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Furuta Down until Mid-April

Discussion in the NPB News forum
Furuta Down until Mid-April
Yakult's Furuta has fractured his third finger (kusuri yubi) on his right hand and is expected to be out until mid-April.

In the first inning against Orix, lead off batter Katsuragi lifted a foul fly that Furuta got under and caught. Worried about the wind, Furuta was sure to use both hands as he made the catch. But he got his right hand in there too soon, causing the injury.

This is especially bad news for Yakult as their success is often tied directly to the number of games Furuta plays. Even when they took the pennent a coupld of seasons ago, they had Furuta playing hurt until they managed to clinch as it was starting to look like they weren't going to make it down the home stretch.
Comments
Re: Furuta Down until Mid-April
[ Author: Kiyoshi | Posted: Mar 22, 2003 4:29 PM | HAN Fan ]

Too bad. Furuta ranks up there with the best catchers in all of baseball for the 1990s.
Re: Furuta Down until Mid-April
[ Author: Guest: Mike Todd | Posted: Mar 26, 2003 6:44 AM ]

Furuta is a class act, hopefully he will be back to 100% soon, and have a great 2003 season.
Re: Furuta Down until Mid-April
[ Author: yakult toughman | Posted: Mar 26, 2003 7:52 AM | YAK Fan ]

This may be another good chance for the Swallows to develop and give young catchers like Yoneno a chance to play. Yoneno played some games last year in the absence of Furuta. Ono played some games two years ago, when Furuta was injured. It is time for the Swallows to stop depending on Furuta less. Furuta will be 38 years old this year.
Furuta OK for Opening Day
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Mar 26, 2003 10:04 AM | YBS Fan ]

It was reported in today's (March 26) Nikkan Sports that Furuta is throwing and batting without any pain. Having shown this to Wakamatsu-kantoku, Wakamatsu has him slated to at least be on the bench for opening day, perhaps even start!

Wakamatsu-kantoku (or was it the staff writer?) commented that having Furuta in the club house makes a world of difference so far as the team's mood is concerned. For that reason, hurt or not, Furuta will be at Jingu on the 28th.
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