Fukudome a ray of sunshine in soggy Cubs opener

On an Opening Day devoted to immortalizing old Cub Ernie Banks with his "Mr. Cub" statue outside Wrigley Field, rookie Cub Kosuke Fukudome made a bid Monday to be the new "Cub San."

Domo arigato, Mister Cubato.

The new right-fielder and Cubs Japanese import for 2008, Fukudome lashed the first pitch he saw for a double and smashed a clutch 3-run home run in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings.

And yet, the Cubs bullpen gave it all away in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The game matched the weather -- long bouts of waiting with intermittent periods of hope followed by a 100 percent chance of disappointment.

Chicago Cubs fans have been weathering that same lousy forecast for 100 years.

While the Cubs do boast 1907 and '08 World Series Champions banners, their pursuit of a 21st-century title got off to a soggy start on the new turf at Wrigley Field. Cubs star Carlos Zambrano pitched brilliantly, but a forearm cramp forced him out of the game. Kerry Wood, the new closer, opened the door in the ninth inning for the Brewers, and the man he beat out for the job, Bob Howry, lost it in the 10th.

But the day belonged to Banks and Fukudome.

Last year, fan Louis Martino sported an Alfonso Soriano jersey and sat in the left-field bleachers to cheer the Cubs new left-fielder on Opening Day. This year, the 26-year-old Bloomingdale resident donned a Fukudome jersey.

"I got it two weeks ago on eBay for $120," says Martino, who ended up sitting in the left-field bleachers again. "We thought we'd sit in right field, but the line to sit in Fukudome (territory) was so long."

Fukudome rewarded fans by drilling the first pitch he saw over the center-fielder's head for a double -- setting off a flurry of chatter for the Japanese radio broadcasters in the press booth and throughout the stands that was unmatched until he crushed his homer.

New Cubs fans Eri Amano and Hiromi Kaizuka, both 25, made the trip from their home in Tokyo to see their hero go 3-for-3 with a walk in his first game at Wrigley.

"It's expensive," Kaizuka said in her limited English about the quick 72-hour adventure to see the one game. Amano wore a Cubs Fukudome jersey and noted that her Chunichi Dragons will miss their star player.

Of course, Mother Nature played a big part, too, on a long, long day for some fans.

But as the drizzle turned into a cloudburst, Randy Coakley, a 38-year-old St. Charles native, noted he's seen many worse Opening Days, including the 2003 blizzard that postponed the game.

"My mother used to call me in sick at school to bring me here for Opening Day. Now I bring her," Coakley said, sitting with his mom, Diane MacMillan, 61, a photographer from St. Charles.

For other fans, sitting through drizzle and rain delays are part of the Opening Day ritual.

"It's Opening Day and we're in first place," said Naperville's Chris Denker, 38, before the game. He came to another start of the baseball season with his brother, Mike Denker, 27, of St. Charles.

So one long Opening Day shouldn't be a problem for any of the 41,089 Cubs fans in attendance.

In a pre0game ceremony that brought out everyone from Henry Aaron and a host of Hall-of-Famers to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and a passel of politicians, Banks was immortalized with his statue outside Wrigley.

Lindenhurst artist Lou Cella sculpted a perfect likeness of a young Ernie Banks -- a bat lightly clutched between his ever-wiggling fingers, and a smile on his face. Cella, who modeled the image after a specific Banks at-bat, says the smile makes sense considering Banks blasted the next pitch for a grand slam off Warren Spahn on Aug. 29, 1959. The base for the statue boasts Banks' trademark phrase, but, in a move heavy with Cubness, it falls one apostrophe short of matching perfection with its grammar-challenged "Lets play two" carved into stone.

Disappointed fans filed out of a soggy Wrigley, having given up only on a perfect season, not on their World Series dreams. Fans weren't happy about the loss, but they are … oh, what's the word, Mr. Cub?

My parents "taught me one of the greatest lessons of my life, and that is to be satisfied," Banks told the adoring crowd watching the rain drip of the statue of Banks at bat. "You'll always be a happy person if you are satisfied."

Maybe Cubs fans can take satisfaction in Fukudome's start, and, as they also know how to do, hope for better results next game.