Baseball: Ex-major league baseball player Iguchi tapped as next Samurai Japan manager

TOKYO - Tadahito Iguchi, who previously managed the Lotte Marines, has been tapped as the next skipper of Japan's national baseball team, Nippon Professional Baseball said Saturday, becoming the first former major leaguer to take the helm.

The 51-year-old Iguchi will take over from Kazuhiro Ibata, who led Samurai Japan in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year and stepped down following his squad's defeat against Venezuela in the quarterfinals.