Domo arigoto, Mr. Fukudome

In less than a week's time, Kosuke Fukudome has reached rock star status around Wrigley Field.

There are chants and cheers and gasps and men wanting to be him and women simply wanting him.

"FOO-koo! … DOH-may!"

It became clear during Saturday's 9-7 Cubs victory over Houston that he's Mr. Fukudome and you aren't, I'm not, and right now nobody else is either.

You officially can start referring to all this as a Fukunomenon.

To be honest, I wasn't going to partake so soon. My goodness, the man has played a mere five Major League Baseball games.

So when the drape dropped to advertise a Japanese life insurance company -- signaling an imminent Fukudome postgame news conference -- the Cubs' clubhouse seemed like a better idea.

After all, Derrek Lee recorded 4 hits in 4 at-bats, Kevin Hart earned his first career pitching victory, and Kerry Wood saved another game.

I never made it to the clubhouse. A few steps away a father was helping his son put on a dark blue Cubs uniform top.

On the back, of course, were "Fukudome" and "1."

"He just liked the hit today," Lake Forest's Gus Bahr said of his son. "Two people (in front of us) bought them, too."

OK, then, I guess I'll have to bite on this Fukunomenon sooner than later.

The hit that appealed to young Chase Bahr was a two-out, 2-run, seventh-inning double to left that put the Cubs ahead for good.

"FOO-koo! … DOH-may!"

The man also executed a perfect bunt single in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"FOO-koo! … DOH-may!"

During the top of that sixth, he made a terrific running, stretching catch in right field to blunt an Astros rally.

"FOO-koo! … DOH-may!"

In basketball it's called filling up a statistics sheet -- 2 hits, 1 run, 2 runs batted in and 6 putouts.

"He's a special player, obviously," said Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis, the beneficiary of Fukudome's defensive gem.

Special is a word too often used prematurely in sports. An athlete bursts onto the scene, captures the public's imagination and becomes bigger than life.

As Marquis added, Fukudome will have to adjust to big-league pitchers adjusting to him. That's when we'll know how durable this Fukunomenon is.

Yet Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa already doesn't hesitate insisting, "He's special."

The fundamentals won't change. Fukudome will run the bases with speed and savvy and play the field with skill and smarts.

Whether Fukudome keeps hitting -- he's batting .500 as we speak -- always is the question with a newcomer to the big leagues.

But DeRosa said that even as Fukudome "sandbagged" in spring training, "You could tell he was a professional hitter -- patient, with an idea and a game plan."

Cubs management embraces its first Japanese player. Each day a score of Japanese media members are provided with stat and information sheets in Japanese.

Cubs fans have been just as welcoming, to this point unconditionally. Fukudome received a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat on Opening Day, and merchandise with his name on it is selling fast.

"We can't keep it in stock," said Dan Loizzo, who manages the stand just outside the Cubs clubhouse. "We're out of adult stuff already."

That leaves just one thing to say about the Cubs' latest rock star: "FOO-koo! … DOH-may!"