The Cubs should probably sign this guy so they can finally get out of that Jim Edmonds deal.

This is Hakuho. He checks in at about 340 bills, which makes him about 15 pounds lighter than Prince Fielder.

From the Cubs webpage:

The 340-pound Japanese sumo wrestler, who has achieved the highest rank in sumo of yokozuna, was at Dodger Stadium on Friday to take part in pregame festivities and posed for photos with Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. [Carlos] Zambrano got into the action, shaking hands with the wrestler, who was dressed in formal black and gold robes. The Cubs pitcher even tried to speak to Hakuho in Japanese.

Fukudome could have used the visit, as he’s underperformed in road games during his first year in the states. Part of that may have been due to seeing so few familiar faces.

From Gordon Wittenmyer at the CHIGAGO SUN-TIMES:

When he homered Thursday off Chad Billingsley and later drove a game-winning single to right off countryman and friend Takashi Saito, he improved to .333 with a .462 on-base percentage halfway through this West Coast trip.

He was barely hitting .200 on the road this season before that.

”Perhaps it’s because my family is here,” said Fukudome, whose wife, Kazue, and infant son, Hayato, traveled from Japan for the first time this season to join him on this trip. They’ll travel on to Chicago as well.

That’s refreshing: a professional athlete that actually enjoys having his family around.