Dome Now One Of The Guys

by Al Yellon on Feb 16, 2008 7:26 AM CST in Chicago Cubs News

Kosuke Fukudome was the victim of a prank on his first day in the Cubs' clubhouse:

... the right fielder who would be the Cubs' Great Right Hope -- if you believe the Great Write Hype -- ran straight into the unexpected at his new locker: a No.11 jersey hanging where the No.1 should be.

"I was surprised there was an extra '1,'" Fukudome later said through an interpreter.

On cue, pitcher Carlos Zambrano approached, wearing a blue headband and tight-fitting No. 1 Cubs top.

"I'm No. 1 here," Zambrano said, holding up his index finger before breaking into a wide grin.

Then he peeled off the shirt, handed it to Fukudome and shook the $48 million newcomer's hand.

Yokoso Cubs-ye, Kosuke.

And buckle up for the ride.

"That was just a welcome, just to let him know that we are his family and he can spend a good time this season with us," said Zambrano, who promised the prank would not be the last in the hazing process.

For the record, Fukudome said he "enjoyed the joke", later on. And, Bruce Miles says that Lou Piniella's impressed with Dome's bat:

"Fukudome's got a nice, quick, short swing," Piniella said. "He uses his hands really well. He's got really good balance at home plate. He's very impressive. The ball jumped off his bat. You can see why he's been such a good hitter."

And, Bruce's article also says that Fukudome doesn't care about "jinxes and curses":

"I don't know of anything like that in Japan," he said, "and even if there is, I don't believe in them."

Good. Let's play ball and win.

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Comments

Z should leave the pranks up to Dempster

and Dempster should leave the predicting of World Series Champs up to Z.

Fukudome may not believe in curses and jinx' now, but he;ll be a firm believer in them in 4 years.

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 7:32 AM CST reply actions

Please explain to me

Please explain to me why it is so wrong for players to have a bit of silly fun?

And nothing has ever been sillier than the overblowing of Zs comments last year and Dempster's comments this year.

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 7:45 AM CST up reply actions

Talk is cheap.

Make the playoffs 2 years in a row for the first time in over 100 years and then you can start by running off silly shallow predictions.

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 7:51 AM CST up reply actions

As far as the prank goes

It's just not funny, in any language. I imagine there was a bunch of uncomftorable smiles, like "haha. You got me. good one buddy."

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 7:54 AM CST up reply actions

pranks are part of the game and culture of bball..

....Z is showing Fukudome respect by playing a prank on him. I love it. I would be curious as to dragonsfanatic has to say about pranks from his perspective..

We have all seen what a cancerous clubhouse can do to a team (think Remlinger and Kent Merker) I like the spirt this early in camp..

Let me get back to you, will ya, Charlie? I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls.

by JB 23 on Feb 16, 2008 8:59 AM CST up reply actions

As far as pranks go

this one was just a warm up welcoming him to the club and I am sure helped to break the ice a bit.

You are correct in saying it's part of the culture, and it was the team's way of saying Fukudome is accepted as one of them.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Feb 16, 2008 9:28 AM CST up reply actions

I agree

I agree 100 percent MPH.

It broke the ice.

Fukudome is walking into a clubhouse made up of guys who were all together at least for one season. From what I gather they're a pretty tight bunch.

He also doesn't speak the language and this is the first time he's meeting all but the 2 that were at his press conference.

A little breaking of the ice is always welcomed.

Hasn't anyone here been the new guy on the job at least once and once someone made a gesture of friednship made you more relaxed and one of the group?

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:32 AM CST up reply actions

Haha are you kidding me?

I wouldn't even call it a prank. Z just introduced himself by making a joke about how he was number 1. would you honestly prefer if no one had any bit of fun from spring training until the season is over?

also, what is wrong with predicting that the cubs will win the world series? isn't that why we are here?

by WUSTLCubsFan on Feb 16, 2008 1:54 PM CST up reply actions

We're here to get excited by actually....

....winning the World Series and not getting giddy with excitement by another Cubs player's empty prediction of winning the World Series.

Atleast I am.

