By Corey Brock
May 9, 2002

So Taguchi Photo: Bill Setliff

The St. Louis Cardinals first foray into the Far East in January might be their last. Hoping to find another Ichiro Suzuki–or someone akin to the Mariners’ outfielder–the Cards signed 32-year-old outfielder So Taguchi.

Taguchi’s deal, which was reported as a three-year contract with a base salary of $1 million, isn’t paying the kind of dividends the Cards would have liked.

Taguchi, who will turn 33 in July, is playing for the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. So far, he's hit .276-2-10 with three stolen bases.

"The language barrier hasn’t been a problem, he understands some English and he knows a lot of baseball lingo," said Memphis manager Gaylen Pitts. "He’s pretty quiet, and doesn’t say much. He just goes about his business."

Taguchi was hoping to have made the Cardinals Opening Day roster earlier this month but he struggled during spring training. He didn’t get a hit during spring training until his 15th at-bat and finished with a .146 batting average.

"It’s taken some time, but he’s starting to adjust pretty well," Pitts said. "He is seeing a lot better pitching on a daily basis. That takes some getting used to. But he’s a solid fundamental player ... and he’s been good defensively."

Defense was Taguchi’s calling card when he played with Ichiro for the Orix Blue Wave of Japan’s Pacific League. They both joined the Blue Wave in 1992. And while Ichiro never hit lower than .342 his last seven seasons in Japan, Taguchi had a career batting average of .277 with the Blue Wave.

"Adjusting to a new strike zone has been one of the biggest things for me," Taguchi said through interpreter, Mack Hayashi. "Trying to figure out what is a strike, what isn’t. And fastballs over here have a lot more movement."

Taguchi does have other internaional experience, however. He hit .359 with six RBIs and three steals in 39 at-bats as a member of Japan's 2000 Olympic team. Leading off against Ben Sheets and Team USA, Taguchi went 2-for-6 with a triple that chased Sheets in the eighth.

Despite his slow start this season, Taguchi doesn’t regret the decision to leave Japan.

"It was very comfortable for me playing in Japan," Taguchi said. "I wanted to challenge myself. It’s been tough at times because I didn’t know what to expect. But it’s getting better. I like playing here. Everyone has been great."