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Who is the most underrated Japanese baseball player?

April 23rd, 2009 · 18 Comments

Dan asked:


I think it is Tadahito Iguchi of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tags: baseball

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18 responses so far ↓

  • 1 oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo // Apr 26, 2009 at 5:29 am

    Akinori Iwamura of the TB Devil Rays

  • 2 Hello11 // Apr 26, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    Matsui. He is overshadowed on the Yankees. He plays every game. Well, almost, until this year. He is a great OF and you can count on atleast 100 RBIs every year.

  • 3 ryansraysrule // Apr 29, 2009 at 7:12 am

    maybe. but there is also a guy on the tampa bay devil rays named akinori iwamura. he has a pretty decent average, has great speed, (he is close to being as fast as carl crawford), and has gold glove like defense. he has an ichiro type swing, and if he didnt get injured this year, he would probably get consideration for gold glove.

  • 4 redsoxfan561 // Apr 30, 2009 at 10:27 am

    I completely agree with you. I really like Iguchi as a player. Ozzie Guillen claimed Iguchi was the “MVP” of the team (a little exaggerated) by doing all of the little things. He can hit 15 homers, steal 15 bases, and he’s a great situational hitter who can sacrifice, hit-and-run, etc…

  • 5 morgan_mccown // Apr 30, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Matsui.

  • 6 Baseballa007 // Apr 30, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Hideki matsui, gets the least press at off all of them and still puts up tremendous numbers.

  • 7 Allergic To Eggs // May 1, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    thats funny because before i clicked on your question i was thinking of giving tadahito iguchi as my answer and you agree

    my answer is still tadahito iguchi

    no one so far has said kenji jojima

  • 8 VIVA VIAGRA! // May 2, 2009 at 8:13 am

    Ichiro. He’s one of the greatest hitters of all time in all of baseball not just MLB. He’s only 33 and already has more than 2800 career hits!

  • 9 The 8 Bicycle and Jim // May 2, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    Okajima

  • 10 Gene H // May 4, 2009 at 3:52 am

    I agree. Great 2nd baseman, # 2 hitter, and class guy. Hideo Nomo was underrated when he started the flow of players from Japan, too.
    Thank god Ichiro is what he is. Now Japanese players are not slighted so much.

  • 11 mike y // May 5, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    dice k macuzaca

  • 12 thorfin39 // May 8, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    Currently.. I would say Iguchi.. but I would add that Sadahura Oh was under-rated by American baseball fans who barely acknowledged his 868-career homers in 140 game seasons, he also stopped playing at 40.
    He probabaly would have topped 500 in this country and likely would have topped the 600 mark.. projecting a major league career is obviously tough, he stood at just under 6 foot.. the parks he played in were smaller, 300 down the lines, power allies typically 350 center field rarely over 380, he did use a compressed bat, illegal in the US, and giving a batted ball more drive.. but given the chance, he would have had a good career in the US..

  • 13 Choro-Sama // May 9, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    I’d say some guy over in Japan.

  • 14 #1 Red Sox Fan // May 10, 2009 at 1:15 am

    Hedeki Okajima

  • 15 Caesar's Glory // May 12, 2009 at 10:19 am

    Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox. He has been solid this year in a very hard hitting AL East division.

  • 16 Frank P // May 12, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Def. Iwonora or whatever from tampa,, ichiro and hideki both were hugely bidded for,, and they both were huge in japan,

    This dude from tampa is a nasty lil defender,, and he can hit too.. no jap pitcher has been good for his career in the MLB,, Dice -k is yet to be known,, but he is very highly rated as ichiro and hideki were when they came over.. you cant be underrated if your expected to be so nasty when you come over..

  • 17 Adam // May 13, 2009 at 6:38 am

    In the MLB, I’d say Akinori Otsuka. I am not saying this cause I am a Rangers fan.

    He has been a good closer for the Rangers the last couple years. He is strong and rarely makes errors.

    Like Choro-sama said, there are tons of quality players still playing in Japan.

  • 18 Dr. J // May 14, 2009 at 9:58 am

    Iguchi *****! He cannot turn a double play! Get over it – they traded him because he is not that good. 2005 is over. Time to move on….

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