Posts tagged ‘Fukudome’

The comparisons of this year’s Cubs team to last year’s repeat division-winning team have been constant this season, and at times stifling. It says a lot that you can hear an audible groan in our episodes whenever Mark DeRosa’s name is uttered. I thought that all the “what would have been”-type talk would die down by the end of April, but it’s still going strong until June. Here’s hoping it ends as soon as possible.

It’s been a strange season in a lot of ways. The injuries. The ejections. The suspension. That poor Gatorade machine. However, what’s most interesting to me is that one player (or several, but I’m not trying to be greedy) hasn’t gone All-World for the Cubs yet this season. Sure, we’ve seen some awesome performances:

* Ted Lilly’s no-hitter through 6 2/3 on a frigid April day

* Dempster’s 7 shutout innings in Saturday’s outing vs. the Dodgers

* Reed Johnson’s RBI method clinic that same Saturday

* Tuffy Rhodes’ 450th HR in Japan

* Soriano’s 2 HR game in Houston and his HR on the 2nd pitch he saw this season

We’ve also seen a good amount of suckitude, and I won’t make that list for a variety of reasons. Still, nobody pops out (poor terminology) on this Cubs roster as a runaway All-Star, even despite cleverly titled articles on the flagship Cubs site such as Soriano, Fukudome making All-Star impact.

I’ll vote for those players and will hope they make it, but if All-Stars are chosen based on a rounded game from April through June, I think Kosuke Fukudome is the only deserving Cub. Soriano can get hotter than a car on a desert highway any given game or week, but the fact that his average has dropped nearly 30 points in May doesn’t bode well for his selection. He’s still obviously one of the most feared home run threats in the league, and that counts for something to a lot of players.

Last years Cubs All-Stars: Kosuke Fukudome, Soriano, Soto, Wood, Dempster, Ramirez and Zambrano.

Is anyone more deserving in your opinion that Fukudome? Post a comment and let us know.

The Chicago Cubs unveiled their new international ad campaign on Tuesday. The new graphics, designed to highlight players’ diverse backgrounds, feature many current Cubs. Fukudome’s ad reads “I don’t need an interpreter. My bat does the talking,” and features images similar to those seen on the Japanese flag.

Information leaked to Cubscast from a source close to the team includes the rejected ads from this new campaign:

Ronny Cedeno’s ad was to feature the Venezuelan flag with text reading “My fans don’t need an interpreter either. .203 is .203 in every language.”

Felix Pie’s ad read “Felix Pie: Six Tool Player.” The prototype reportedly featured Pie, a native of the Dominican Republic, utilizing his 6th tool, a Corey Patterson mask. Pie is widely known for carrying it with him to lower expectations for his strike zone command. Unfortunately, all this ad accomplished was to lower expectations for the Cubs front office’s ability to do simple math.

Jon Lieber’s ad featured the American Flag and read “Sure I’ve been to foreign countries. We’ve played games in Canada and Miami. That’s two.” Also the white stars representing each state were replaced by tiny illustrations of Ford F-150’s.

Ryan Dempster’s ad proved to be difficult for the Cubs marketing brass with Dempster’s uncertain pitching role. Reportedly, they nearly approved a graphic that displayed the Canadian maple leaf, with the quote “In my country, if you’re bad at hockey you’re bad at baseball. And I can’t skate.”

As you hopefully know by now, the Cubs have signed Japanese slugger Kosuke Fukudome, “Big” Jim Henry’s first off season prize, and the lefty outfield bat he was reportedly jonesing for. I use the term “jonesing” not just because I’m a fan of 1960’s slang, but also because ‘round Cubscast parts, you can’t mention Fukudome without departed ex-Cub lefty outfielder Jacque Jones’ name coming up in conversation. The primary offender is, of course, Lou, Cubscast president and all around Jacque Jones fan, two things that, even independently of one another, perhaps only one man in the world can claim to be.

I’m not saying Jones doesn’t have his fans… Wait, actually that’s exactly what I’m saying. Let me try again. I’m not saying everyone hates Jacque Jones, but at times it certainly felt that way, didn’t it? And as someone not as smitten with Mr. Jones as el presidente Lou, I’m not ashamed to admit that at times I wanted to see Jones go, another move that “Big” Jim Hendry made possible this off season. But (and here is the point that I’d like to make today) did you ever notice how most Cub fans didn’t like or think much of Jones from the start? In stark contrast to today’s excitement over a guy most of us have never even seen swing a bat on television, the Jacque Jones signing was met with at best ambivalence and at worst flat out anger, and I think that skewed our impressions of Jones throughout his time on the Windy City.

Moving back to the present, the Cubs have just signed a Japanese baseball star who was the 2006 Central League MVP, batting .351 with 31 dingers and 104 RBIs. His ’07 season was cut short by season ending elbow surgery, which of course makes him a natural fit for the Cubs. The Dome, as I will call him in public (in private it’s hard to call him anything sans expletive) has a career OBP just under .400. He may not hit as many HRs as we’d like (then again, who on the Cubs has recently?) but he should be a pretty solid addition to the team and the key building block “Big” Jim Hendry needed to make his off season a success.

How will The Dome’s Japanese numbers translate in his first MLB season? I have no idea. But for arguments sake, let’s say he puts up a .285 avg. with 27 HRs and 81 driven in. Would you be happy with that? Well that’s what Jones put up in his first season with the Cubs. Whether those numbers are worth what Fukudome will be paid (and granted, I failed to mention Jones’s ’06 OBP of .334, which I think The Dome will best) I can guarantee that Cub fans, myself included, will greet Fukudome with cheers throughout the ’08 season, the likes of which J.J. never received. And even if he’s a flop and the cheers do turn to boos, at least it’ll be harder to tell. Are fans cursing the Japanese lefty, or simply calling out his name?

All kidding aside, good luck Mr. Fukudome (or is it Mr. Kosuke?) and welcome to the Cubs! I for one love you already. As for Mr. Jones, best of luck in D town…I know one podcasting president who will be cheering you for sure.