options for 2009. But with the Phillies, Taguchi had a poor season. He fell to .220 in his batting average and had only 91 at-bats in the entire season. Despite this, he was still included in the postseason roster and although he didn’t play a part in the 2008 World Series, he still won his second ring with a second win. The Phillies decided to let him go at the end of the season and made him a free agent.
In 2009, Taguchi signed with the Chicago Cubs in a minor league contract for a season.
