Tadahito Iguchi. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Tadahito Iguchi, a former major leaguer and Lotte Marines manager, has emerged as the frontrunner for Japan’s national baseball team skipper, sources close to the matter said Friday.
The 51-year-old Iguchi will take over from Kazuhiro Ibata, who led Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year and stepped down following his squad’s defeat against Venezuela in the quarterfinals.
Iguchi, a member of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, is expected to take the helm of the national team from the Asia Professional Baseball Championship in November, according to the sources.
Samurai Japan will aim for a back-to-back title in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where baseball returns to the program following its absence in 2024.
A second baseman for most of his career, Iguchi turned pro in 1997 with the Daiei Hawks (now the SoftBank Hawks) and spent eight seasons before moving to Major League Baseball.
Starting in 2005, Iguchi played four seasons in MLB with the White Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. He returned to Japan to play for the Marines, then went on to manage the Chiba-based club for five seasons starting in 2018.
The Tokyo native recorded a combined 2,254 hits, 295 home runs and 1,222 RBIs during his career in Japan and the United States.