Cubs pull Fukudome shirt after Sun-Times report

Cubs ban sale of offensive Fukudome T-shirt

Within hours of a Sun-Times report on Friday detailing the sale near Wrigley Field of a Kosuke Fukudome T-shirt bearing a racist image, the Cubs put a stop to the production and sale of the shirt.

Inundated with e-mails from offended fans, Cubs officials investigated, discovered the unlicensed product used a trademarked Cubs logo and confronted the vendor – who complied with the team’s demand to pull the shirt and cease production.

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The Cubs front office was flooded with angry emails from fans in response to a Sun-Times story about a controversial T-shirt being sold outside of Wrigley Field.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

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"Clearly, the shirt was in poor taste and the Cubs are pleased to know that it will no longer be produced or sold," Cubs spokesman Peter Chase said.

The shirt used the traditional Cubs cartoon bear face but with slanted eyes and wearing oversized Harry Caray-style glasses. It was accompanied by the words "Horry Kow!" scrawled in cartoonish "Japanese" script.

Mark Kolbusz, who runs the souvenir trailer on Addison that sold the shirt, said it was his top selling shirt this season.

"I don't know what the creator of the shirt meant this to be, but they should make it right," Fukudome said Thursday through his interpreter when shown the shirt.