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 2:01 PM CST up reply actions

You're exactly right

I don't know what Dempster was thinking. When approached by media, it's obvious he should have said "Okay, so we won the division last year. So what? Big freaking deal. It was a fluke. We suck. The only reason we won the division is the rest of the teams suck worse than us. It was a fluke. We still suck. Look at how Arizona kicked our ass in the playoffs. We suck big time. It's not going to be any different this year. I don't even know why we show up. We suck. We haven't won in 100 years so it's not like we're going to win it this year. Oh yeah, one more thing. We suck. "

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Feb 16, 2008 9:13 AM CST up reply actions

So

So you want Dempster to say We suck we're going to lose 100 games?

It is so stupid the way comments get overblown whether it be the employee comment or a player saying he thinks they'll win the world series.

Or do people want Zambrano to say "we're going to lose 100 games and I'll personally lose 20"

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:28 AM CST up reply actions

sorry - thought the sarcasm was obvious

n/t

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Feb 16, 2008 9:34 AM CST up reply actions

Sorry

After I read that again after I posted my response I was thinking OOPS LIKE DUH.

Can I explain it away by saying 12 7 and 8 year olds are about to descend on my house?

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:36 AM CST up reply actions

Dempster the clown

This
Pretty much sums up my feelings on Dumpster running his mouth. Talk is cheap. I don't see any of the Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox or any other teams guaranteeing they will win the World Series. But it seems every year there's a Cub doing so and it's a joke. The bigger the joke is fans saying "bwahhh what do you expcet him to say 'we suck'?"

No I expect him to say what every other player on every other team says and that's that " I really like the team we have.....I like our chances of being there at the end" and not saying ridiculous predictions about winning the World Series. Like I said, make the playoffs 2 years in a row for the first time in over a century before you start talking about "winning the World Series".

That's what's so funny about it: The Cubs are the epitomy of incompetence and every year it seems like someone is predicting a World Series. It's hilarious.

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 1:33 PM CST up reply actions

Theres

plenty of room for you and seats available at Comiskey.

"Hey.....Cubs win!!!" ---Harry "I strongly dislike Steve Stone." ---Hammer

by Hammer on Feb 16, 2008 1:49 PM CST up reply actions

First off

I am not a White Sox fan.

Secondly, I don't live in Chicago.

Let me guess, you don't think I'm a true Cubs fan because I don't stick my head in the sand and think everything Cubbie is just fabulous and I don't get excited about another shallow prediction by a Cubs player that they'll win the World Series, when this team hasn't done jack in over a century.

"Embracing the situation, is the only way to be free. I'll side with you, if you'll side with me" Wilco

by lemon20pie on Feb 16, 2008 2:08 PM CST up reply actions

You should

read the source material before citing unfunny sports blogs.

"I think we're going to win the World Series," Dempster said. "I really do. I wouldn't have worked as hard as I did and everybody worked as hard as they did to not believe that."

That's pretty distinct from the guaranteeb you're talking about.

by morgane on Feb 16, 2008 3:21 PM CST up reply actions

Exactly.

It wasn't a guarantee, and it wasn't boasting. I saw it as exhibiting real confidence in himself and his teammates. I don't have a single problem with this.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Feb 16, 2008 4:39 PM CST up reply actions

not quite a promise of WS victory

but...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/02/15/papelbon.camp.ap/index.html

This has Papelbon saying that the Red Sox are the team to beat.

by Scott @ Bleed Cubbie Blue on Feb 17, 2008 6:37 AM CST up reply actions

For heaven's sake

It's what, the second or third day of Spring? Lighten up.

Santo Forever!

by BeerCub on Feb 16, 2008 9:26 AM CST up reply actions

I think people

I think people want the players to jump off the roof because the prospects of the team are so doomed.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with how the team finishes in the end.

The way people have continually overblown Z's comments from last year apparently those comments are why not only did we not win the series last year Zs comments are why we haven't won in 100 years.

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:29 AM CST up reply actions

Remember

Apparently Fukudome is a bit of a prankster himself. If so, he probably got the joke right off.

¡BLANCO!

by 08Cubs on Feb 16, 2008 8:54 AM CST up reply actions

Anyone here with journalistic experience?

Here's the last paragraph in the Sun-Times article:

>> Saying he has read that his last name might be difficult to pronounce here, he said through Araki: ''I'm comfortable with any nickname that anybody comes up with, or Kosuke, or whatever [floats] the boat would be fine with me.'' <<

I realize Dome didn't say "floats", but he had to have used something else instead in order for that quote to make sense. What was it and why wasn't it included?

