Kosuke's journal: On heating up and All-Star voting

Editor's Note: About every two weeks, Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome updates his diary, which can be found on his website www.fukudome1.com. Translation by Hiro Aoyama, Japanese media assistant and interpreter.

Hello all.

I felt it took a really long time to break our losing streak. We tried a lot of things to break the pattern, and I remembered we had a rally cap on from the first inning of the game against San Diego [in late-May]. We felt we should do anything we can to help our team, but it felt so nice to win a game finally. For the game [May 26 against the Pirates], I had a solo home run to lead our team. I really wanted to continue playing the game until the end. [The game was cut short due to rain.]

Mr. Kyosuke Sasaki went back to Japan, and I am feeling much better than where I was around the same time last year. I asked him to come to Chicago again sometime in July. If he has to come to Chicago early, it means I am probably feeling a little awkward with my swing mechanics. I am thankful to Mr. Sasaki for his work and visit to Chicago.
 
I saw my name on the MLB All-Star vote. I thank every fan for their votes, and I want everyone to know that it gives me confidence to my game.

I am excited about the Atlanta series [June 2-4] since I will likely face Kenshin Kawakami [a former teammate in Japan]. I want to have dinner together there to talk about baseball and life in the U.S.

Lastly, the temperature in Chicago is warming up little by little, and I would like to bring my numbers up little by little, as well.