Fernando Seguignol - a one-time
New York Yankees and
Montréal Expos prospect - opted to play most of his career in Japan, and holds the Nippon Professional Baseball record for most home runs by a switch hitter in a single season (44) and most games with homers from both sides of the plate for a career (8), including two games in a row in 2002, which led the Yankees to bring him back not just to North America but to the fold for 2003, as they had originally signed him to a free agent contract the day he turned 18.
He spent his first four major-league seasons with the Expos (1998-2001), appearing in a high of 76 games in 2000 with 10 home runs and a .278 average, but when he fell to .185 in 46 games in 2001, the Expos released him at season's end.
Still, he holds the #19 position in my
Expos Numbers Project, with card #290 from
Upper Deck's
1999 Series 2 set (and
Star Rookie and
NL Debut sub-sets), which he signed in blue sharpie, probably in 2001:
He is now
a scout for a Japanese team, but his main residence remains in Florida.
