Posted by Michael Street on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 1:36 am

So Taguchi announced this week that he would be returning to Japan to finish his career there, ending the MLB time of a modest player who has been eclipsed by larger names but has still managed to leave his mark.

Taguchi played with the Orix Blue Wave from 1992-2001, hitting just .277/.333/.387 overall, with 630 runs scored and 404 RBI. His best season was 1997, when he hit .294/.351/.416, with 92 runs scored and 56 RBI. Those runs were a career-high mark, and he added career bests in hits (168), doubles (32), and HRs (10), leading to a career-high 238 total bases.

Orix had won the Nippon Series the year before, their only title ever, with or without Taguchi. That most likely had more to do with the presence of Ichiro Suzuki, Taguchi’s teammate from 1992-2000. Ichiro left the Wave in 2001 for MLB, and Taguchi followed in 2002. Unsurprisingly, the team plummeted in the standings, finishing last three straight years from 2001-2003. They merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2004 to become the Orix Buffaloes, the team that Taguchi will be returning to in 2010.

After he left the Wave, Taguchi signed a three-year, $3M contract with the Cardinals, which seemed generous in length, if not amount. He spent most of that first 2002 season between AA and AAA, hitting a combined .263/.310/.372, which was enough for a short callup in June and again at the end of the season, appearing mostly as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner.

In 2003, Taguchi started out at AAA, again turning in a modest .256/.318/.326. This time, he got some playing time in late May and early June, earning an earlier callup. He got some more starts in CF and LF, as well as lots of work coming off the bench. Surprisingly, he hit .259/.310/.519, though the 59 PAs scream “small sample space.” But the .300/.364/.667 line he put up as a pinch-hitter sealed his role as a valuable bench player.

In 2004, Taguchi played almost all the year with the big club, starting 36 games and appearing in 76 more as a substitute. He collected significant ABs for the first time, and hit .291/.337/.419, including .302/.352/.450 as a starter. He also got his first playoff experience, including the World Series, where the Cards fell to the curse-busting Red Sox. He started one game of that series, appeared in five others in the postseason, but collected just one hit in 6 ABs.

2005 saw him slide into a starting role, gradually gaining more PT in all three OF spots and starting 90 games out of the 143 he played in. The Cards got this at a discount, after signing him to a one-year, $550,000 deal, and he put up about the same line as he had the year before: .288/.322/.412, setting career highs in nearly every category, from his 8 HR to his 11 SBs and 53 RBI.

St. Louis fell to Houston that year in the NLCS, with Taguchi going hitless in six at-bats, including one start. The Cards still re-upped him for a one-year deal worth $825,000 for 2006, and he returned their investment with a slightly lower performance, hitting .266/.335/.351 in 134 games, 71 as a starter.

But 2006 was the year when he and the Cardinals finally reached the promised land. In the first two rounds of the playoffs, Taguchi didn’t start, but collected four hits in four at-bats, including two home runs. The second homer was a leadoff shot against the Mets’ Billy Wagner in the ninth inning of Game 2 in the NLCS, breaking the tie and opening up a three-run inning for the Cardinals.

In the World Series, Taguchi appeared in four of the five games (all of the Cardinals’ wins), though he’d cooled down significantly, going 2-11 for a .182/.250/.182 batting line. But he came through when it mattered.

In Game 4, with the Tigers leading 3-2 and trying to knot the Series at two apiece, he appeared as pinch hitter with David Eckstein on second and no outs in the seventh. LaRussa called for a sac bunt, and Taguchi put a perfect one down to the third-base side of the mound. Rodney fielded, but he threw wide of first, and Taguchi advanced to second while Eckstein scored the tying run.

Later in the inning, Preston Wilson would drive in Taguchi for the go-ahead run. Though the Tigers would later tie the game—and the Cards would go back ahead for the win in the bottom of the eighth—Taguchi had done his part.

Taguchi started the deciding Game 5 and bunted Yadier Molina to second in the bottom of the second; Molina would score on an Eckstein single two batters later for the first run of the game. In the fourth inning, he followed Molina’s single with one of his own, later scoring the go-ahead run on another Eckstein single. It would prove to be the game’s winning run, as the Cards held on for the 3-2 victory.

He became the first Japanese-born player in the NL to win a World Series ring, undoubtedly the peak of his MLB career. He returned to the Cardinals in 2007—this time for only $100K more than 2006—and started 64 of the 130 games he appeared in. He had another Taguchi-like season, improving on the season before to notch a .290/.350/.368 line. But the Cards finished in third and missed the playoffs.

He made a great choice in 2008 by hitching his wagon to the Philadelphia Phillies, signing for just $900,000, plus a $1.25M club option for 2009. Taguchi started 48 of his 88 games, mostly in left, hitting only .220/.283/.297, but he got a spot on their postseason roster. Even though he only made four appearances as a pinch-hitter in the NLCS, going hitless, the team still voted him to get a World Series ring, making him the first Japanese-born player to earn two World Series rings.

After the Phillies declined his option, Chicago signed Taguchi for the 2009 season, a move many said would help Kosuke Fukudome in Spring Training and throughout the year. As it turned out, Fukudome had a much steadier season, while Taguchi spent the year with the Iowa Cubs, hitting .248/.347/.333 in 85 games with the team. Chicago called him up midway through September, where he got three starts in the six games he appeared in.

It was a modest end to a modest MLB career. Although he remained in Ichiro’s shadow in both continents, Taguchi has the World Championship hardware Ichiro is still missing here in the States. What he does share with his former Blue Wave teammate is a dedication to defense, hard work, and team play.

Taguchi may not have had Ichiro’s speed and hitting ability, or Hideki Matsui’s longball power, but he left his mark on MLB with a low profile and a dedication to small-ball tactics at just the right moment. Cardinals fans will certainly miss him, as will Asian-American baseball fans.

Best of luck back in Orix, Taguchi. You’ll be missed.