Fernando Seguignol
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Fernando Seguignol (born January 19, 1975) is a former major league baseball player from Bocas Del Toro, Panama. He is a switch hitter, and fomerly played first base and designated hitter for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japanese Pacific League. In 2008, he played for Olmecas de Tabasco in Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
[edit] Biography
Seguignol was signed as an amateur free agent in 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 1998 with the Montreal Expos. He played a career high 76 games in 2000 with the Expos, hitting .278 with 10 HRs and 22 RBIs playing in the outfield. He was released by the Expos in 2001, and signed with the Orix BlueWave of the Japanese Pacific League in 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 2003 with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers, and led the league in HRs and RBIs (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 2004. He hit well over .400 in his first month, and ended the year hitting .306 with 44 HRs and 108 RBIs, tying Nobuhiko Matsunaka for the most HRs in the league to win the Best Nine Award at designated hitter. He has remained with the Fighters, and has continued his success, leading the league in doubles in 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 that recommended Seguignol to try swtich-hitting was current 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 7 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.
