So Taguchi #99

Attended Nishinomyia Kita High School, Hyogo Prefecture and Kansai Gakuin University in Osaka...was a teammate of Seattle Mariners' outfielder Ichiro Suzuki when the two played together with the Orix Blue Wave...his father played in the Japan Industrial League...he is the first native Japanese-born player to appear with the Cardinals...his wife's name is Emiko...the couple had a son, Kan, on 12/24/03 ...name is pronounced Soh Tah-goo-CHEE.

2008

So was signed by Philadelphia in December of 2007 and went on to hit .220 with five doubles in 88 games for the World Champion Phillies. © Made 12 starts: nine in right field, two in left field and one in center field, batting .326 (15-for-46) in those 12 starts. © Was hitless though his first 16 pinch at-bats of the season until his tworun pinch double in the top of the ninth inning tied the game, 5-5, July 22 at the Mets (Phillies won, 8-6). © Tied his career high with three RBI, September 28 vs. Washington. © Was on the Phillies post-season roster for all three rounds, but appeared only in the NLCS against the Dodgers ... was 0-for-4 in four games.

2007

Played in 130 games and hit .290 with 15 doubles in his final season for St. Louis. © Had a career-best 18-game hitting streak, June 1-26, hitting .352 (25- for-71) with one homer and seven RBI during the stretch. © Led all major league players in pinch average (.407) and finished ninth in pinch-hits (13). © Reached base safely in 16 of his final 30 pinch-appearances. © Batted .323 with runners in scoring position while posting a .429 (3-for- 7) average with the bases loaded. © Had the game-winning RBI in back-to-back games, June 3-5. © Tied his career highs with four knocks and three RBI June 16 at Oakland.

2006

Versatile outfielder hit safely in 34 of last 49 starts (51-for-179; .285)...Made 35 starts in both LF & CF & one start in RF...He went 4-for-16 (.250) as a pinch-hitter. Led the team with 11 SB's in 14 attempts...Batted leadoff for just the 2nd time on 9/18 at MIL...Played 2nd base on 9/8 at ARI for 2nd time in M.L. career ('03)...His single in the 12th inn. on 7/9 at HOU continued the inning and he evenutally scored...Hit his 2nd HR on 6/21 at CWS. Had three singles 6/26 vs. CLE with an RBI...Matched career highs with 3 runs & 2 SB's on 6/4 vs. CHI, going 2-for-4 with BB & RBI...Matched season high with 3 hits on 6/2 vs. CHI. Also had 3 hits on 5/28 at SD...Had bases-loaded GWing single in 11th inning on 5/31 vs. HOU. Matched career high with 3 RBI 5/24 at SF, including HR#1 & GWRBI on sac fly...Was 2-for-2 with sac. bunt off the bench on 5/21 at KC. Had 3 RBI in that series...Had 2-run PH single on 4/30 vs. WSH -- also had sac. fly giving him 3 RBI for the day, matching a career high...Had three singles and 2 RBI 4/24 vs. PIT. Reached base three times 4/22 vs. CHI with single, walk and HBP...Made his third-straight postseason appearance for the Cardinals and was a combined 6-for-15 (.400) with 2 HR's (matching his season total) and 4 RBI...had hits in his first four plate appearances (2-HR's, 1B & 2B) of the postseason...started three of the five World Series games...drove in two runs with pinch-hit double in 9th inning of NLCS Game 6 at NY...his solo homer (off Billy Wagner) led off 9th inning of LCS Game 2 at NY and was GWRBI in 9-6 win...singled in his pinch AB in LCS Game 4...hit a pinch-hit homer (off Scott Linebrink) in DS Game 3 vs. Padres, only the fourth postseason PH-homer in team history.

2005

Saw his most playing time since coming to the majors, filling in at all three outfield positions...Batted .309 (106-for-343) in his 90 starts with 45 RBI. Was 87-for-272 (.320) in his last 70 starts, including 26 multi-hit games...Started 53 of 74 games following the All-Star break. His .407 RISP avg was tops on team and ranked among NL top-10 (min. 75 AB's)...Hit a solo home run on 4/10 vs. PHI. Had three hits including a triple in 4/18 win at PIT and tied his career high with three RBI...Singled in a pinch at-bat on 5/11 vs. LA and also later doubled and scored...Made home run-saving catch in 6/20 win at CIN...Had a three hits 6/17 at TB and again 6/21 at CIN...Went 2-for-2 with RISP 6/23 vs. PIT...Collected his first Major League two-homer game 6/25 vs. PIT with a solo home run in the 5th and a two-run blast in 8th...Had his fourth three-hit game of the season (two singles, double) on 8/1 vs. FLA...His pinch-hit, three-run home run on 8/3 vs. FLA was his third game-winning RBI and fourth three-RBI game of the season...Tied a career high with four hits and three RBI, including three doubles, in 8/16 win vs. ARI...Had a career-high 12-game hit streak 8/7-19 (20-for-42, .476) end on 8/20, going hitless in pinch at-bat...Appeared in all nine games and at all three outfield positions during the postseason, going 0-for-7...was a defensive replacement in all three games of the Division Series vs. SD and had one at-bat in Game 3...started in left field in Game 3 of the Championship Series at HOU.

