No one is having more fun in the 2026 MLB Postseason than Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami.
Minutes after the White Sox defeated the Houston Astros on Wednesday, September 30, 7-3, to win their American League Wild Card Series, he was celebrating with his teammates in the clubhouse as champagne and beer flew, and reporters tried to squeeze in questions amid the hubbub.
“I’m drunk. I’m drunk,” Murakami, 26, yelled to NBC Sports’ Britney Eurton when she asked him how he felt. “Yesterday, maybe hungover… No, not yesterday, tomorrow. Sorry, I don’t speak English!”
Murakami came to the United States in December 2025 after a stellar career in Japan where he was a four-time Nippon Professional Baseball Organization All-Star. He typically uses a translator to conduct interviews with White Sox media, but in the chaotic clubhouse scene on Wednesday, he was caught off guard.
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It was just the latest viral celebration moment with a reporter that Murakami has treated fans to. When the White Sox clinched the postseason on September 24, CHSN’s Brooke Fletcher asked him in the clubhouse to rate how he feels on a scale of 1 to 10.
“No 10,” he screamed into the microphone. “100!”
Asked how many bottles of champagne he had opened so far in the celebration, he again responded, “100!”
Fletchert then asked what it means to be able to celebrate with his team, and Murakami grabbed the microphone, shouting into it, “I’m Japanese!”
Murakami and the White Sox now advance to face the division rival Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series, beginning Saturday, October 3. Chicago is just two years removed from losing an American League record 121 games. The White Sox also lost 100 games last year, missing the postseason for a fourth straight season.
“Obviously I don’t really know what kind of team atmosphere was here the last two years when we did lose100 games, but I’m right here at this moment in time, so this is our culture,” Murakami told reporters through his interpreter before the Wild Card Series started. “It’s a winning culture, as you can see, and that’s how we have been proceeding. This is not the end. This is just the start of our, let’s say, postseason run.”
While Murakami has had the most viral moments of the season, the White Sox have won with contributions from the entire roster. Manager Will Venable reflected on the Astros series after the game, calling it “emblematic” of how they have won all season.
“Contributions from everywhere,” he said. “Sammy [Antonacci] setting the tone, great job down the lineup with everyone behind him. Guys pitching in different spots, going out whenever and getting the job done, and they did it.”
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