Baseball in Paradise: The Hawaiian League

Mel Ott · 04-20-2007, 10:20 PM

In 1987, the storied Hawaii Islanders minor-league team left the islands. Citing the high costs and scheduling difficulties associated with playing teams from the mainland, the Islanders moved to Colorado, and Hawaii was left without pro baseball.

In the following years, a group of wealthy Hawaiian businessmen set about rectifying that situation. Although it seemed clear that no team from the islands would be able to compete in a mainland league, they concluded that a league based in the islands might well be successful. The travel expenses would be minimal, and they believed (correctly, as it turned out) that they would be able to secure substanial help from the state government in acquiring and developing playing fields and training facilities. Although they intended to pay the players competitive salaries, it was felt that the islands themselves offered a substantial draw to talented ballplayers: the chance to play baseball in paradise.

To help keep costs down, the roster size was limited to 23 players. Two levels of "training" leagues were set up, a Junior league and a Youth league. Teams would share facilities and fields with their minor-league affiliates, which would save money and allow the teams better control over the development of their prospects. Also, the owners decided to institute revenue sharing among all clubs to keep play competitive. The league would use the popular designated hitter rule, to increase scoring and fan interest. It was decided that play would begin in 1990, with a total of sixteen teams arranged in two circuits.

In the Sugarcane League:

The Honolulu Kings
The Kailua Surfers
The Kaneohe Coconuts
The Kapa'a Giants
The Lihue Zephyrs
The Pearl City Islanders
The Waikiki Diamonds
The Waipahu Waves

In the Pineapple League:

The Hilo Orchids
The Kahului Blues
The Kihei Beachcombers
The Kona Beans
The Lahaina Whalers
The Lanai City Pineapples
The Molokai Doves
The Volcano Volcanoes

The teams would play a 160-game schedule, featuring interleague play, with the best teams in each league facing off at the end of the season for the Kamehameha Cup.

This is their story.

Above: The home uniforms for the 16 teams of the Hawaiian League in 1990.

Mel Ott · 04-22-2007, 10:27 PM

This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-16-1990

Opening Day and the first week of the Hawaiian League season is in the books, and thus far the new league seems headed for success. The early leaders are the Kailua Surfers and Lihue Zephyrs in the Sugarcane League, while the Pineapple League is paced by the Hilo Orchids and Volcano Volcanoes squads:

Code:

Sugarcane League Standings
   
Team                  W L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home  Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10
 
Kailua Surfers        5 1 .833 -    4-2    1    5-1  0-0  2-0  2-1  155   W3    5-1  
Lihue Zephyrs         5 1 .833 -    4-2    1    0-0  5-1  1-0  0-1  155   L1    5-1  
Kaneohe Coconuts      3 2 .600 1.5  4-1   -1    1-2  2-0  1-0  1-1        W1    3-2  
Waipahu Waves         2 3 .400 2.5  2-3    0    0-0  2-3  0-0  1-1        W1    2-3  
Honolulu Kings        2 4 .333 3.0  3-3   -1    1-2  1-2  0-1  1-2        W1    2-4  
Kapa'a Giants         1 4 .200 3.5  1-4    0    1-4  0-0  1-1  0-0        W1    1-4  
Waikiki Diamonds      1 4 .200 3.5  1-4    0    1-1  0-3  0-0  1-0        L3    1-4  
Pearl City Islanders  1 5 .167 4.0  2-4   -1    0-3  1-2  0-1  0-0        W1    1-5   

Pineapple League Standings
  
Team                  W L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home  Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10
  
Hilo Orchids          5 2 .714 -    4-3    1    3-1  2-1  1-0  2-0  154   L1    5-2  
Volcano Volcanoes     5 2 .714 -    6-1   -1    5-2  0-0  1-0  1-1  154   L1    5-2  
Kihei Beachcombers    4 3 .571 1.0  4-3    0    2-2  2-1  0-1  1-3        L1    4-3  
Kona Beans            4 3 .571 1.0  4-3    0    0-0  4-3  1-1  2-0        L1    4-3  
Molokai Doves         4 3 .571 1.0  4-3    0    3-0  1-3  0-1  0-1        W4    4-3  
Lahaina Whalers       3 3 .500 1.5  3-3    0    3-3  0-0  0-0  2-0        W1    3-3  
Lanai City Pineapples 3 3 .500 1.5  3-3    0    2-1  1-2  0-0  0-1        L1    3-3  
Kahului Blues         1 6 .143 4.0  2-5   -1    0-0  1-6  0-2  0-2        L3    1-6

Players of the Week

In the Sugarcane League, 36-year-old LF Orlando Vega of the Zephyrs took home POTW honors, batting .453/.500/.913. He hit 3 homers and drove in 8 runs as he got off to a scorching start.

In the Pineapple League, young CF Daniel Cartagena of the Volcanoes took home the award for his .435/.532/.913 performance at the plate. He also homered 3 times and drove in 9 as he helped get the Volcanoes off to an early lead in the PL.

Around the League

The Honolulu Kings were paced by CF Guri Manusa, who went 10-for-24 and scored 8 runs. Unfortunately, CL Jesus Ruiz has been less impressive, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs in his lone appearance, lasting just one-third of an inning against Kailua.

The Kailua Surfers look like they've got a superstar in SP Waldo Stephens; he's struck out 25 and walked just 3 in his two starts; he also threw a complete game against the Kings.

The Kaneohe Coconuts have bullpen problems; in a game against Kihue, MR Sergio Duenas gave up six runs in a third of an inning to turn a 7-0 game into a tight 7-6 contest; CL Bjorn Yamaguchi gave up two more in the ninth to give the Beachcombers an unlikely win.

