Julio Zuleta

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Julio Zuleta Tapia (born March 28, 1975 in Panama City, Panama) is currently a baseball player for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League. He studied in "Colegio Javier" in Panama, he graduated on eleventh grade from that school. He was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Cubs on September 15, 1992 and spent a year with the GCL Cubs in 1993. He began 1994 in Huntington before going back down to play with the GCL Cubs. Zuleta made his Major League debut with the Cubs in 2000. Zuleta played in 30 games hitting .294 with 3 home runs with 20 hits. Zuleta played with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks from 2003 to 2006. His peak with the Hawks in 2005 included hitting 43 home runs with a .319 batting average. After the 2006 season, Zuleta was released by the Hawks and signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines as a free agent. He has hit the most home runs in the league over the last three seasons (109). On September 22, 2007, in a game against the Rakuten Golden Eagles, he became the 61st player in Japanese professional baseball history to hit for the cycle. He currently wears the number 42.

[edit] Sources

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
Bobby Valentine, Japan's Baseball Sweetheart, Japan's Quality English Magazine Weekender March 16 - March 29, 2007