Chicago Herald-American

Fukudome Debut Ranks With All-Time Cub Greats

In trying to dupe Cubs fans into thinking that Kosuke Fukudome's disappointing "rookie" season was merely a case of a first-year player adjusting to the major leagues, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has obscured the reality that Fukudome in fact had a season that ranks with some of the best Cubs of all time: Rick Monday and Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Ryne Sandberg.

Fukudome's 2008 season -- he hit .257 with 10 home runs and 58 RBIs -- is almost identical to Monday's first season with the Cubs in 1972 (.249, 11 HRs, 42 RBIs). In fact, Fuku hit for a higher average and drove in more runs in 2008 than Monday did in 1972.

And Fukudome only cost the Cubs $48 million. Monday cost them Ken Holtzman!  The $48 million is probably worth less than $10 million today. Holtzman, though, went 77-55 in four seasons with the Athletics, won four division titles, three pennants and three World Series.  The Cubs could probably still use him today, because he was good when it counted: Holtzman not only was 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA in the World Series, but hit .333 with a home run -- and he hardly ever hit during the regular season. Holtzman has as many World Series home runs as any Cub in franchise history except Frank Demaree (3) and Gabby Hartnett (2).

Like Fukudome, Monday was a veteran player -- five seasons as a full-time starter with the Athletics -- who was an All-Star in another league. The Cubs couldn't find a spot for him in the lineup and he struggled. So what do you do with a .248 hitter who strikes out 100 times and steals 12 bases in 21 attempts? You make him a leadoff man. And what a leadoff man he was: Monday struck out 124 times in 1973, stole five bases and was caught stealing 12 times. And he hit 26 home runs but drove in only 56 -- totally wasting a career power year on a team that was eighth in the NL in home runs and 10th in runs scored.

But the point is, Rick Monday became a productive player for the Cubs. He even outdid himself by hitting 32 homers as a leadoff man in 1976. And like Holtzman, he also ended up playing in three World Series -- with the Dodgers in 1977, 1978 and 1981.

So there's hope for Fukudome yet. Lou Brock had Fukudome numbers in 1963, his second full season with the Cubs (.258, 9 HRs, 37 RBI, 79 runs scored). The Cubs gave up on him the following year and he like Holtzman and Monday, he too played in three World Series (1964, 1967, 1968) and became a Hall of Famer. And Fukudome's 2008 season is eerily similar to Ryne Sandberg's 1983 season (.261, 8 HRs, 48 RBIs). The Cubs didn't trade him and he blossomed into the National League MVP the following season (.314, 19 HRs, 84 RBIs) and ended up playing in 10 posteason games en route to the Hall of Fame.

So if Jim Hendry wants to put the best light on Fukudome's 2008 season and his prospects for 2009, he can come up with better examples than Moises Alou and Derrek Lee.

Kosuke Fukudome's 2008 season -- a harbinger of things to come?

                                    G     AB    R     H     2B    3B    HR    RBI   BB     K      BA    OBP    SLG

Kosuke Fukudome          150   501   79   129   25     3     10     58    81    104   .258   .359   .379

Lou Brock, 1963               148   547   79   141   19   11      9      37    31    122   .258   .300   .382

Rick Monday, 1972          138   434   68   108   22      5    11     42    78    102   .249   .362   .399

Ryne Sandberg, 1983     158   633   94   165   25      4      8      48    51    79     .261   .316   .351