The Kapa'a Giants' LF Jae Ball may be a fan favorite, but he's quickly turning into opposing pitchers' best friend, too; in 21 ABs this season, he's struck out 10 times.

The Lihue Zephyrs won't stay at the top of the SL standings for long if SPs Bill Cooper and Del Tomlin don't shape up; they have ERAs of 6.59 and 8.10 after two starts each.

The Pearl City Islanders have lots of pitching problems, but also a potential Pitcher of the Year candidate in SP Wesley Etheridge. The young righthander went the distance in both of his starts, going 12 innings in a loss to Lihue and shutting out the Pineapples. His ERA is just 1.29, and opposing batters are hitting an anemic .145 against him.

The Waikiki Diamonds may be in the market for a new third baseman soon; 3B Oreste Pensotti may be the hardest-hitting Italian in the HL, but a .164 OPS isn't going to help him keep that distinction very long.

The Waipahu Waves' SP Clarence Roberts may need to learn how not to throw strikes; he's struck out 18 in two starts, but he's always near the plate and smart hitters have been taking advantage at a .306 clip.

The Hilo Orchids' lefthanded SP Aisea Hu is off to a great start, sporting a microscopic .057 ERA after his dominant shutout of the Blues, in which he struck out 13 hitters and allowed just 3 hits.

The Kahului Blues have lost some tough games already, but none tougher than a 7-6 defeat at the hands of the Kailua Waves. The Blues scored twice in the top of the 10th to take a 6-4 lead, but CL Azmus Takaki could only get one out in the bottom half as the Waves scored three times. Only one of the balls left the infield.

The Kihei Beachcombers pulled off an early-season blockbuster, picking up talented CF Harrison Sotokoba from the Zephyrs for SS Edgardo Herrera and minor-league outfielder Iemochi Amano. Nobody doubts his talent, but Sotokoba is rumored to be extremely unhappy with the deal, and it's anybody's guess whether that will affect the clubhouse chemistry in Kihei.

The Kona Beans split a wild pair against the Giants, winning 18-7 and then losing the next day 11-13. In the two games, LF Pete Hayagawa went 6 for 11, scoring four times and driving in three.

The Lahaina Whalers have to be hoping their pitching will show up soon. Through six games, their staff has a combined 7.17 ERA. Highlighting the problem: SP Cameron Faulkner, who in just five innings against Lihue gave up 6 walks and 8 hits, including three round-trippers.

The Lanai City Pineapples have to be excited about the performance of 3B Jose "The Rat" Gonzalez. The 21-year-old Dominican has gone 11-for-21 with six walks so far this season, posting a stratospheric OPS of 1.392.

The Molokai Doves have been stealing bases right and left in the early going. Leading the pack is LF Tetsui Takeda, who has 7 swipes already and could easily have double digits if he could only figure out a way to steal first - his OBP is a lowly .258.

The Volcano Volcanoes have been slamming the ball - the team as a whole is batting .344 and slugging .622. The biggest swings are being taken by Player of the Week Daniel Cartajena, who leads the HL in homers, walks, and RBI.

Mel Ott · 04-25-2007, 09:30 PM

This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-23-1990

Another week in the books, and for the Hilo Orchids and Lihue Zephyrs, the season looks bright indeed. For the Kaneohe Coconuts, on the other hand... well, they did win one game this week. So they've got that going for them.

Code:

Sugarcane League Standings
   
Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run  M#  Streak Last10 

Lihue Zephyrs        10  3 .769 -    9-4    1    4-1 6-2  1-0  1-3  145   W2      7-3  
Honolulu Kings        7  6 .538 3.0  8-5   -1    2-3 5-3  0-1  2-3        L1      6-4  
Kailua Surfers        7  6 .538 3.0  6-7    1    5-1 2-5  2-0  2-1        L4      5-5  
Kapa'a Giants         6  6 .500 3.5  5-7    1    2-5 4-1  2-1  0-0        L1      6-4  
Waipahu Waves         6  6 .500 3.5  5-7    1    4-3 2-3  0-0  2-2        L1      5-5  
Kaneohe Coconuts      3  9 .250 6.5  4-8   -1    1-6 2-3  1-1  1-2        L7      1-9  
Waikiki Diamonds      3  9 .250 6.5  2-10   1    3-4 0-5  0-0  2-0        L2      2-8  
Pearl City Islanders  3 10 .231 7.0  4-9   -1    1-5 2-5  0-1  1-1        L1      3-7   

Pineapple League Standings   

Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10 

Hilo Orchids         12  2 .857 -   11-3    1    8-1 4-1  2-0  4-0  144   W7     9-1  
Kona Beans            9  5 .643 3.0  9-5    0    5-0 4-5  1-1  3-0        W3     7-3 
Molokai Doves         9  5 .643 3.0  8-6    1    4-1 5-4  0-1  2-1        W1     8-2  
Volcano Volcanoes     8  6 .571 4.0 10-4   -2    5-2 3-4  1-0  1-3        W2     5-5  
Lahaina Whalers       7  6 .538 4.5  8-5   -1    5-3 2-3  0-0  2-3        W1     5-5  
Lanai City Pineapples 6  7 .462 5.5  5-8    1    4-3 2-4  0-0  3-1        L2     5-5  
Kihei Beachcombers    5  9 .357 7.0  6-8   -1    3-4 2-5  0-2  1-6        W1     3-7  
Kahului Blues         4 10 .286 8.0  4-10   0    3-4 1-6  0-2  1-2        W1     3-7

Players of the Week

In the Sugarcane League, Zephyrs LF Orlando Vega took home his second straight PotW award. He hit 4 homers while driving in 15 and scoring 8 times himself, and hit .483/.545/1.000 as the Zephyrs jumped out to a 3-game lead over Honolulu and Kailua.

