Major League Baseball

Ex-Cubs, Giants coach Kim, known for emphatic waves, dead at 64

Published Feb. 16, 2015 9:57 p.m. ET

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Wendell Kim, the longtime coach whose emphatic style of waving runners home as a third-base coach made him a fan favorite at Wrigley Field, died Sunday near his Phoenix home after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 64.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news Sunday night; Kim's widow Natasha confirmed the coach's death to the Chicago Tribune on Monday.

Kim was one of the better-known third-base coaches in his day, in part to his style on the field, and also because he made himself available to media after games in his two seasons in Chicago. Once after a game in which he sent an injured Aramis Ramirez home only to see the slugger thrown out at the plate, Kim (nicknamed "Wavin' Wendell," "Windmill Wendell" and Wendell "Wave 'em in" Kim) the told the media, "I felt I let the city of Chicago down." That style also reportedly made him popular among the players he coached in the majors and managed in the minors.

Kim was a major-league coach for 15 seasons, working for the Giants (1989-96), the Red Sox (1997-2000), the Expos (2002) and the Cubs (2003-04). Kim never played in the majors, batting .285 over eight seasons in the Giants' farm system. A year after his final game as a player, a 31-year-old Kim was named manager of the Giants' Class-A affiliate, and would manage in the San Francisco system through 1988.

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