The Cardinals have won 11 World Series titles, but most of those were achieved without any assistance from outside the Western Hemisphere.
The exception was Japanese product So Taguchi, who smacked a memorable, ninth-inning homer off New York Mets closer Billy Wagner to win the pivotal Game 2 of the National League championship series in 2006. The Cardinals proceeded to their 10th World Series crown.
Other than Taguchi, who was hugely popular here as he hit for a .283 average in six seasons with the Cardinals, the club hasn’t had another Far East product.
Righthander Tomo Ohka, while successful with several other big-league teams, was signed by the organization in June 2007 but was let go three weeks later after Ohka went 0-2 with a 6.