In the Pineapple League, Hilo's RF Hugh Brown took home the honors as his team ran up the best record in the HL in the young season. Brown hit .422/.521/1.158, with 4 dingers, 14 RBI, and 8 runs scored for the week.

Around the League

The Honolulu Kings made up for a rough first week by winning 6 of 7, with the lone loss coming against Kailua. Although CF Guri Manusa remains the team's leader in hits, walks, runs, and steals, the team really caught fire when 1B Chris Turner found his power stroke. He leads the team with 5 homers and 13 RBI.

The Kailua Surfers suffered back-to-back blowout losses at the hands of the Orchids, losing Friday 10-3 and Saturday 12-3. The culprit in both losses: rocky starting pitching. In the first game, SP Ernest Hayes coughed up 7 runs in just 2 2/3 innings; in the second, SP Farris Miyamoto gave up 6 in 4. For Hayes (currently 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA), it marked the second time in three starts that he failed to make it through the third inning.

The Kaneohe Coconuts had a horrible week, losing 6 of 7 and getting swept by, successively, the Giants, Kings, and Beans. Although no one facet of the 'Nuts game was wholly responsible for the slump, fans point to the loss of RF Takanobu Ishida in a game against Kapa'a as the breaking point. Ishida suffered a concussion sliding into third on a triple; he was batting .393/.469/.643, but his replacement, Edgardo Ramirez, is hitting just .167/.259/.333 in only 4 fewer ABs.

The Kapa'a Giants, on the other hand, had a great week, losing just once in a shutout by Kailua's Waldo Stephens. OFs Bret Meshizuka and Jose Montes have been the engine driving the Giants higher in the standings, posting OPSes of .991 and .866 respectively.

The Lihue Zephyrs lead their league, and but for a few bad breaks might well be undefeated; all of their losses have been by just one run. Though the club looks solid all the way through the lineup, LF Orlando Vega seems to be playing a different game entirely; he leads the league in average, slugging, hits, homers, and RBI.

The Pearl City Islanders had a bad week, although not as bad as their first. One bright spot was the start by SP Julian Viau, who pitched a win against the Whalers and proved that the Islanders can win with someone not named Wesley Etheridge on the mound.

The Waikiki Diamonds have 3/4ths of a solid rotation. Unfortunately, the other starter is Gary "Bad Company" Kauffman, who demonstrates both questionable taste in music and questionable judgment on the mound. So far he's sporting a 2.54 WHIP and an unsightly 11.08 ERA; he has yet to reach the sixth inning this season.

The Waipahu Waves' offense begins and just about ends with star 2B Yoshi Watanabe, who leads the team in every batting statistic except doubles and strikeouts.

The Hilo Orchids' pitching remains phenomenal, and is the biggest reason for the team's early success. SP Aisea Hu is, for now at least, far and away the most dominant pitcher in the league; but Kensaku "Warlock" Ishii would be the staff ace for most clubs himself; he's got a 2.05 ERA after four starts and is striking out 11 batters for every 9 innings pitched.

The Kahului Blues are bringing up the rear in the Pineapple League, but still swept the Beans in a two-game series, as SP Curtis Hayagawa and reliever Cho Sugano combined on a shutout and 1B Iggy Haga belted a pair of quadrangles in the second game to put the Blues over the top, 5-3.

The Kihei Beachcombers lost every game last week, but they were all close - except for Friday's game against Kapa'a. The Giants turned a convincing 5-1 advantage into a rout by scoring six times in the top of the ninth against MR Richard Kowalchuk. It was Kowalchuk's first relief appearance after beginning the year in the Beachcombers' rotation. He didn't record a single out in the inning, and his ERA ballooned from 3.31 to 6.61.

The Kona Beans had a good week, punctuated by a 15-9 pie fight against the Coconuts in which LF Pete Hayagawa and DH Jesus Salinas each hit 3 home runs.

The Lahaina Whalers have had a rough couple of weeks on the mound, with the second-highest team ERA in the Pineapple League at 6.16. Although none of the starters have pitched well, the biggest offender has been SP Juan Jose Santos, who in four starts has posted a 10.69 ERA. Despite his 27 strikeouts and a 3.4 K/BB ratio, opposing batters are lighting him up for an OPS of 1.050.

The Lanai City Pineapples have the highest team ERA in the Pineapple League, but in contrast to the Whalers, their starting pitching has been pretty mediocre. Their relief pitching, however, has been hideous. MR Norbert Kaelin, who leads the bullpen in appearances and innings pitched, is the only reliever with an ERA under 15.00 - and his is a none-too-impressive 6.75.

The Molokai Doves LF Tetsui Takeda has been laying off more pitches out of the zone, and it's brought his OBP up to a respectble .367. He's now stolen 12 bases and been caught just once - which gives him more steals on his own than 14 teams have, total.

The Volcano Volcanoes are still tearing the cover off the ball, and all but one of their losses have been close. The one exception was a game against the Whalers, where the league's best offense and worst pitching staff should have led to some real fireworks. And so it did, until the bottom of the eighth, when MR Steve Kurusu got two outs and then gave up six runs as the Volcanoes lost, 8-14.

Mel Ott · 04-25-2007, 09:35 PM

Mel Ott · 04-25-2007, 09:37 PM

Mel Ott · 04-26-2007, 07:55 AM

Formatting issues resolved.

