hofdate finalyear bats hoflink birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue hoftype position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date article_title debutteam name throws
2015 2007 right japanese baseball hall of fame kawanishi , hyōgo , japan 1990 october 9 .294 217 2,097 japanese catcher tokyo yakult swallows batting average home runs hits april 11 6 august 1965 atsuya furuta
 yakult swallows atsuya furuta right
atsuya furuta

atsuya furuta -lrb- 古田 敦也 , b. august 6 , 1965 in kawanishi , hyōgo -rrb- 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 .
