The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
In 1974, the Dragons won with outfielder Gene Martin, and in 1982 it was third baseman Ken Macha, currently the manager of the Oakland Athletics, who helped Chunichi into the Japan Series. In 1988, outfielder Gary Rajsich was a key slugger in the Dragons pennant-winning lineup and, in 1999, infielder Leo Gomez batted cleanup and led the offense into the post-season.
Freshman manager Hiromitsu Ochiai made sure his Dragons went into the 2004 season with a powerful gaikokujin displaying the No. 4 on his back. Ochiai told centerfielder Alex Ochoa to switch from the No. 22 he wore last year because "the No. 4 is more suitable" for non-Japanese.