Mel Ott · 04-29-2007, 08:24 PM

This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-30-1990

No changes at the top of the standings this week, as the Hilo Orchids and Lihue Zephyrs continued to set the pace in their leagues. The Pineapple League seems to be the tighter race so far, with four teams within two games of the leader.

Code:

Sugarcane League Standings
   
Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10
  
Lihue Zephyrs        14  6 .700 -   14-6    0   6-3  8-3  1-2  1-4  139   W2     6-4  
Honolulu Kings       12  8 .600 2.0 13-7   -1   7-5  5-3  0-1  4-5        W3     7-3  
Kailua Surfers       11  9 .550 3.0 11-9    0   8-3  3-6  3-0  4-2        L1     4-6  
Waipahu Waves         9 10 .474 4.5  8-11   1   4-5  5-5  2-0  3-4        W1     4-6  
Kapa'a Giants         8 11 .421 5.5  6-13   2   3-7  5-4  2-1  2-0        L2     4-6  
Waikiki Diamonds      7 12 .368 6.5  6-13   1   3-4  4-8  1-0  4-1        L1     5-5 
Pearl City Islanders  7 13 .350 7.0  7-13   0   1-7  6-6  0-1  2-1        L1     5-5  
Kaneohe Coconuts      5 14 .263 8.5  7-12  -2   2-10 3-4  1-2  3-4        L3     2-8  

Pineapple League Standings   

Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10  

Hilo Orchids         15  6 .714 -   13-8    2   8-1  7-5  3-0  4-2  139   W1     6-4  
Kona Beans           14  7 .667 1.0 13-8    1   7-2  7-5  1-1  4-0        W3     8-2  
Volcano Volcanoes    14  7 .667 1.0 15-6   -1   9-3  5-4  1-0  2-4        W1     8-2  
Molokai Doves        13  8 .619 2.0 12-9    1   8-4  5-4  0-2  3-3        L1     6-4  
Lahaina Whalers       8 12 .400 6.5 10-10  -2   6-5  2-7  0-0  2-3        W1     3-7  
Lanai City Pineapples 8 12 .400 6.5  7-13   1   5-7  3-5  0-0  4-1        L2     3-7 
Kahului Blues         8 13 .381 7.0  8-13   0   5-4  3-9  0-2  1-3        L3     5-5  
Kihei Beachcombers    8 13 .381 7.0 10-11  -2   4-5  4-8  0-3  1-7        W2     4-6

Players of the Week

In the Sugarcane League, Kapa'a Giants RF Jose Montes took home the PotW hardware for hitting .481/.500/.667 with a homer and 6 RBI. It's his first PotW award.

In the Pineapple League, LF Pete Hayagawa led the Kona Beans to five wins over the past week, batting .375/.484/.833 with three quadrangles and 11 RBI. That was impressive enough to earn Hayagawa his first PotW award.

Around the League

The Honolulu Kings had an up-and-down week, but won a laugher at home against the Giants, 19-9. The score makes the game look closer than it actually was, as Kapa'a scored five of their runs in the eighth and ninth off of reliever Saba "The Tank" Battle, by which point the Kings already had a 15-4 advantage.

The Kailua Surfers also got healthy against Kapa'a, taking a two-game set 10-1 and 5-0 behind strong pitching by SPs Farri Miyamoto and Waldo Stephens. Both Kailua starters went the distance, giving up just eight hits total and striking out 17 over the two games.

The Kaneohe Coconuts moved to shore up the HL's most combustible relief corps after the Coconuts bullpen coughed up late leads against Kailua, Honolulu, and Kona. The 'Nuts sent SP Noa "Nasty" McNeil, MR Sergio Duenas, and a pair of outfielding prospects to Kailua for 17-year-old pitching phenom Jules Ishibashi and a minor-league outfielder. Ishibashi was immediately installed as the Kaneohe closer.

The Kapa'a Giants, as noted, had a tough week. Nonetheless, RF Jose Montes kept hitting like an All Star and picked up his first PotW award. He's batting .412/.435/.550 for the season.

The Lihue Zephyrs stayed on top of the SL standings, and SP Del Tomlin is a big reason why they're leading the league as the season heads into May. After a rough first week, he's rebounded to post a 5-0 record and a 3.53 ERA. In his last three starts, he's allowed just two earned runs.

The Pearl City Islanders had their best week of the season, winning two games each against Waipahu and Lahaina. A big reason for their recent success has been the play of 1B Jesus Nunez. Over the last week he's hit .300/.444/.500 with a dinger and 5 batted in; for the season, he leads the team with an .862 OPS.

The Waikiki Diamonds have had real problems hitting for power. The team has combined for just 8 round-trippers, led by RF Lee Green with 3. For comparison, league leader Orlando Vega of Lihue has 9 homers on his own.

The Waipahu Waves may not have the league's best starting pitching or lineup, but their bullpen has been terrific. CL Don Dixon is 5-for-5 in save opportunites, and has given up just one earned run so far this season.

The Hilo Orchids had a pretty good week, but they lost ground to the Beans thanks to a couple of rough games where Orchids starters Paul Conner and Rudik Hayashi were roughed up early for 6 and 7 runs, respectively. Neither man completed the fifth inning as the Orchids lost a pair to Kona, 0-6 and 8-9.

The Kahului Blues had a pretty good week thanks to the outstanding play of LF Richie McGhee, who belted four home runs and drove in eight as the Blues swept the Beachcombers and a tough Kona club.

The Kihei Beachcombers didn't have much to cheer about this week, but one bright spot was the 10-2 pasting they laid on Hilo. The star of the game was SS Fryderyk Maloney, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, 3 runs scored and two driven in.

