Memo to the Cubs: The whole world is watching.
Sure, the Cubs may be bottom-feeders in the National League. But in the last week alone they have been watched by millions from South America to Asia to your neighborhood tavern.
Last Thursday, Cubs starter Jeremi Gonzalez was ecstatic that he beat fellow Venzuelan Wilson Alvarez at Wrigley Field in a game that was televised back in Maracaibo thanks to superstation WGN. Many Venezuelans took the afternoon off to watch the matchup of hometown heroes.
On Monday night in Los Angeles, the Cubs-Dodgers game was televised back in South Korea, where millions tuned in to watch native son Chan Ho Park throw a four-hit complete game.
If it’s Tuesday, it must be Japan. The final Cubs-Dodgers game was broadcast on Japanese TV, thanks to the presence of Dodgers star Hideo Nomo.
The Dodgers have a distinctly international flavor, with a rotation that also includes Dominican Republic native Ramon Martinez, currently in minor-league rehab with a slightly torn rotator cuff, and Mexico native Ismael Valdes.
While Japan’s Hideki Irabu got all the hype this summer, Park has quietly excelled. But some tour agencies selling trips to South Korean visitors now include on their U.S. itinerary a Dodgers game when Park is pitching.
“The weight of the whole country is on his shoulders,” Dodgers pitching coach Dave Wallace said. “That’s pressure.”