I see this all the time in articles so I guess it's probably a recognized style guideline, but unless it's profanity or some other 'banned' word or phrase, I've never understood why it's done this way. Isn't the objective of a quote so that we see exactly what the person said?

Al, I know you're in TV, but maybe you have some insight?

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Feb 16, 2008 9:23 AM CST reply actions

There was another article...

... by Paul Sullivan in the Tribune, in which he was directly quoted as saying "floats":

Fukudome has an easygoing personality and should fit into the Cubs clubhouse well. Asked what name people should call him--"Fu," "K-Fu," and "Fu-ku" are among the possibilities--he just smiled.

"I'm comfortable with any nickname anybody comes up with, or Kosuke," he said. "Whatever floats your boat."

I imagine his translator is pretty good at translating Japanese idiom into American slang, so that's likely what happened. I wouldn't read too much into this -- or we're going to be trying to parse Japanese translations all year.

The only Japanese translation from Dome I really care about is how his hitting translates to MLB.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Feb 16, 2008 10:11 AM CST up reply actions

Fukudome

I think I understood more of what I said than half of Chicago sports talk radio even before his interpreter translated.

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:34 AM CST reply actions

Oops

Meant I understood more of what he said.

We are all waiting for that glorious October night when we finally win it all. Until then we will continue to cheer, never do the wave and hope.

by puckishcubsfan on Feb 16, 2008 9:34 AM CST reply actions

Irony...Cubs last WS appearance during WWII

when Americans considered Japanese the enemy and now in 2008 (63 years hence) the Cubs win the WS with a Japanese star OF'er.

Piniella: "This is a tougher job than I thought it would be, I'm going to be honest with you."

by Ivy Walls on Feb 16, 2008 10:04 AM CST reply actions

well

Optimism is one thing, but let's not be overconfident.

He's a good player. This team has the ability to contend. It could happen.

Worst to First in 2007, brought to you by Lou, Sori, A-Ram and D-Lee.

by drewishdrewid on Feb 16, 2008 10:27 AM CST up reply actions

I think it was probably pretty funny

Who better to welcome Dome into the family? Surely Dome knows that Z is the big deal figurehead of the team. Although I bet Dome thought what the %!*#@ when he saw the wrong jersey, I bet it didn't take long for him get it when Z came walking over bulging out of his little jersey. Z was the right guy to start off the pranks/hazing. I hope we get to hear more of this. It's what makes teams/families tight and that's what they need to create with Dome.

"The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose." ~ Ernie Banks

by love the ivy on Feb 16, 2008 10:38 AM CST reply actions

Josh Fogg

I know we got Lieber to add depth to the rotation but getting a guy like Josh Fogg on a 2-year deal would really add tremendous depth to our rotation. Any thoughts?

by tahazen on Feb 16, 2008 11:36 AM CST reply actions

One word:

No.

Josh Fogg sucks. A career 4.90 ERA and career 1.46 WHIP is not something I really want near the Cubs rotation. The guy had one good start in the NLCS. Leave him be.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Feb 16, 2008 4:43 PM CST up reply actions

but

If stuff matched his heart, he'd be a Hall of Famer.

by morgane on Feb 16, 2008 7:17 PM CST up reply actions

I don't think Fogg

Makes to much sense now, since as you noted the Cubs added Lieber. But I would have liked Fogg over Lieber. Fogg came up big in clutch situations for the Rockies last year.

Is it too early to be thinking about Spring Training?

by DenverCub on Feb 18, 2008 8:21 PM CST up reply actions

Interesting....

Curse of the Colonel (¥«©`¥Í¥ë¥µ¥ó¥À©`¥¹& #164;Î...â¤¤, K¨¡neru Sand¨¡su no noroi?) refers to an urban legend regarding a reputed curse placed on the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team by deceased KFC founder and mascot Colonel Harland Sanders. The curse was said to be placed on the team because of the Colonel's anger over treatment of one of his store-front statues.[1]

As is common with sports-related curses, the Curse of the Colonel is used to explain the Japan Championship Series drought that the Hanshin Tigers have had to endure since their first and only victory in the 1985 Japan Championship. The curse is a classic example of a scapegoat.

by 1060 W Addison on Feb 16, 2008 2:53 PM CST reply actions