No offensive Fukudome headline here

April 1st, 2008 at 12:25pm Gareth Sleger

It didn’t take long for Fukudome to cement himself as a Cubs cult figure (much like Kerry Wood did in 1998 with his 20-strikeout game). The now suspected hybrid love child of Ichiro and Hideki Matsui showed his patience and power by going 3-for-3 with a walk and game-tying homerun in the bottom of the 9^th inning. 

Fukudome did just about everything from the plate in his debut, but as fellow newsroom Cubs fan Matt Torman said after the game: “It’s too bad he can’t pitch.” Clearly. Productive outings from Carlos Zambrano (6.2 innings, 3 hits, 5 Ks, 0 runs) and Carlos Marmol (1.1 innings, 3 Ks, 0 hits, 0 runs) were countered by a bullpen all Cubs fans have become familiar with over the past few seasons. In two innings, Wood and Bob Howry combined to give up 4 hits and 4 earned runs.

Regardless, I know it’s just one game and the most important thing is that Fukudome silenced his critics, including myself, who wrote him off as just as imported gimmick to further sell the MLB game in Japan. One thing for sure, yesterday’s performance granted him a get-out-of-jail-free card for the unforeseen future.

Entry Filed under: Fukudome