Atsuya Furuta
| Atsuya Furuta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | |||
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Born: August 6, 1965 Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan |
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| debut | |||
| April 11, 1990, for the Yakult Swallows | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| October 9, 2007, for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows | |||
| Career statistics | |||
| Batting average | .294 | ||
| Home runs | 217 | ||
| Hits | 2,097 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
| Member of the Japanese | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Inducted | 2015 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Baseball | ||
Representing  Japan
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| Olympic Games | ||
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1988 Seoul | Team |
| Asian Baseball Championship | ||
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1999 Seoul | Team |
| Intercontinental Cup | ||
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1989 San Juan | Team |
Atsuya Furuta (古田 敦也, b. August 6, 1965 in Kawanishi, Hyōgo) is a Japanese former baseball player and player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball club in the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Drafted in the 2nd round in 1990, Furuta became a leader for the Swallows as a catcher and became the first player-manager in Japanese baseball in 29 years, since Katsuya Nomura in 1977. In addition to his skills on the field, he is also known for leading a successful two-day strike in 2004 as the head of the Japanese baseball players union.
He remains one of the most prominent figures in Japanese baseball because of his leadership both on and off the field. In June 2007, Furuta removed himself from the active roster so he could focus on managing the floundering Swallows. He retired as player and manager in the same season.
Furuta graduated from Kawanishi Meihou High School and Ritsumeikan University before entering the Toyota company baseball team in 1988. He was chosen as part of the Japanese Olympic team in 1988 for the Seoul Olympics, and won a silver medal.
The Yakult Swallows drafted Furuta in the second round of the 1990 draft. He became the team's starting catcher in his first season. In the 1991 all star game, he threw out three runners attempting to steal in one inning, receiving the all star MVP award. He has appeared in the all star game every single year of his career. The same year, he also beat Hiromitsu Ochiai to win the batting title (.340 batting average). He also hit a cycle in the 1992 all star game, receiving the all star MVP award again. In the 1995 Japanese championship series, he outsmarted batting champion Ichiro Suzuki, leading his team to victory. In 1997, he won the season MVP award for leading his team to another championship.
On June 28, 2003, Furuta hit home runs in 4 consecutive at bats, tying the Japanese record. He got his 2000th hit on April 24, 2005, which is the 32nd Japanese player, the second catcher (after Katsuya Nomura), and the first-ever player drafted from university/company team to reach such achievement. In 2004, he led the first player strike in Japanese baseball history, in opposition to the elimination of the Kintetsu Buffaloes team. In 2006, he agreed to become a player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, the first in 29 years, after his mentor, Katsuya Nomura. His team had a record of 70-73-3 in 2006, placing in third, but Furuta's own statistics were easily his career worst. He was given the largest salary decrease in Japanese baseball history after the season (his player contract and manager contract are separate, where the player contract is shorter), but he remained a player-manager for the 2007 season. He retired from baseball both as a player and as a manager at the end of 2007.
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