Kosuke Fukudome

On 30 July 2016, Fukudome became the 4th player in NPB history to register multiple cycle hits as he helped lead the Tigers to an 8-3 victory over his former team, the Chunichi Dragons.

At the end of the 2015 season, Fukudome was named to an NPB Best Nine lineup for a fourth time and was awarded his fifth career Golden Glove as an outfielder. The nine years between his last Golden Glove and 2015 is a Central League record. He will return to the Tigers' outfield in 2016 for his 18th professional season at age 39.

Fukudome signed a 1-year $1 million contract with the Chicago White Sox on February 14, 2012. On June 22, Fukudome was designated for assignment after hitting .171, 0 home runs and 4 RBI in 24 games played and 41 at-bats. Fukudome was released June 26.

The New York Yankees signed Fukudome to a minor league contract on July 13, 2012. Fukudome was released by the Yankees September 3, 2012 after hitting .264 in 43 games for New York's AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team.

After the 2012 MLB season, Fukodome left the United States to return to Japan and sign with the Hanshin Tigers. After playing just 63 games in 2013 and 104 in 2014 with limited offensive production, Fukudome experienced a resurgence in 2015 at the age of 38. In playing all but three of the season's 143 games, he batted .281 with 20 home runs, 24 doubles, and 76 RBI. The home run and RBI totals were Fukudome's highest since his second to last year with the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League in 2006.

On July 28, 2011, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for 2 minor league prospects. In 59 games in Cleveland, he hit only .249. On August 12, right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was activated from the 15-day disabled list, moving Fukudome to Center field. But on August 27, Choo suffered another injury that would put him on the 15-day disabled list again on September 1, and that moved Fukudome back to right.

In 2009, the Cubs switched Fukudome to center field, after acquiring right fielder Milton Bradley. In July, Fukudome became the Cubs' leadoff hitter. He replaced Alfonso Soriano, who had been performing poorly in May and June. He had the lowest range factor of all starting major league center fielders (2.29). Fukudome walked 93 times, hit 38 doubles, and stole six bases. His .375 on-base percentage was second on the team.

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 Éric Gagné in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Brewers went on to win 4-3 in extra innings.

In April 2008, a souvenir stand selling unlicensed Cubs apparel sold a t-shirt bearing the Cubs cartoon bear wearing oversized 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 1 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." 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.

After a fast start, Fukudome's 2008 MLB performance faded. After a .327 batting average in April, each successive month reflected less success as Fukudome batted .293 in May, .264 in June, .236 in July, .193 in August, and .178 in September, followed by .100 in the postseason. He ended the year with a .257 average, and a .370 slugging percentage. He hit .251 against right-handers, and .137 when there were 2 outs and runners in scoring position. Fukudome's slide was detailed in a New York Times article.

Nonetheless, on July 7, 2008, Fukudome was voted a starter in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. Cubs manager Lou Piniella defended him from criticism, and said, "[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 became a free agent in November 2007. On December 11, 2007, the Chicago Cubs signed Fukudome to a four-year, $48 million contract. 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.

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

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."

Fukudome was a part of the 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2009 World Baseball Classic champion Japanese teams.

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 with 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.

His hitting also improved dramatically. He stopped Hideki Matsui in his run for the triple crown in 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.

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.

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 and 2009 World Baseball Classic. He won the Central League MVP in 2006.

Fukudome entered the 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, 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.

Kosuke Fukudome [koːske ɸɯkɯdome] (福留 孝介 , Fukudome Kōsuke, born April 26, 1977) is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. He previously played in Major League Baseball from 2008 to 2012, primarily with the Chicago Cubs.