Can Chicago lure baseball phenom Fukodome?

Sure, San Diego has that beautiful coastline, abundant sunshine and temperate year-round weather.

In the midst of an ice storm in Chicago, you'd think it might be a tough sell to convince Japanese baseball star Kosuke Fukudome to sign as a free agent with either the Cubs or White Sox instead of the San Diego Padres or the San Francisco Giants, who are also rumored to have an interest in signing the outfielder.

Think again.

According to the folks at the Japanese consulate in Chicago, regardless of the current conditions, Chicago has an awful lot to offer Fukudome, who announced on Tuesday plans to play in the states next year.

"People here are excited about the idea of him coming to Chicago," said Chris Kelly, communications coordinator at the consulate.

And if asked for a recommendation, those working at the consulate would be glad to oblige, able to roll off numerous reasons why Fukudome would love playing and living in Chicago.

Kelly on Tuesday did some informal polling of his co-workers and came up with a list of selling points of the city from a Japanese perspective.

Among them:

• The overall friendliness of people in Chicago and the Midwest

• Sure, Chicago is a large city, but it's very manageable

• The clean air

• The kindness of strangers

• The beauty -- the skyline, the lake, the flowers

• The ethnic diversity

• The cleanliness

He won't be alone, of course. The 2000 Census ranked Illinois No. 6 among all states in terms of Japanese American population. Chicago and suburban Cook County totaled more than 17,000 Japanese Americans, with another 5,000 more spread throughout the collar counties.

If that's not enough, Fukudome might want to give former White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi a call.

Iguchi, who participated in several events at the consulate while with the White Sox and was an occasional visitor to Mitsuwa Market in Arlington Heights, was said to have been heartbroken after being traded to Philadelphia last summer.

"He really liked it here and didn't want to move," Kelly said. "He thought it was a great environment to raise a family."

And if the Cubs win the bidding for his services at, say, $15 million a year for five years, that amounts to more than $8.38 billion yen, which should be more than enough for some prime lakefront property.