On this day in 2006, Tadahito Iguchi ended a nineteen inning game by hitting the fourth straight single against Boston Red Sox pitcher Rudy Seanez that scored White Sox shortstop Alex Cintron, in a 6-5 winner.
Tadahito was 2 for 7 on the day with two walks, two RBI and one run scored. His other hit came back in the bottom of the fourth inning, a solo home run off of Curt Schilling. Bobby Jenks came in to start the ninth inning, down 2-3. Jermaine Dye hit a home run off of Jonathan Papelbon to tie the game up and send it to extra innings, where Jenks continued until two out in the eleventh inning, giving up two runs in the long effort. Mike Timilin blew a save in the bottom of the eleventh, letting the White Sox tie it back up. The score stayed tied at five until Iguchi's heroics in the bottom of the nineteenth inning.
There were many entertaining stories on how the 2005 World Champion White Sox were put together in the 2004 offseason, but none as unbelievable as Tadahito's. Only watching video of Iguchi, GM Kenny Williams rolled the dice and signed Tadahito to a contract without ever seeing him play in person. The crafty GM's gamble paid off as Iguchi proved to be an important cog in the 2005 White Sox juggernaut that won ninety-nine games and went 11-1 in the postseason.
2 comments:
I became a Sox fan in '04, and Iguchi was one of my favorite players on the '05 team (right behind Paulie, AJ, Buehrle, Rowand, Crede). I was stoked when the Padres got him in '08, though it wasn't for very long. I didn't know that '05 was his first year in the league!
Tadahito was with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from 1997 - 2004, but first came to MLB with the White Sox in 2005. After a brief stint with the Phillies in 2008, Iguchi went back to Japan and has been with the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2009 to present.
He was definitely one of my favorites from the 2005 team.
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