CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs carved a few minutes Sunday morning to honor someone with significant ties to the organization.

The team unveiled a new plaque in a hallway inside the Wrigley Field clubhouse that honored their former longtime clubhouse manager, Tom “Otis” Hellmann, near the office of current clubhouse and equipment manager Danny Mueller.

Hellmann was the team’s clubhouse manager for 23 years and spent 51 years in baseball, including 41 with the Cubs. He passed away last January after a fall at the age of 67. The Cubs unveiled the plaque with members of his family present.

“Generations of players would come back and that’s the first person that players greet, is someone like Otis,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Sunday’s 8-7 loss to the San Diego Padres. “So, there was a little ceremony today, celebrating his life and commemoration of a plaque in the clubhouse that will be here forever.”

Hellmann began his career in 1974 as the assistant clubhouse manager for the Cincinnati Reds. He joined the Cubs in 1983, where he oversaw the visiting clubhouse. He was named home clubhouse manager emeritus after the 2022 season.

Hellmann was a key member of the organization – even if he wasn’t on the field hitting home runs or racking up strikeouts. People like Hellmann are some of the unheralded heroes that can make major league teams run smoothly.

That’s why it was so important to honor him.

“Someone like Otis is here to support all of us, really,” Counsell said. “And they do it quietly and behind the scenes and without much fanfare. But to everybody they support, they are very, truly important people and special people, and they make us look good,” he continued.

“They make our lives easier, and there they serve. And Otis was someone who served the Cubs community – frankly, mostly players in a very, very meaningful way.”