American expatriate baseball players in Japan

Brent_Brede

Brent David Brede (born September 13, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder.
Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 5th round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft, Brede made his MLB debut with the Twins on September 8, 1996. He was a member of the inaugural Arizona Diamondbacks team that began play in Major League Baseball in 1998, and appeared in his final major game for them on September 27 of that year. He played one season with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1999 and the 2000 season for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League before retiring. Brent Brede is now a high school teacher and coaches basketball at his alma mater.

Ron_Woods

Ronald Lawrence Woods (born February 1, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player who appeared in all or part of six seasons in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1974, primarily as an outfielder, for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Montreal Expos. He also played two seasons in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons in 1975–1976. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Woods threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 168 pounds (76 kg).
Woods graduated from Compton High School in Southern California, and entered pro baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization in June 1961. However, after five years in the Pittsburgh farm system, he had risen only as high as the Double-A level. Early in 1966, the Detroit Tigers acquired his contract. After a strong 1968 season with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, Woods made the 1969 roster of the defending World Series champion Tigers out of spring training. He appeared in 17 early-season games for Detroit, largely as a pinch hitter, pinch runner and defensive replacement, before being traded June 14 to the New York Yankees for veteran outfielder Tom Tresh.
Although he struggled offensively, Woods was able to solidify his hold on a major league job with the Yankees, appearing in 192 games (starting 147) from June 1969 to June 1971. On June 25 of the latter year, the Yankees sent Woods to the Montreal Expos for former New York Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda. Despite a brief detour to Triple-A Winnipeg in 1971, Woods spent the next 31⁄2 years on the Expo roster, appearing in 373 games and batting a cumulative .245. In 1973, he was Montreal's most-used center fielder, starting 72 games and platooning with left-handed hitters Boots Day and Jim Lyttle, as the Expos, a fifth-year expansion team, battled for the National League East Division title before falling short by 31⁄2 games.
That off-season, however, the Expos traded for veteran center fielder Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers, relegating Woods to part-time status in 1974. He started 21 games all season, batted .205 in 127 at bats, and departed for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball. He played the 1975 and 1976 seasons in Japan, appearing in 192 total games and hitting .263 with 160 hits and 19 home runs.
Doing Woods' six seasons in the major leagues, Woods batted .233. His 290 hits in 1,247 at bats included 34 doubles, 12 triples, and 26 career home runs. He compiled 130 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases.

Gary_Rajsich

Gary Louis Rajsich ( RAY-sitch; born October 28, 1954) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) scout and a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of four seasons in the Majors from 1982 until 1985, then played three additional seasons for the Chunichi Dragons from 1986 until 1988. He was the Baltimore Orioles' director of amateur scouting from November 28, 2011, until the conclusion of the 2018 season.Gary is the brother of former Major League pitcher Dave Rajsich, with whom he played for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. He also has scouted for the Boston Red Sox (1994–2006), Texas Rangers (2007–2009), Toronto Blue Jays (2010–2011) & Atlanta Braves (2019–Present).

Bob_Nieman

Robert Charles Nieman (January 26, 1927 – March 10, 1985) was an American professional baseball player and scout. An outfielder, he spent all or parts of a dozen Major League Baseball seasons with the St. Louis Browns (1951–52), Detroit Tigers (1953–54), Chicago White Sox (1955–56), Baltimore Orioles (1956–59), St. Louis Cardinals (1960–61), Cleveland Indians (1961–62) and San Francisco Giants (1962). He also played one season in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons (1963). He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg).

Billy_Bean

William Daro Bean (born May 11, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers (1987–1989), Los Angeles Dodgers (1989), and San Diego Padres (1993–1995), as well as the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in 1992.
In July 2014, he was named MLB's first Ambassador for Inclusion. In January 2016, he became MLB's vice president, Ambassador for Inclusion and is currently Senior Vice President and Special Assistant to the Commissioner.

Mike_Laga

Michael Russell Laga (born June 14, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants in the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for once hitting a foul ball out of the second Busch Stadium (September 15, 1986).
Laga played for the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers, going 6–11 that year with a .545 average for the year, but did not appear in the World Series. Nor did he appear in the 1987 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. In his career, Laga played in 188 major league games and had 84 hits, 55 RBIs, 39 runs scored, and 16 home runs. He also hit 32 home runs in 1991, playing for Daiei of the Japanese League. He also played for the Hawks in 1992.
Laga currently lives in Florence, Massachusetts. He has three children.
Laga graduated from Ramsey High School in Ramsey, New Jersey and attended Bergen Community College.