The Seattle Times is reporting that Oakland A’s bench coach Don Wakamatsu will be introduced as the Mariners’ manager at a press conference tomorrow, making him the first Asian-American manager in baseball history.

Wakamatsu beats out Joey Cora, currently a White Sox bench coach, DeMarlo Hale, third-base coach for the Reds, and D-backs third-base coach Chip Hale, amog others.
Wakamatsu, 45, came over the Oakland As in 2007 after five years with the Texas Rangers as their bench coach and three years with the Angels as their minor league coordinator and roving catching instructor. A catcher who spent twelve years in pro ball, Wakamatsu only reached the majors in 1991 for 18 games, mostly as the personal catcher to knuckleballer Charlie Hough.

He has management experience in the minors, with stints as the skipper of the Erie and El Paso Double-A teams, Single-A High Desert, and Peoria of the Arizona Fall League. His record with those teams is 215-248.

He will inherit a Seattle organization with a new general manager, Jack Zduriencik, and a team looking to rebound from a 61-101 record, the first team in major league history to lose 100 games with a payroll over $100 million.