2004

Named Hamilton Jewelers and St. Louis BBWAA Cardinals Rookie of the Year by St. Louis writers and broadcasters...Batted .302 (39-for-129) in his 36 starts and had all three HRs, along with 19 RBI, when on the original lineup card...Collected hits in 25 of his 36 starts...the Cardinals were 25-11 in his starts...Led Cardinals bench players with a .341 (14-41) batting average with runners in scoring position...Was 3-for-7 (.429) with seven RBI in bases loaded situations and the Redbirds were 15-4 in games that he scored...Started 18 games in CF, 15 in LF and 3 in RF. Was 4-for-15 (.267) with three RBI as a pinch hitter...Batted .301 (25-for-83) at Busch Stadium...Went 14-for-45 (.311) in 23 games in Sept./Oct...ended the year by hitting in three straight games (5-for-13, .385) and scoring in each of the three games...Eleven of his 25 RBI came with two outs. Posted seven infield hits and two bunt hits...Hit in 17 of his last 23 starts (26-for-84, .310) with 15 RBI...Was 8-for-11 (.727) with three doubles and five RBI vs. NY Mets...Tied for second on the team with 19 spring hits and finished with a .345 batting avg., five doubles and eight RBI in Grapefruit League play...Had RBI double as pinch hitter on 4/7 vs. MIL in his first season action of '04...Had three hits for first time in career batting leadoff on 4/17 vs. COL...stole first base of season...Executed squeeze play in the 5th inn. on 4/29 vs. PHI to plate Cards first run...Snapped a season-long 0-for-13 skid with a single on 5/6 at PHI...Collected first home run of season in a start on 5/12 vs. ATL...the solo HR came off of M. Hampton...Had a career-high four hits and collected first career multi-RBI game on 5/20 at NY...Was recalled from Memphis (AAA) on 6/23 and had two hits, a walk and scored three runs, including the game-winner in the 8th inning of a 10-9 win vs. CHI that night...Had game-tying solo HR on 7/20 at CHI in the 8th inning as the Cards came back from a pair of six-run deficits, also had two RBI and made leaping catch into the ivy in LF...Went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored on 7/28 at CIN...Had RBI single on 8/28 at PIT in 9th inn. and had pinch-hit RBI single in 8th inning on 8/27 at PIT...Started in CF on 9/8 at SD and was 2-for-4 with a 2-run HR (#3) off D. Wells...Reached base four times on 9/20 at MIL (2B, 1B, 2-BB) and had game tying RBI in the 7th...Went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and walk in the final regular season game on 10/3 vs. MIL....Was 1-for-6 in six postseason games...started in Game 1 of the World Series at BOS in LF, his only start of the postseason, and went 1-for-3 with a run and RBI...with the start, he became the third native of Japan to start a World Series game, joining the Giants Tsuyoshi Shinjo (Game 2-DH) in 2002 and New York's Hideki Matsui (all six games-LF) in 2003.

2003

Started and spent most of the season at Triple-A Memphis, where he batted .256 with two home runs, 24 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 90 games...Had two stints with the Major League club, making eight starts (two in LF, five in CF and one in RF)...Was 3-for-11 as a pinch-hitter with two walks and two RBI...Hit his first career Major League home run on 9/12 at HOU with a two-run shot in the seventh.

2002

Signed a three-year contract with the Cardinals on 1/9 and when he was called up to the big leagues in June he became the first native Japanese player in club history...In his first season in the organization, So played at Double-A New Haven, Triple-A Memphis and with the Cardinals...His 27 doubles between Memphis and New Haven ranked 10th in the Cardinals organization...Struggled in his first Major League spring training, batting .146 (6-for-41) with one RBI in 24 games...Was optioned to Memphis on 3/26...Batted .247 in 91 games for the Redbirds, with 17 doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI...Posted 16 two-hit games and had a pair of six-game hitting streaks (4/30-5/9 and 7/2-7) for Memphis...Went 4-for-4 at Iowa on 7/2...Hit safely in 12 of his last 13 starts...Was recalled from Memphis on 6/10 and made his Major League debut at SEA on 6/10, when he started in center field and played against his former Orix teammate, Ichiro Suzuki...Played four games for St. Louis and went 0-for-4 before being optioned back to Memphis on 6/16...His option was transferred to New Haven on 8/6...Played 26 games for the Ravens and batted .308 with 21 runs, 10 doubles, a home run and 15 RBI...Batted .341 (28-for-82) off Double-A righthanders and .200 (5-for-25) off Double-A lefties...Notched a 13-game hitting streak 8/7-18...Went 3-for-5 and pushed home five RBI on 8/13 at Norwich...Played in all three of the Raven's Eastern League playoff contests vs. Norwich and went 4-for-13 (.308)...Was recalled to St. Louis from New Haven on 9/7 and went 6-for-11 in 15 games after his recall...Overall for the Cardinals he went 6-for-15 (.400) and had two RBI, two sacrifices and two walks...Went 5-for-9 off lefthanded pitchers and 1-for-5 off righties...Entered eight games as a pinch hitter and was 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI in the pinch...Played 14 games in the outfield and recorded two outfield assists against one throwing error...Posted his first career two-hit game on 9/10 at MIL...Had two hits and provided the game-winning RBI on 9/17 at COL, breaking a 4-4 tie with a single in the eighth inning...Helped key a 3-2 win over ARI on 9/24, when he pinch ran for Albert Pujols in the ninth inning and then stole second base. With two out, So scored the game-winner from second on Edgar Renteria's liner down the third base line...Played 34 games in the Arizona Fall League and batted .301. Was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team by the league's coaches and managers.

2001

Batted .280 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs in his final season with the Orix Blue Wave...also added 21 doubles and six triples...his .280 batting average ranked 16th among Pacific League batting leaders...won his fifth career Gold Glove Award for defensive excellence.