Murakami's bobblehead day turns into a Sox coming-out party

The White Sox picked a good day to give away 20,000 tiny plastic Munetaka Murakamis, because the real one showed up and put on a clinic. Chicago's rookie slugger turned his own bobblehead promotion into a personal highlight reel, going deep twice and driving in 6 runs as the Sox blew the doors off the Astros.

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MUNETAKA ON HIS BOBBLEHEAD DAY

Murakami signed a 2-year, $34 million deal with Chicago in December, and the early returns were absurd — he became the first player in franchise history to homer in each of his first 3 career games. Then a hand injury cost him more than a month, sidelining him after he got hurt during a win over Detroit in late May. He'd only been back for a handful of games before Sunday, and this was the version of him the Sox thought they were paying for.

Before Murakami's second homer even landed, the Sox lineup was already doing damage around him. Miguel Vargas ripped a two-run shot that flipped a one-run deficit into a lead, part of a bats-never-stop afternoon at the plate.

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MIGUEL VARGAS CRANKS ONE FOR THE LEAD

By the 8th inning the scoreboard read 12-3 and Murakami was rounding the bases for the second time, this one traveling 398 feet at 102 mph off the bat. Two homers, 6 RBI, on bobblehead day — that's not a stat line, that's a script a Hollywood writer would get rejected for being too on the nose.

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And Munetaka Murakami now has 2 HRs and 6 RBI on his Bobblehead day

The pregame stuff hit just as hard. Murakami's parents were on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, both decked out in his No. 5 jersey, meeting their son at the plate before he went out and turned the ballpark into his own personal highlight machine. It's the kind of moment that makes a bobblehead day actually mean something beyond the giveaway line.

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Having your parents throw out the first pitch on your bobblehead day is as good as it gets

Chicago entered the weekend in first place, and this is exactly the version of Murakami — an All-Star this year and a Home Run Derby participant before the injury slowed him down — that turns a good team into a scary one. If he's actually healthy again, the Sox just got their middle-of-the-order monster back at the best possible time.