Don Wakamatsu

Don Wakamatsu, born Wilbur Donald Wakamatsu on February 22, 1963, is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, scout, coach, and manager. He played in the majors for the Chicago White Sox and managed the Seattle Mariners during the 2009 season and most of the 2010 season. He was the first Asian-American manager in MLB history. After his playing days, he served as a bench coach for the Texas Rangers (2003–2006, then again from 2018 to 2021), the Oakland Athletics (2008), the Toronto Blue Jays (2011–2012), and the Kansas City Royals (2014). He also worked as a scout for the New York Yankees in 2013. Currently, he is the first-ever executive vice president of baseball operations for the Oakland Ballers.

Wakamatsu grew up in California’s Bay Area, where he was a three-sport star at Hayward High School. He chose baseball over football because of his size, and was a high school teammate of future Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio in both baseball and football. At Arizona State University, he was an All-Pac-10 catcher for three years, playing alongside Barry Bonds and Alvin Davis. The New York Yankees drafted him with the last pick of the 1984 draft, but he returned to ASU.

The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 11th round of the 1985 draft. He reached Double-A before the Reds released him before the 1989 season. He then signed with the Chicago White Sox, who assigned him to Double-A Birmingham. After spending 1990 and most of 1991 with Triple-A Vancouver, he got his only big-league call-up in May 1991. He played 18 games as a backup catcher for the White Sox that year, catching knuckleballer Charlie Hough in all of his starts. After the season, the White Sox granted him free agency, and he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent 1992 through 1996 bouncing between Double-A and Triple-A in the Dodgers, Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and Milwaukee Brewers organizations before retiring at age 33.

After retiring, Wakamatsu managed in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ minor-league system: the Arizona League Diamondbacks (1997), the Class-A High Desert Mavericks (1998), and the Double-A El Paso Diablos (1999). In 1998, he was named California League Manager of the Year after leading High Desert to the playoffs. He managed the Anaheim Angels’ Double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves, in 2000, then spent two seasons as a roving catching instructor for the Angels.

In the majors, he was the Texas Rangers’ bench coach from 2003 to 2006. During the 2006 season, he managed two games when Buck Showalter was hospitalized with dehydration-related irregular heartbeat. When Ron Washington became manager in 2007, Wakamatsu moved to third base coach. He served as the Oakland Athletics’ bench coach in 2008.

On November 19, 2008, he was named manager of the Seattle Mariners, replacing interim manager Jim Riggleman. He won his managerial debut on April 6, 2009, beating the Minnesota Twins 6–1 on Opening Day. That season, he was selected as a coach for the 2009 All-Star Game under Tampa Bay’s Joe Maddon. Fred Claire, a former executive and MLB.com writer, credited Wakamatsu and his staff for a 24-game improvement.

On May 20, 2010, Wakamatsu received his first career ejection; by June 12, he had two total. On August 9, 2010, amid one of the worst seasons in team history, he was fired, finishing with a 127–147 record.

On November 8, 2010, he became bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays under new manager John Farrell, a role he held through 2012 before being replaced by DeMarlo Hale. In 2013, he scouted for the New York Yankees in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. On October 25, 2013, he was hired as bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. On April 19, 2015, during a game against the Oakland Athletics, he was one of five Royals ejected.

The ejections stemmed from a contentious series: two games earlier, A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie had injured Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar on a slide. Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura hit Lawrie in the elbow the next game and was ejected. In the series finale, A’s pitcher Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain in the foot, leading to warnings. Royals manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland were ejected for arguing.

In the eighth inning, Royals pitcher Kelvin Herrera threw a 100 mph fastball behind Lawrie, triggering ejections for Herrera, Wakamatsu (the acting manager), and Escobar. The Royals won 4–2 despite the ejections.