The Kona Beans can't seem to figure out the Blues, and dropped a pair to Kahului to fall to 0-4 on the season against them. Beans starters Carlos Alejo and Mark White were the victims this time, giving up early runs to a Blues offense that seems to gear up especially for games against Kona.

The Lahaina Whalers have been tearing the cover off the ball, with six different players slugging 3 or more home runs. In the lead is 2b Lonnie Zimmerman, tied for the Pineapple League lead with 6 homers and in second place with 22 driven in.

The Lanai City Pineapples continue to have bullpen problems. This week's goat was MR Mateiu Bradburn, who started the top of the ninth with Lanai City down 2-0 to Lihue. He failed to record an out as the Zephyrs plated five runs, finally winning 7-1. Bradburn's ERA is now an unsightly 33.76.

The Molokai Doves got some bad news on Saturday as CF Noriaki "Admiral" Yamamoto fractured his hand in a baserunning accident. He'll be out for at least two months, and the Doves will be hard pressed to replace him. A pretty fair batter, Yamamoto is probably the league's premier defensive CF, with great range and sure hands.

The Volcano Volcanoes had a fantastic week, losing just once, a 2-3 nailbiter to the Diamonds. During the hot streak, the Volcanoes' pitching really rounded into form, posting the lowest team ERA in the HL at 3.55. Staff ace Kaz Samurakami has surrendered just 7 earned runs in 6 starts - all wins for the crafty southpaw.

Mel Ott · 04-30-2007, 08:50 PM

Monthly Review - May 1, 1990

Standings

Code:

Sugarcane League Standings
   
Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home  Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10  

Lihue Zephyrs        14  6 .700 -   14-6    0    6-3  8-3  1-2  1-4  139   W2     6-4  
Honolulu Kings       13  8 .619 1.5 14-7   -1    7-5  6-3  0-1  4-5        W4     7-3  
Kailua Surfers       12  9 .571 2.5 12-9    0    9-3  3-6  3-0  4-2        W1     5-5  
Waipahu Waves         9 10 .474 4.5  8-11   1    4-5  5-5  2-0  3-4        W1     4-6  
Kapa'a Giants         8 12 .400 6.0  6-14   2    3-8  5-4  2-1  2-0        L3     3-7  
Waikiki Diamonds      7 12 .368 6.5  6-13   1    3-4  4-8  1-0  4-1        L1     5-5  
Pearl City Islanders  7 13 .350 7.0  7-13   0    1-7  6-6  0-1  2-1        L1     5-5  
Kaneohe Coconuts      5 15 .250 9.0  7-13  -2    2-10 3-5  1-2  3-4        L4     2-8   

Pineapple League Standings   

Team                  W  L  PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home  Away XInn 1Run  M# Streak Last10  

Hilo Orchids         15  6 .714 -   13-8    2    8-1  7-5  3-0  4-2  139   W1     6-4  
Kona Beans           14  7 .667 1.0 13-8    1    7-2  7-5  1-1  4-0        W3     8-2  
Volcano Volcanoes    14  8 .636 1.5 15-7   -1    9-4  5-4  1-0  2-4        L1     8-2  
Molokai Doves        13  9 .591 2.5 12-10   1    8-4  5-5  0-2  3-3        L2     5-5  
Lahaina Whalers       9 12 .429 6.0 11-10  -2    7-5  2-7  0-0  2-3        W2     3-7  
Lanai City Pineapples 9 12 .429 6.0  9-12   0    5-7  4-5  0-0  4-1        W1     3-7  
Kahului Blues         8 13 .381 7.0  8-13   0    5-4  3-9  0-2  1-3        L3     5-5  
Kihei Beachcombers    8 13 .381 7.0 10-11  -2    4-5  4-8  0-3  1-7        W2     4-6

Pitchers of the Month

The Sugarcane League Pitcher of the Month was Waldo Stephens of the Kailua Surfers. Stephens went 4-1 in 6 starts, posting a 1.84 ERA. He's thrown 2 shutouts (both against Kapa'a) and 4 complete games. Remarkably, he has yet to give up a home run.

In the Pineapple League, the Pitcher of the Month award went to Kazuyoshi Samurakami of the Volcano Volcanoes. Kaz won all 6 of his starts, registering a 1.54 ERA. He hasn't gone the distance in any of his wins, but with the run support his teammates have given him, he hasn't had many close-and-late situations to deal with. Like Stephens, Samurakami has kept the ball in the park in each of his starts so far.[/color]

Batters of the Month

The Lihue Zephyrs' LF Orlando Vega took home the Sugarcane League's Batter of the Month award for his impressive .415/.489/.841 April. His 9 home runs, 29 RBI, and 25 runs scored lead all batters in the HL.

Daniel Cartajena of the Volcano Volcanoes won the Pinapple League's Batter of the Month honor, joining teammate Kaz Samurakami as a monthly award winner from the red-hot Volcano club. Cartajena posted a .392/.400/.649 batting line, belting 5 round-trippers, driving in 19 runs, and crossing the plate 18 times himself.

Flamethowers

Waldo Stephens, Kailua Surfers, 66 Ks.
Aisea Hu, Hilo Orchids, 61 Ks.
Carlos Alejo, Kona Beans, 48 Ks.
Robby Kettley, Kihei Beachcombers, 40 Ks
Noa "Nasty" MacNeill, Kailua Surfers, 39 Ks.

