COOPERSTOWN -- Clubhouse and equipment managers aren't eligible for the Hall of Fame, but if they were, Yosh Kawano might headline the list of candidates.

In a sense, he's already made it. The longtime Cubs equipment manager, who first joined the team in 1943, donated his trademark fishing hat to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The official donation occurred during Hall of Fame Game ceremonies at Doubleday Field on Monday afternoon.

Kawano's Cubs were in town to play the Padres, only to have the game canceled because of heavy rain.

"It's a great honor for me to give this to the Hall of Fame," said the soft-spoken Kawano, whose Cubs duty was interrupted only one time -- by service in the military during World War II.

"I'm glad to do it for baseball and the Cubs," Kawano said.

The 87-year-old Kawano retired in April of this year because of health considerations, bringing to an end nearly 65 years of service in the Cubs' clubhouse. Kawano worked in both the home and visiting clubhouses at Wrigley Field.

Hall of Famer and former Cubs right-hander Fergie Jenkins, Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark and new Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson accepted the fishing hat from Kawano as they stood between home plate and the pitcher's mound at Doubleday Field.

Kawano's trademark fishing hat resembles the hat worn by the character Gilligan of "Gilligan's Island" TV sitcom fame. Kawano says he will wear the hat for about three more months before permanently donating it to the Hall of Fame's museum collection.

The popular Kawano is currently honored in the Cubs' Walk of Fame, a series of banners that hangs in the concourse at Wrigley Field. Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg once suggested that if the Cubs were ever to consider changing the name of their ballpark, they should name it Yosh Kawano Field.