CLEVELAND — Former Toronto Blue Jays utility man Munenori Kawasaki, once a Rogers Centre fan favourite, is playing the same jack-of-all-jokes bench role for the Chicago Cubs now.

He was secretly hoping to see the Jays in the World Series, but knew they were missing one ingredient.

“Toronto lose and I was very sad,” Kawasaki said Monday. “I love Toronto.

"Why did Toronto lose? Don’t have Kawa. That’s it.”

Kawasaki, known more for his off-field personality than his on-field performance during a 201-game stint in Toronto from 2013 to 2015, has appeared in only 14 Cubs games this season.

In 26 at-bats, all in the regular season, the 35-year-old has contributed seven hits and one RBI.

Kawasaki may be a bench warmer but at least his club made the World Series, right?

Ran into someone today who wanted to say hello to all the #BlueJays fans pic.twitter.com/wPXxpaJX7y — Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) October 24, 2016

— with a file from Postmedia