Fernando Seguignol

Infobox MLB player


width =
name = Fernando Seguignol
team = Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
number = 5
position = First baseman
birthdate = birth date and age|1975|1|19
birthplace = Bocas Del Toro, Panama
bats = Switch
throws = Right
debutdate = September 5
debutyear = 1998
debutteam = Montreal Expos
statyear = June 16, 2008
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value = .249
stat2label = Home runs
stat2value = 17
stat3label = Runs batted in
stat3value = 40
teams =
* Montreal Expos (by|1998–by|2001)
* Orix BlueWave (by|2002)
* New York Yankees (by|2003)
* Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (by|2004-by|2007)
* Olmecas de Tabasco (by|2008)
* Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (by|2008)

Fernando Alfredo Seguignol (born January 19, 1975 in Bocas Del Toro, Panama) is a former Major League Baseball player. Seguignol is a switch hitter, and fomerly played first base and designated hitter for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japanese Pacific League. In July 29, 2008, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, another team from the Pacific League has acquired him.

Biography

Seguignol was signed as an amateur free agent in by|1993 by the New York Yankees at the age of 18. He spent several years in the minors before making his major league debut in by|1998 with the Montreal Expos after being traded by the Yankees on April 5, by|1995 along with cash, for John Wetteland. He played a career high 76 games in by|2000 with the Expos, hitting .278 with 10 home runs and 22 RBI playing in the outfield. He was released by the Expos in by|2001, and signed with the Orix BlueWave(Currently Orix Buffaloes) of the Japanese Pacific League in by|2002. He made appearances as a first baseman and designated hitter with the BlueWave, and hit home runs from both sides of the plate two games in a row, from June 5 to June 6 (first player in Japanese baseball history). However, he was inconsistent overall, ending the season with a .204 batting average. He was released at the end of the season, and returned to the major leagues after signing with the New York Yankees.

He spent most of by|2003 with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers, and led the league in home runs and RBI (he played in 5 major league games that year with the Yankees). He was scouted by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, and traveled to Japan for the second time in by|2004. He hit well over .400 in his first month, and ended the year hitting .306 with 44 home runs and 108 RBI, tying Nobuhiko Matsunaka for the most home runs in the league to win the Best Nine Award at designated hitter. He remained with the Fighters until by|2008, and had continued success, leading the league in doubles in by|2006 to win a second Best Nine Award. He is regarded as the best switch-hitter ever to play in Japan, along with Orestes Destrade. The coach who recommended Seguignol try switch-hitting was former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman, who managed Seguignol in the Yankees minor league organization.

Seguignol currently holds the Japanese season record for home runs among switch-hitters (44), and has homered from both sides of the plate in 8 games in Japan (the Japanese all-time record). He has also homered against 13 different Japanese teams; the only other player to have done this is Julio Zuleta.

In by|2008, he played for Olmecas de Tabasco in Liga Mexicana de Beisbol before signing with the Detroit Tigers on June 12, 2008; he was released by the Tigers on July 21. But about a week after his release, he was acquired by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a team in the same league as the Fighters and Buffalos in Japan. He hits 13 home runs in 39 games(157 at bats), with a .324 batting average and 40 RBIs in that season.

Seguignol is married and has one child, Kendall.

External links

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