A broken thumb also limited him to just 49 games in . He appeared to be on his way to being Wally Pipped when his replacement, Ming-Tsu Lu, clubbed four home runs in his first five games. Lu was Taiwanese, and NPB has a "gaijin waku," or a limit of two foreign born players per team. Cromartie's former teammate with the Expos, pitcher Bill Gullickson, was also a member of the Giants. Given the salaries of Cromartie and Gullickson, Lu ended up being the odd man out.