Paciorek had actually traveled to Japan during his college years to play in the Japanese college baseball league, and he chose to sign with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales (current Yokohama DeNA BayStars) in 1988. He ranked second in the league with a .332 average, and won the outfield Best Nine award that year. He remained one of the league's best hitters, batting fifth behind teammate Carlos Ponce, and won the Central League batting title in 1990. Paciorek ended the season with a batting average over .300 for the fourth consecutive year in 1991, but was cut from the team for hitting only 11 home runs.
After being cut, Paciorek had his best season in 1992 playing with the Hanshin Tigers. Paciorek had joined the Tigers at the suggestion of Tom O'Malley, and he led the league in hits to win a Best Nine award at first base. He also won the Central League Golden Glove Award that year.
Paciorek suffered a hip injury in 1993 and failed reach the .300 mark for the first time in Japan, hitting only 7 home runs with a .243 batting average in 74 games.[2] He was dropped by the Tigers during the off-season. He returned to the United States, and in 1995 was a replacement player in spring training for the Seattle Mariners during the ongoing strike.[3] After the strike ended, he did not play in a professional game.[2]
On April 6, 2004, Paciorek traveled to Japan after 11 years to participate in the opening ceremony of a game between the Hanshin Tigers and Yokohama BayStars at Yokohama Stadium. Old-time fans of both teams still remembered Paciorek's contributions to Japanese baseball, and greeted him enthusiastically as he threw the opening pitch.[citation needed]
