Wendell Kim
Wendell "Wave 'em in" Kim (March 9, 1950 – February 15, 2015) was a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. Kim was widely known as "Wave 'Em Home Wendell" during his coaching career. He most recently served as the third base coach for the Chicago Cubs, and was of mixed Korean and Hawaiian descent.
Kim was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, one of three children of welterweight boxer Phil "Wildcat" Kim, who compiled a 43-15-3 record as a professional fighter, and his wife Doris Caserman.[1] According to Wendell, his father abused both Doris and their children.[1] Phil Kim retired from boxing in 1956, and was shot to death two years later, when Wendell was eight.[1] The crime remains unsolved.[1]
Kim played three years of varsity college baseball at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he was selected twice for the All-California Collegiate Athletic Association team.[1] In 1973, he attended an open tryout camp held by the San Francisco Giants, and he impressed the team enough that they signed him as a free agent.[1] He reached the AAA level in 1978, and had a .303 batting average in the Pacific Coast League. He never reached the major leagues, however, and he was released by the following spring. He played a brief stint in the Inter-American League in 1979, but was out of baseball by the end of the season.
In 1980 he began his coaching career, starting out as a coach for the AA Shreveport Captains. Throughout the eighties he coached and managed several teams in the Giants' organization, including the Captains, Clinton Giants, Fresno Giants and Phoenix Firebirds. It wasn't until 1989 that he got his first taste of major league baseball, when he became the third base coach for the Giants.
Kim held the Giants' job for eight years, before leaving to coach third base for the Boston Red Sox. He held down the third base coaching job in Boston for four years, manning the position from 1997 to 2000.
Kim left the Red Sox in 2001 to pursue a managing job in the minor leagues. He took over as the skipper of the Indianapolis Indians, who were the AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers at the time. That job was short-lived, however, as he soon left to become the bench coach for the Montreal Expos, a position he took in 2002.
Kim returned to coaching third base, taking that position with the Chicago Cubs in 2003. Kim's controversial and aggressive style of sending runners home often resulted in outs and garnered him the nicknames "Windmill Wendell" and "Wave 'em in Wendell."[2] He retired from baseball in 2005, and moved to Arizona.[1] After suffering from short-term memory loss, he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.[1]
Kim's wife is named Natasha (called "Tash"), and they have a son named Donald.[1] Kim died on February 15, 2015, in Arizona.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Boston Red Sox Third-Base Coach 1997–2000 |
Succeeded by Gene Lamont |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Rains, Sally Tippett. "Whatever happened to Wendell Kim? The sad story", STL Sports Page (RobRains.com), 8/24/14.
- ↑ Reference 1
External links
- Retrosheet
- WK's coach box
- Wendell Kim - BR Bullpen
- An Interview With Wendell Kim
- Cubs retain all coaches except Kim
- Wendell Kim
*[1]
- 1950 births
- 2015 deaths
- Boston Red Sox coaches
- Chicago Cubs coaches
- American people of Korean descent
- Indianapolis Indians managers
- Major League Baseball bench coaches
- Major League Baseball third base coaches
- Minor league baseball managers
- Montreal Expos coaches
- Sportspeople from Honolulu, Hawaii
- San Francisco Giants coaches
