Kosuke Fukudome

:"Fukudome" redirects here. For information on the WWII admiral, see Shigeru Fukudome."

Infobox MLB player
name = Kosuke Fukudome

---

width = 250
caption = Fukudome with the Chicago Cubs
team = Chicago Cubs
number = 1
position = Right fielder
birthdate = birth date and age|1977|4|26
birthplace = Osaki, Soo District, Kagoshima, Japan
bats = Left
throws = Right
debutdate = March 31
debutyear = 2008
debutteam = Chicago Cubs
statyear = September 30, 2008
stat1label = Batting average
stat1value = .257
stat2label = Home runs
stat2value = 10
stat3label = Runs batted in
stat3value = 58
teams =
*Chunichi Dragons (by|1998-by|2007)
*Chicago Cubs (by|2008-present)

nihongo|Kosuke Fukudome|福留 孝介|Fukudome Kōsuke|extra=(IPA|ɸɯkɯdome koosɯke) born April 26 1977, in Osaki, Soo District, Kagoshima, Japan is a Japanese right fielder for the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team. Prior to arriving in the United States, Fukudome played nine seasons for the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. He was also a member of the Japanese national baseball team, winning a silver medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and placing first in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He won the Central League MVP award the same year.

Early career

Fukudome entered the prestigious PL Gakuen High School, and was quickly targeted by professional scouts as a potential first round draft pick. Seven teams chose Fukudome in the first round of the 1995 draft, and the Kintetsu Buffaloes won the right to negotiate with Fukudome by winning the lottery. However, Fukudome had already decided that he would not turn pro unless he could play with the Chunichi Dragons or Yomiuri Giants, and joined Nihon Seimei, whose baseball team belonged to the industrial leagues. In 1996, at the age of 19, he became the youngest player to ever be chosen for an Olympic baseball team, and his team won a silver medal in the Atlanta Olympics.

Career in Japan

The Chunichi Dragons drafted Fukudome in 1998 in the first round as a shortstop. Fukudome had grown up a fan of Dragons infielder Kazuyoshi Tatsunami, and received an autograph from Tatsunami, who would be his teammate when he joined the Dragons.

Manager Senichi Hoshino used Fukudome in 132 games in his rookie year, and Fukudome batted .284 with 16 home runs, and contributing to his team's league championship. However, he also led the league in strikeouts. While Fukudome was fast and had a strong throwing arm, he simply could not field ground balls well at shortstop. He made several errors which led to his team's loss in the Japan Series, and was often taken out of games in later innings.

He was converted to third base in his second year, but his fielding made little improvement, and his hitting dropped down as well. The next year, he was moved to the outfield. While he played poorly at first, he gradually improved to become the everyday right fielder. His natural speed and strong arm worked wonders from then on, and he has since received four Golden Glove awards in the outfield.

His hitting also improved dramatically. He stopped Hideki Matsui in his run for the triple crown in by|2002, by leading the league in batting average (.343). He hit .313 with 34 homers the next year, establishing himself as one of the best hitters in the league.

In 2004, he joined the Japanese Olympic baseball team for the second time, winning a bronze medal in the Athens Olympics. He was chosen for the 2006 World Baseball Classic team, and pinch-hit for a two-run home run off Byung-Hyun Kim in the semi-finals against Korea. He pinch-hit again in the finals for a two-run hit against Cuba.

In 2006, he batted .351 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs, winning the Central League MVP award.

Career in the United States

When asked whether he had any interest in the Major Leagues on a television show in the 2006 off-season, Fukudome answered, "It would be a lie to say I didn't. Playing in the World Baseball Classic increased my desire to play in the majors."fact|date=March 2008

Fukudome became a free agent in November 2007. On December 11 2007, the Chicago Cubs signed Fukudome to a four-year, $48 million contract. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3151060 ESPN - Japanese star Fukudome coming to Chicago to play for Cubs - MLB ] ] Fukudome said in an interview that one of the main reasons he chose the Chicago Cubs over the other three teams trying to sign him to their roster was because he wanted to be the first Japanese player to play for the team. He also thought Chicago had a great Japanese community and that it was a great place to raise his children.

Fukudome made his Major League debut on March 31 2008 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. He went 3-for-3 with a walk, including a double on his first Major League pitch, and a three-run game-tying home run off Brewers' closer Eric Gagné in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Brewers went on to win 4-3 in extra innings. [cite news
url=http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080331-chicago-cubs-milwaukee-brewers,0,5865127.story
title= Fukudome debut spoiled by Cubs' loss to Brewers
date=March 31 2008
work=Chicago Tribune
first=Paul
last=Sullivan]

In April 2008, a souvenir stand selling unlicensed Cubs apparel sold a t-shirt bearing the Cubs cartoon bear wearing over-sized Harry Caray-style glasses encircled by the phrase "Horry Kow" (an Engrish play on Caray's "Holy Cow!" catchphrase) in cartoonish Asian script below. Mark Kolbusz, the souvenir stand operator, said the shirt was his top seller so far that season, and that one in 10 customers complained that it was offensive. After he was shown the shirt, Fukudome said through his interpreter, "I don't know what the creator of the shirt meant this to be, but they should make it right. Maybe the creator created it because he thought it was funny, or maybe he made it to condescend the race. I don't know." [cite news | last = Wittenmyer | first = Gordon | title = Fukudome doesn't find racist T-shirts in Wrigleyville funny | language = English | publisher = Chicago Sun-Times | date = April 18, 2008 | url = http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/901817,CST-SPT-gordo18.article | accessdate = 2008-04-19] After a story on the t-shirt appeared in the "Chicago Sun-Times", the Cubs ordered Kolbusz to pull the shirt off the stand and to stop production. [cite news | last = Wittenmyer | first = Gordon | title = Cubs pull Fukudome shirt after Sun-Times report | language = English | publisher = Chicago Sun-Times | date = April 19, 2008 | url = http://www.suntimes.com/sports/903754,cubshirt041808.article | accessdate = 2008-04-19]

After a fast start, Fukudome's 2008 MLB performance faded. With a .327 batting average ending April, each successive month had less success as Fukudome batted .293 in May, .264 in June, .236 in July, .193 in August, and .178 in September, ending the year with a .257 average. Fukudome's slide was detailed in a New York Times article. then he [cite news | last = Schwarz| first = Alan| title = Fukudome’s Hitting Is Downside on the North Side | language = English | publisher = New York Times | date = September 17, 2008 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/sports/baseball/18cubs.html | accessdate = 2008-10-03]

Nonetheless, on July 7, 2008, Fukudome was voted a starter in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=fukudko01] Cubs manager Lou Piniella defended him from criticism, and stated, " [Fukudome] does such a good job in right field we hate to take him out of the lineup", and further stated the team would continue to give him more opportunities. Fukudome was booed during all of his plate appearances versus the Dodgers during the NLDS. . [cite news | first=Gordon | last=Edes | coauthors= | title=Fukudome is on the verge of a benching | date=2008-08-11 | publisher=Yahoo! Sports | url =http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AuKDLvI0AiaJG1dWxrrdTE8RvLYF?slug=ge-fukudome081008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-08-12 | language = ] After the game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS, a reporter asked Piniella, enraged about the loss, about starting Fukudome. Piniella responded, "I'm going to play [Mike Fontenot| [Mike] Fontenot] or Reed Johnson or somebody else, and that's the end of that story. The kid is struggling, and there's no sense sending him out there anymore." [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081003&content_id=3586311&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc]

Career statistics

References

External links

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