Fukuhara Has Habit of Succeeding

Pete Fukuhara remembers the flash from Mike Garcia’s College World Series ring in the sunlight.

Garcia, who was Fukuhara’s coach at Canada College in Redwood City, earned it as a player on Cal State Fullerton’s first national championship team, in 1979.

“Every time I’d see his ring, I knew I wanted one,” Fukuhara said. “Everyone who plays college baseball wants that. I wanted to go someplace where I’d have a chance to get to Omaha.”

Fukuhara decided Fullerton was the place.

Some other high-profile programs--Miami, Oklahoma and Florida State--recruited him after he batted .451 with 14 home runs and earned All-American honors at Canada. “But I wanted to be a Titan,” Fukuhara said.

Everything didn’t work out perfectly in his first year with Fullerton.

Fukuhara batted .320 with six home runs and was in the starting lineup 42 times, but Coach George Horton had doubts about how much Fukuhara would be playing this year as a senior with so many good outfielders returning and some new ones coming in.

“I told him that I couldn’t guarantee him playing time,” Horton said. “I told him his safest route to a lot of playing time probably was to find another program.”

But Fukuhara told Horton he wanted to stay and try to earn a spot in the lineup.

“That’s really what we wanted to hear,” Horton said. “If I was a selfish coach, I might not have said anything to him, but I knew he deserved to be playing somewhere. I didn’t think it would be fair to him if he wasn’t playing 80% of the time. I’m sure glad now he didn’t leave.”

Fukuhara is leading the Titans in batting with a .391 average, plus seven homers and 41 runs batted in entering this week’s Big West Conference tournament. Fukuhara has come on strong in the last 24 games, hitting safely in 22 of them. He is batting .447 during that stretch (34 of 76), and has driven in 30 runs.

“He’s become a lot more consistent this year,” Horton said. “The quality of his at-bats is much better. His skills game also has improved. He’s bunting the ball better, and he’s become a better baserunner. And he’s playing better on defense.”

Fukuhara says he’s hitting the ball more sharply.

“I’ve hit balls this season that wouldn’t have gotten through the holes last year,” Fukuhara said. “I think I’m a more complete hitter now.”

Fukuhara credits that partly to an off-season conditioning program. “I had never lifted weights anywhere before,” he said. “It’s made a difference. Playing in the Cape Cod League last summer also helped me. I feel I’m playing better in the field now than I did before. I can tell I’m getting better jumps on balls.”

Competition for playing time in the outfield and at designated hitter is as tough this season as Horton warned it would be. Fukuhara has started 30 of 55 games and has played in 10 others. Four other players who are either outfielders or designated hitters are batting .368 or higher.

Greg Jacobs, normally the designated hitter against right-handed pitchers, is hitting .390. Aaron Rowand, the regular in right field, is hitting .376 with a team-leading 13 homers and 60 RBIs. Steve Chatham is hitting .706 in the last four games and boosted his season average to .371. Chris Beck’s average is .368.

Reed Johnson’s average (.311) is the lowest among the front-line outfielders, but he’s second on the team in RBIs and is a strong defensive center fielder.

“You don’t ever feel like anyone is pulling against you because they want your job,” Fukuhara said. “We all root for each other. From a team standpoint, it’s a blessing to have that many good outfielders. I think we have the best depth in the outfield of any team in country.”