Atsuya Furuta

Atsuya Furuta
Catcher/Manager
Born: (1965-08-06) August 6, 1965 (age 59) Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
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
RBIs	1,009
Teams
As player Yakult Swallows/Tokyo Yakult Swallows (1990–2007) As manager Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2006–2007)
Career highlights and awards
2× Central League MVP (1993, 1997) 2× Japan Series MVP (1997, 2001) Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1997) Tokyo Yakult Swallows #27 retired
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2015[1]
Medals Men's Baseball Representing  Japan Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team Asian Baseball Championship 1999 Seoul Team Intercontinental Cup 1989 San Juan Team

Atsuya Furuta (古田 敦也, b. August 6, 1965) 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.^[2]

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.