There was the game of the Hanshin Tigers vs the Hiroshima Carp at Matsuda Stadium, in June 25. Starting pitcher was Atsushi Noumi of the Tigers and Akitake Okada of the Carp. In the bottom of 3rd inning, Hector Luna, Takahiro Arai and Ko Shimozuru of the Carp made a RBI single from Noumi 3 times in a row. The Carp got the first score 3 to 0. And in the bottom of 5th inning, Shimozuru made a RBI double so the Carp lead the score 4 to 0. In the top of 6th inning, Kosuke Fukudome of the Tigers got a hit and it was a combined total of 2,000th hit in his professional career in the Major League Baseball and Japan.

Kosuke Fukudome received a bouquet of flowers and responded to the cheers of the audience. He entered the 2,000 Hit Club in the 48th at Japan. After that, Masahiro Nakatani made two-run home run from Okada in the top of 7th inning, the Tigers reversed the game that was the score 4 to 2. The game proceeded as same score, finally the Carp beat the Tigers 4 to 2.

Kosuke Fukudome ‘s biography is that he’s the age of 39, and he was born at Kagoshima. Fukudome was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the 1th round in 1998 draft. He contracted with the Dragons and played in 132 games at the rookie year. He quickly became a regular player of the shortstop, but he made often the error. So he turned to the outfielder from 2002. The turning was a success for him. He took the titles of Leading hitter in 2002 season, his stats was 343. average. After that he took the titles of Leading hitter again in 2006 season, he contributed to the champion of the Dragons. He also got the MVP of the Central League in same year.

In the 2007 off-season, Fukudome declared free agency. In December 2007, Fukudome transfered to the Chicago Cubs. He signed the contract with the Cubs of 4 years and 48 million dollars. He joined in the Cubs until 2011, and played in the All-Star game on 2008. In July 2011, He was traded to the Cleveland Indians. Next year, he joined in the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees, but he was bad stats and played almost in the Minor league.

Fukudome also convened in the Japan national baseball team of 2006 and 2009 WBC, he contributed to twice champion of Japan. In 2013, he backed to Japan and contracted with the Hanshin Tigers. Last year he made 20 homers and became the home run king of the Tigers. So his salary has risen to 200 million yen in 2016 season. And in this day, he got 1,502th hit（only Japan) and achieved the combined total of 2,000th hit in his professional career in the Major League Baseball and Japan.

Meanwhile, 8 players have achieved the combined total of 2,000th hit in thier professional career in the MLB and Japan include Fukudome. They are almost Japanese player, but Alfonso Soriano and Andruw Jones are also included. Soriano became a professional player in the Carp on 1996 and got 2 hits. Jones achieved 2,000th hit total in the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles on 2013 season.

■The players list of getting the combined total of 2,000th hit in the professional career in the MLB and Japan.（Team and Year was achieved）

Hideki Matsui（New York Yankees, 2007）
Alfonso Soriano（New York Yankees, 2013）
Andruw Jones（Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, 2013）
Norihiro Nakamura（Yokohama DeNA BayStars, 2013）

・The following are the active players as of 2016 season
Ichiro Suzuki（Seattle Mariners, 2004）
Kazuo Matsui（Houston Astros, 2009）
Tadahito Iguchi（Chiba Lotte Marines, 2013）
Kosuke Fukudome（Hanshin Tigers, 2016）

Another appeal of Fukudome is the defense of outfield. He won the Gold Glove Award 5 times in Japan. This youtube’s video is his defense in the Cubs.