The story of Hawai‘i Winter Baseball has a happy ending.At 10:33 a.m. on June 28, 2006, program emcee Chris Hart stepped up to the podium at The Willows’ banquet room in Mo‘ili‘ili, just a line drive shot away from where the old Honolulu Stadium once stood.
“We have an announcement to make,” he said to the approximately 100 people in attendance. “The Hawai‘i Winter Baseball League is back!”
The room erupted in a crescendo of applause and cheers.
It was a long nine-year “rain delay” from 1997 to 2006, but the return of Hawai‘i Winter Baseball last year was met with joy in the islands. In Catch the Dream, Lance Tominaga follows the rise and fall and triumphant rise again of baseball in Hawai‘i.
“The spirit of aloha lives in the game of baseball,” writes Duane K. Kurisu, chairman and CEO of Hawai‘i Winter Baseball Inc. in the book’s foreword. “…baseball and Hawai‘i are a natural fit. Anyone who lives in Hawai‘i long enough discovers the eclectic values, what we call ‘local style,’ that guides how we see and feel things. These values are a big part of what makes our Islands so special.”
That’s why Kurisu founded the Hawai‘i Winter Baseball League in 1993, bringing together Major League Baseball with the best young players from the Japanese and Korean big leagues. Starting out with four teams—the Maui Stingrays, Honolulu Sharks, Hilo Stars and Kaua‘i Emeralds (which later became the West O‘ahu CaneFires)—HWB introduced fans to future superstars like Ichiro Suzuki, Jason Giambi, Alex Ochoa and others.
Although the league’s popularity and fan base was steadily growing, in 1997, Kurisu was forced to shut it down due to financial difficulties. The situation is described in the chapter titled “Rain Delay,” which gives a concise account of the lack of MLB funding.
Tominaga writes in an accessible, journalistic style, with plenty of quotes from VIPs and facts and figures to back up every chapter. The book is nicely put-together, packed with glossy color photos, league records, statistics, team logos and team rosters—yet it’s small enough to tuck into a backpack and take to the game with you. Chapter 7 (titled “Seventh-Inning Stretch”) is a 25-question trivia quiz that baseball fans will enjoy.
Other chapters include “When Worlds Collide,” describing the international flavor of the league and the challenges of integrating different cultures into one cohesive unit.
The chapter titled “Spreading Aloha” tells of the joy that the international players took in making Hawaiian and American culture their own. Toward the end of the 1994 season, the league put Christmas trees in the dugouts. A Japanese pitcher named Tetsuhiro Monna loved the tree so much, he announced he was taking the tree home to Japan. “‘He was serious,’ said a league administrator. ‘I guess there aren’t any Christmas trees in Japan. Of course, he couldn’t do that [because of agricultural laws]. But he was insistent. We had to stop him and say, ‘You’re not taking the tree!’”
If you’re a Hawai‘i baseball fan, you know the start of this year’s season is still months away—but this little book just might be the perfect thing to hold you over until they throw out the first pitch.