Munetaka Murakami Hits Two Home Runs on His Bobblehead Day, Drives In Career-High Six for White Sox
Sometimes the story writes itself.
Munetaka Murakami, the White Sox’s rookie sensation, hit two home runs and drove in a career-high six runs on his own bobblehead day in Chicago on Sunday. The White Sox rolled to a 12-3 win over the Houston Astros, and Murakami was responsible for half of the runs that put it away.
His parents threw out the first pitch. He drove one over the wall in left in the second inning. He kept going.
The scene at Rate Field was surreal. Fans lined up before the gates opened to grab the bobblehead giveaway, then watched the actual Murakami turn in the exact kind of performance the giveaway was celebrating. He smashed an 88 mph slider deep to left in his first big moment, then added another home run later, then kept driving in runs like this was the game plan.
Up until Sunday, Murakami had not hit a home run in the 11 games since coming off the injured list on July 9 following a hamstring injury that cost him from May 30 through early July. Everyone in the building had been waiting for the swing to come back. It picked a very appropriate day.
The two homers pushed Murakami’s total for the season to 22, which puts him within striking distance of a Japanese rookie home run record once held by Shohei Ohtani. That is the kind of company Murakami is starting to keep on a routine basis.
Let’s take a step back for a second and appreciate this. Murakami has been billed as one of the top international signings of the last several seasons. He came from Japan as a legitimate elite hitter with a swing and an approach that translated to MLB level pitching almost immediately. The White Sox got a real, real player.
He is also playing on a White Sox team that most people wrote off before the season started. The White Sox have had a brutal stretch in recent years, and Murakami’s performances are one of the few reasons to tune in on a given night. Every game he does something like Sunday, he becomes the reason a fanbase that has almost nothing to hold onto keeps showing up.
The bobblehead promotion also worked out perfectly for the marketing team. Every kid who left the stadium with the little Murakami doll saw the real Murakami hit two homers in the same game. Those kids are going to be lifelong fans.
The White Sox are not going anywhere in the standings this year. Murakami is going somewhere. Beat writers around the league are already floating him as a potential AL Rookie of the Year candidate depending on how the last two months of the season play out. Do not be surprised if his name is in that conversation seriously by the end of August.
Some players wilt in moments that are all about them. Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs on his bobblehead day.
He does not wilt.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
