Offensive Fukudome T-Shirt A Top Seller

Racism and baseball have a long and entwined history, and this season there's a new chapter thanks to some Kosuke Fukudome t-shirts.

On the front of the shirt is the traditional Cubs cartoon bear face but with slanted eyes and wearing oversized Harry Caray-style glasses. It's accompanied by the words ''Horry Kow,'' scrawled in cartoonish ''Japanese'' script. Fukudome's name and number are on the back.

Fukudome said through an interpreter that "if I make a big deal out of it, it's not going to benefit me, so I'm not going to make a big deal of it.''

The shirts are really popular, according to the article, and the vendor who's selling them says he doesn't think the shirts are offensive. [S-T]