BB Guns

Cameron Faulkner, Lahaina Whalers, 23 walks.
Julien Viau, Pearl City Islanders, 23 walks.
Carlos "Rogue" Guerra, Kaneohe Coconuts, 21 walks.
Shigemori Hayashi, Kihei Beachcombers, 21 walks.
Santiago Huertas, Lanai City Pineapples, 20 walks.
Dean O'Higgins, Lahaina Whalers, 20 walks.

Hit Men

LF Orlando Vega, Lihue Zephyrs, 34 hits.
RF Jose Montes, Kapa'a Giants, 33 hits.
CF Daniel Cartajena, Volcano Volcanoes, 29 hits.
CF Jesus Salinas, Kona Beans, 29 hits.
SS Ronald Zimm, Volcano Volcanoes, 29 hits.

Hack Men

2B Jake Peterson, Lihue Zephyrs, 28 strikeouts.
LF Jae Ball, Kapa'a Giants, 27 strikeouts.
3B Leo Bryant, Pearl City Islanders, 25 strikeouts.
SS Deaglan Barrett, Kahului Blues, 24 strikeouts.
SS Mike Fox, Hilo Orchids, 23 strikeouts.

texasmame · 04-30-2007, 09:03 PM

Cool idea! I was married on Maui on the beach.

Great place! You ever been?

Mel Ott · 05-01-2007, 12:11 PM

No, all I know about Hawaii I learned from Wikipedia.

I was inspired by BigSix's Keystone League and AZTarHeel's Arizona League to start a new dynasty with OOTP 2007, so I was looking for a state or a region to set up a league in. It was a really dreary March and April, weatherwise, and I thought it would be fun to have a league somewhere where the weather was nice all the time.

Glad you're enjoying it so far!

texasmame · 05-01-2007, 04:06 PM

You gotta get there someday.

Heh. Mel Ott. He was one of my Big Pair - Frank Thomas #3, Ott #4. OBP guys who could mash the ball, too. Greatness.

AZTarHeel · 05-02-2007, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel Ott

No, all I know about Hawaii I learned from Wikipedia.

I was inspired by BigSix's Keystone League and AZTarHeel's Arizona League to start a new dynasty with OOTP 2007, so I was looking for a state or a region to set up a league in. It was a really dreary March and April, weatherwise, and I thought it would be fun to have a league somewhere where the weather was nice all the time.

Glad you're enjoying it so far!

wow, i'm an inspiration ...

this will be fun to follow, except that I can't pronounce any of the names ...

Cool uniforms by the way ... I'm all about the Pineapples! Yeah baby...

woodfeld · 05-02-2007, 09:31 AM

I'm pulling for the Zephyrs.

cochrane · 05-02-2007, 09:59 AM

Go Giants!

-- ZC

Mel Ott · 05-03-2007, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZTarHeel

wow, i'm an inspiration ...

this will be fun to follow, except that I can't pronounce any of the names ...

Cool uniforms by the way ... I'm all about the Pineapples! Yeah baby...

You may be in for a long season...

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodfeld

I'm pulling for the Zephyrs.

You'll be pleased with the upcoming Player of the Week!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cochrane

Go Giants!

-- ZC

Well... they've got a good rotation. The rest of the team is... uneven. But it's still early!

CatKnight · 05-04-2007, 04:45 AM

I'm curious. How are you pulling out so much info on each team week by week? Are you studying each boxscore, or...?

Syd Thrift · 05-04-2007, 06:38 AM

Nice start! One thing though about the formatting: what I do is copy, paste, and edit everything in Notepad before transferring it in between the code tags. Basically if you do that, it will look exactly the same on this board as it does on your computer.

Mel Ott · 05-04-2007, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatKnight

I'm curious. How are you pulling out so much info on each team week by week? Are you studying each boxscore, or...?

Well, I do this:

First, I play out a week of games. I don't have a lot of time for it, so I usually get through a game or two per day. I'm kind of shooting for getting through two weeks of fake baseball each week.

The standings and PotW are pretty easy.

The team reports are a little more time-consuming. I start by going to each team's home page. If there's any big news, I'll check that out - if an MR with a fat ERA went down with an injury, I'm not that interested; if it's the starting left fielder who leads the team in OBP, that's kind of important.

Then I check out the team's schedule for the past week. More often than not, nothing really jumps out; but sometimes something odd happened, and I'll investigate that a little more. For example, if the team didn't win a game all week, but all the losses were by one or two runs; or if there was an extra-inning game that ended 2-1; or if the team played a game that turned into a blowout; or if there were some really high-scoring games - those are kind of interesting, and I'll go ahead and check out the box scores and sometimes the game logs for those games.

Next, I'll check out the team's batting and pitching stats. The "Last Week" splits are extremely helpful here. Usually by this point I have some idea about whose performance I want to check out. Sometimes, a player will have an anomalously good or bad week that isn't really reflected in the team's overall performance, and this is where that will show up.

Then I write a sentence or two about the team, usually mentioning the players who really stood out to me that week. It sounds more complicated and time-consuming than it is; it rarely takes more than an hour or two to do the whole thing. Of course, sometimes I don't have an hour or two, and then you'll see a half-finished post up here.

Really, I'm trying to accomplish several things with the weekly updates. I've found, doing other dynasties in what now seems like the distant past, that the key to keeping it up is to do a little bit, frequently. When I've tried making bigger posts less often, it becomes kind of a drag; it feels like I'm interrupting my Fun Time to do a chore, and that's not a good formula for keeping a dynasty thread going.

I'm also trying to produce the kind of thing I like to read myself. I have a hard time with the "stat dump" kind of thing - it's hard for me to follow what's going on without some kind of narrative about what the stats mean. That's one thing I try to provide by updating it frequently. Someday I'd like to do a fast-sim dynasty like metsgeek does, because I dig the way the history piles up over that many seasons; but this isn't that kind of dynasty.

