Shigeyuki Furuki

Shigeyuki Furuki (古城 茂幸)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 170 lb.
• School Kokushikan University
• High School Chuo Gakuin High School

• Born January 12, 1976 in Kashiwa, Chiba Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shigeyuki Furuki has been a utility player in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Furuki won four stolen base titles in college. He was a fifth-round pick by the Nippon Ham Fighters in 1997. He was 1 for 10 with two runs in 1999. He went 7 for 23 with four walks, a triple and four runs in 2000 and was 4-for-6 in steal attempts. In 2001, Shigeyuki was 7 for 43 with a double, triple, 3 walks and 2 steals in 4 tries.

Furuki hit .140/.155/.158 in 62 games in 2002 and was 3-for-5 in steal attempts. He spent 27 games at third base (backing up Yukio Tanaka), 24 at shortstop (backing up Makoto Kaneko) and 12 at second base (behind Hiroshi Narahara).

In 2003, Furuki batted .269/.321/.333 in 36 games. He played 59 games in 2004 and went over 100 AB for the first time, producing at a .204/.293/.282 rate. He was used mainly as the backup to Kaneko, filling in when Kaneko missed time to appear in the 2004 Olympics. Furuki was 9 for 54 with four walks in 2005, his last year with Nippon Ham.

He was traded to the Yomiuri Giants with Kazunari Sanematsu for Hideki Okajima. He hit .346/.404/.404 in 52 at-bats over 50 games in 2006, then .191/.267/.235 in 68 AB and 71 games in 2007.

Furuki topped 100 AB for the second time in 2008, hitting .214/.270/.321 with 6 steals in 11 tries in 83 games. He was 0 for 1 in the 2008 Japan Series, backing up Hayato Sakamoto at shortstop. In 2009, the veteran backup hit .251/.323/.324 in 179 AB over 77 games, seeing regular action at second base, a rotating spot for Yomiuri for a few years.

Sources

• Japanbaseballdaily.com
• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• Japanese Wikipedia entry