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Fergie Jenkins  @31fergiejenkins   1h1 hour ago

It is with a heavy heart that I share the best clubhouse manager in all of baseball for over 50 years, Yosh Kowano, passed away this morning at age 97. He was one-of-a-kind. RIP Yosh.

With tonight’s game being telecast by WGN, I’m sure there will be a well deserved tribute to Yosh Kawano.  More than a few of us became Cubs fans when we got cable in the 1980s and started watching Harry Caray and Steve Stone on the superstation, channel 9.  On whatever system I had then, it was channel 33. 

Arne Harris, Dwayne Staats, Yosh, and a few others were part of the games too.  You could count on Dorothy, the gray haired lady always being shown during “Take Me Out To the Ballgame”.  I think Len said the other day that she is now 92.   And who could forget the Shawon-O-Meter? 

Those were the days when even the commercials were well known.  A great city deserves a great newspaper, Murph’s 76 with the little girl not getting to see her Dad’s odometer turnover because she was busy waving goodbye to Murph.  And, of course, the ubiquitous Garden Claw. 

Another memory is the time Yosh was shown on camera in the visitor’s dugout wearing one of their ballcaps and Steve Stone saying “Oh no, Yosh has been traded”.

I was happy to see the Cubs honor Yosh by giving him a World Series ring.

RIP, Yosh.

And who could forget the Shawon-O-Meter? 

I was pretty thrilled a couple of years ago when I visited Cooperstown, and they had the Shawon-O-Meter on display there. 

By the way, I forgot about WOR showing a lot of the Mets games on cable back in the day.  It's kind of a bygone era now with MLB Extra Innings, MLB.tv, and all of that, but I still kind of miss being able to just simply watch Cubs games on WGN and not have to get the extra subscription to catch all of the games.

With tonight’s game being telecast by WGN, I’m sure there will be a well deserved tribute to Yosh Kawano.  More than a few of us became Cubs fans when we got cable in the 1980s and started watching Harry Caray and Steve Stone on the superstation, channel 9.  On whatever system I had then, it was channel 33. 

Arne Harris, Dwayne Staats, Yosh, and a few others were part of the games too.  You could count on Dorothy, the gray haired lady always being shown during “Take Me Out To the Ballgame”.  I think Len said the other day that she is now 92.   And who could forget the Shawon-O-Meter? 

Those were the days when even the commercials were well known.  A great city deserves a great newspaper, Murph’s 76 with the little girl not getting to see her Dad’s odometer turnover because she was busy waving goodbye to Murph.  And, of course, the ubiquitous Garden Claw. 

Another memory is the time Yosh was shown on camera in the visitor’s dugout wearing one of their ballcaps and Steve Stone saying “Oh no, Yosh has been traded”.

I was happy to see the Cubs honor Yosh by giving him a World Series ring.

RIP, Yosh.

The first time I ever remember hearing about Yosh Kawano was in an interview with Dallas Green after the Tribune bought the Cubs and hired Green as President.  He mentioned that the Cubs were going to continue with their relationship with Ernie Banks as a "Goodwill Ambassador", and was asked if it was part of the purchase agreement that the Cubs keep Ernie on the payroll.  He said "no, the only one that got an employment contract as part of the Tribune purchase was Yosh Kawano."  It was a few years later that I found out who he was.  Obviously, he was well regarded, even back then.

A must read

Doug Glanville remembers Yosh Kawano, the captain of Cubs past

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/doug-glanville-remembers-yosh-kawano-captain-cubs-past

Good timing, Dusty

Current SI story

“I passed Ernie Banks for most home runs in Chicago Cubs history,” he says. “He has a statue, and I don’t have nothing. So, what the f---?”

https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/06/27/sammy-sosa-cubs-dubai-steroids-mark-mcgwire

Patrick Reusse in the Minneapolis paper talking about the last time the Twins visited Wrigley in 2009

That series was notable for Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley tossing a ball into the stands when there were two outs, and the Twins winning a series (2-1) in Wrigley for the first time.