Another thing is, I play out a week's worth of games, both because I like to play them out, and because the strategy sliders are intimidatingly numerous. If I ever get those set up right, I might start Eugene-Church-ing the sims, but the amount of time it takes me to get through a week of games is a factor in how often I update stuff. If I let it go too long, I get out of the habit of doing it.

Also, giving each team this kind of attention each week really helps me understand what's going on with the league as a whole, and makes playing the game more immersive. I probably wouldn't know anything about a bunch of the players I've mentioned in the weekly updates without spending some time sifting through the stats.

Also also, I'm kind of writing the brief little recaps while trying to imagine what would be important to me as a fan of that club. Hopefully, that makes reading this interesting to people other than me. But the thing I like about this game - all sim games, really, but baseball is kind of specially well-suited for this - is the way you can watch the game develop and change over time. The rich statistical detail the game provides is a good peg to hang my pretty limited storytelling skills on. I don't have the talent or the time to do stuff like "The Greater Baseball Co-Prosperity Sphere" (cool as that is!), but I like imagining what it would be like to follow these teams, and I try to give a sense of that in the weekly update posts.

Long answer: Not exactly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Nice start! One thing though about the formatting: what I do is copy, paste, and edit everything in Notepad before transferring it in between the code tags. Basically if you do that, it will look exactly the same on this board as it does on your computer.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll try that with the next update.

Mel Ott · 05-05-2007, 09:53 AM

This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 5-6-1990

As the season moves into May, the Hilo Orchids and Lihue Zephyrs continue to lead their leagues. The Volcano Volcanoes are nipping at Hilo's heels, though, and many observers expect those two teams to battle all season long for the Pineapple League crown.

Code:

Sugarcane League Standings  
 
Team                   W  L  PCT GB  Pyt.Rec Diff Home  Away XInn 1Run M#  Streak Last10 
Lihue Zephyrs         18  7 .720 -   17-8     1    9-3   9-4  1-2  1-5 131  W3     7-3 
Honolulu Kings        15 12 .556 4.0 17-10   -2    7-5   8-7  1-1  5-7      L4     6-4 
Kailua Surfers        15 12 .556 4.0 14-13    1   11-4   4-8  4-0  5-2      L2     5-5 
Waipahu Waves         11 13 .458 6.5 10-14    1    5-7   6-6  2-0  3-4      L2     5-5 
Kapa'a Giants         11 15 .423 7.5 9-17     2    4-10  7-5  2-2  3-2      L1     4-6 
Waikiki Diamonds       9 15 .375 8.5 8-16     1    5-7   4-8  1-0  6-2      L2     5-5 
Pearl City Islanders   9 16 .360 9.0 9-16     0    3-10  6-6  0-1  2-1      W1     4-6 
Kaneohe Coconuts       7 19 .269 11.5 9-17    -2   2-10  5-9  1-3  3-6      W1     2-8 
 
Pineapple League Standings  
 
Team                   W  L  PCT GB  Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away  XInn 1Run M#  Streak Last10 
Hilo Orchids          20  6 .769 -   18-8     2   13-1  7-5  3-0   5-2 132  W6     8-2 
Volcano Volcanoes     19  9 .679 2.0 20-8    -1   12-4  7-5  1-0   3-4      W2     7-3 
Kona Beans            15 11 .577 5.0 14-12    1    8-4  7-7  1-1   5-0      W1     4-6 
Molokai Doves         15 13 .536 6.0 16-12   -1    8-4  7-9  0-2   4-7      W2     3-7 
Lahaina Whalers       12 15 .444 8.5 13-14   -1   10-5  2-10 0-0   5-3      L3     5-5 
Kahului Blues         11 15 .423 9.0 12-14   -1    7-5  4-10 1-2   1-4      W2     5-5 
Kihei Beachcombers    11 15 .423 9.0 12-14   -1    7-7  4-8  0-4   3-7      L1     6-4 
Lanai City Pine

04-20-2007, 10:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	Baseball in Paradise: The Hawaiian League In 1987, the storied Hawaii Islanders minor-league team left the islands. Citing the high costs and scheduling difficulties associated with playing teams from the mainland, the Islanders moved to Colorado, and Hawaii was left without pro baseball. In the following years, a group of wealthy Hawaiian businessmen set about rectifying that situation. Although it seemed clear that no team from the islands would be able to compete in a mainland league, they concluded that a league based in the islands might well be successful. The travel expenses would be minimal, and they believed (correctly, as it turned out) that they would be able to secure substanial help from the state government in acquiring and developing playing fields and training facilities. Although they intended to pay the players competitive salaries, it was felt that the islands themselves offered a substantial draw to talented ballplayers: the chance to play baseball in paradise. To help keep costs down, the roster size was limited to 23 players. Two levels of "training" leagues were set up, a Junior league and a Youth league. Teams would share facilities and fields with their minor-league affiliates, which would save money and allow the teams better control over the development of their prospects. Also, the owners decided to institute revenue sharing among all clubs to keep play competitive. The league would use the popular designated hitter rule, to increase scoring and fan interest. It was decided that play would begin in 1990, with a total of sixteen teams arranged in two circuits. In the Sugarcane League: The Honolulu Kings The Kailua Surfers The Kaneohe Coconuts The Kapa'a Giants The Lihue Zephyrs The Pearl City Islanders The Waikiki Diamonds The Waipahu Waves In the Pineapple League: The Hilo Orchids The Kahului Blues The Kihei Beachcombers The Kona Beans The Lahaina Whalers The Lanai City Pineapples The Molokai Doves The Volcano Volcanoes The teams would play a 160-game schedule, featuring interleague play, with the best teams in each league facing off at the end of the season for the Kamehameha Cup. This is their story. Above: The home uniforms for the 16 teams of the Hawaiian League in 1990.

