Yosh Kawano (June 4, 1921 – June 25, 2018) was an American clubhouse manager for the Chicago Cubs baseball team who retired in 2008 and was known for his trademark white fishing hat. Kawano's long service and dedication to the team made him a part of Chicago Cubs team lore. A member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame, he is honored by a plaque in the concourse of

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

Early career

Born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, Kawano began working for the Cubs in 1935 as a spring training batboy. He began working at Wrigley Field as a visiting clubhouse attendant in 1943. According to the June 3rd, 1943, issue of The Sporting News, Kawano's first baseball job was as batboy for the Chicago White Sox during their California spring training that season. This assignment brought him reprieve from an internment camp for Japanese-Americans. Kawano had been interned at the

Poston War Relocation Center The Poston Internment Camp, located in Yuma County (now in La Paz County) in southwestern Arizona, was the largest (in terms of area) of the ten American concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority during World War II. The sit ...

in Arizona following the signing of Executive Order 9066.

Later career

Kawano spent 65 years as a Cubs employee. He was stationed in the team's home clubhouse at Wrigley Field for many years until he was assigned again to the visitors' clubhouse in 1999.

The Kawano clause and legacy

Reportedly, the contract for the sale of the Cubs from the

Wrigley family William Mills Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was an American chewing gum industrialist. He was founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. Biography William Mills Wrigley Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Penns ...

to the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

in 1981 included a clause to guarantee Kawano a job for life with the Cubs. Former Cubs player and enshrined member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

has suggested that if the Cubs were ever to change the name of Wrigley Field, that the ballpark should be named ''Yosh Kawano Field''. Sandberg also thanked Kawano in his Hall of Fame induction speech. On June 16, 2008, Kawano donated his trademark fishing hat to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On Thursday, June 26, 2008, it was announced that Yosh Kawano would be retiring at the conclusion of the 2008 season. Kawano joined Cubs' Hall of Famer Billy Williams as guest conductor for "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch of the Cubs-Orioles game on June 26, 2008, a game which the Cubs lost 11–4 to the Baltimore Orioles. On July 14, 2009, the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' reported that two weeks earlier security guards had ejected Kawano from Wrigley Field. The action was allegedly taken to protect Kawano, who was visiting friends there when he was escorted from the park. According to the Sun-Times: "Cubs executives did not know of the incident and said they will contact Kawano directly 'to let Yosh know he is always welcome,' senior vice president Michael Lufrano said." In all, Kawano worked under 37 Cubs managers, 12 general managers and two owners. He was elected to the Cubs Hall of Fame for his services to the team.

Personal life

Kawano's brother, Nobu "Nobe" Kawano, was clubhouse manager for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

from 1959 to 1991. Towards the end, the two lived in the same nursing home in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Kawano died on June 25, 2018, at a nursing home in

, of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawano, Yosh 1921 births 2018 deaths American people of Japanese descent Chicago Cubs personnel Deaths from dementia in California Japanese-American internees People from Seattle People from Los Angeles