04-22-2007, 10:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-16-1990 This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-16-1990 Opening Day and the first week of the Hawaiian League season is in the books, and thus far the new league seems headed for success. The early leaders are the Kailua Surfers and Lihue Zephyrs in the Sugarcane League, while the Pineapple League is paced by the Hilo Orchids and Volcano Volcanoes squads: Code: Sugarcane League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Kailua Surfers 5 1 .833 - 4-2 1 5-1 0-0 2-0 2-1 155 W3 5-1 Lihue Zephyrs 5 1 .833 - 4-2 1 0-0 5-1 1-0 0-1 155 L1 5-1 Kaneohe Coconuts 3 2 .600 1.5 4-1 -1 1-2 2-0 1-0 1-1 W1 3-2 Waipahu Waves 2 3 .400 2.5 2-3 0 0-0 2-3 0-0 1-1 W1 2-3 Honolulu Kings 2 4 .333 3.0 3-3 -1 1-2 1-2 0-1 1-2 W1 2-4 Kapa'a Giants 1 4 .200 3.5 1-4 0 1-4 0-0 1-1 0-0 W1 1-4 Waikiki Diamonds 1 4 .200 3.5 1-4 0 1-1 0-3 0-0 1-0 L3 1-4 Pearl City Islanders 1 5 .167 4.0 2-4 -1 0-3 1-2 0-1 0-0 W1 1-5 Pineapple League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hilo Orchids 5 2 .714 - 4-3 1 3-1 2-1 1-0 2-0 154 L1 5-2 Volcano Volcanoes 5 2 .714 - 6-1 -1 5-2 0-0 1-0 1-1 154 L1 5-2 Kihei Beachcombers 4 3 .571 1.0 4-3 0 2-2 2-1 0-1 1-3 L1 4-3 Kona Beans 4 3 .571 1.0 4-3 0 0-0 4-3 1-1 2-0 L1 4-3 Molokai Doves 4 3 .571 1.0 4-3 0 3-0 1-3 0-1 0-1 W4 4-3 Lahaina Whalers 3 3 .500 1.5 3-3 0 3-3 0-0 0-0 2-0 W1 3-3 Lanai City Pineapples 3 3 .500 1.5 3-3 0 2-1 1-2 0-0 0-1 L1 3-3 Kahului Blues 1 6 .143 4.0 2-5 -1 0-0 1-6 0-2 0-2 L3 1-6 Players of the Week In the Sugarcane League, 36-year-old LF Orlando Vega of the Zephyrs took home POTW honors, batting .453/.500/.913. He hit 3 homers and drove in 8 runs as he got off to a scorching start. In the Pineapple League, young CF Daniel Cartagena of the Volcanoes took home the award for his .435/.532/.913 performance at the plate. He also homered 3 times and drove in 9 as he helped get the Volcanoes off to an early lead in the PL. Around the League The Honolulu Kings were paced by CF Guri Manusa, who went 10-for-24 and scored 8 runs. Unfortunately, CL Jesus Ruiz has been less impressive, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs in his lone appearance, lasting just one-third of an inning against Kailua. The Kailua Surfers look like they've got a superstar in SP Waldo Stephens; he's struck out 25 and walked just 3 in his two starts; he also threw a complete game against the Kings. The Kaneohe Coconuts have bullpen problems; in a game against Kihue, MR Sergio Duenas gave up six runs in a third of an inning to turn a 7-0 game into a tight 7-6 contest; CL Bjorn Yamaguchi gave up two more in the ninth to give the Beachcombers an unlikely win. The Kapa'a Giants' LF Jae Ball may be a fan favorite, but he's quickly turning into opposing pitchers' best friend, too; in 21 ABs this season, he's struck out 10 times. The Lihue Zephyrs won't stay at the top of the SL standings for long if SPs Bill Cooper and Del Tomlin don't shape up; they have ERAs of 6.59 and 8.10 after two starts each. The Pearl City Islanders have lots of pitching problems, but also a potential Pitcher of the Year candidate in SP Wesley Etheridge. The young righthander went the distance in both of his starts, going 12 innings in a loss to Lihue and shutting out the Pineapples. His ERA is just 1.29, and opposing batters are hitting an anemic .145 against him. The Waikiki Diamonds may be in the market for a new third baseman soon; 3B Oreste Pensotti may be the hardest-hitting Italian in the HL, but a .164 OPS isn't going to help him keep that distinction very long. The Waipahu Waves' SP Clarence Roberts may need to learn how not to throw strikes; he's struck out 18 in two starts, but he's always near the plate and smart hitters have been taking advantage at a .306 clip. The Hilo Orchids' lefthanded SP Aisea Hu is off to a great start, sporting a microscopic .057 ERA after his dominant shutout of the Blues, in which he struck out 13 hitters and allowed just 3 hits. The Kahului Blues have lost some tough games already, but none tougher than a 7-6 defeat at the hands of the Kailua Waves. The Blues scored twice in the top of the 10th to take a 6-4 lead, but CL Azmus Takaki could only get one out in the bottom half as the Waves scored three times. Only one of the balls left the infield. The Kihei Beachcombers pulled off an early-season blockbuster, picking up talented CF Harrison Sotokoba from the Zephyrs for SS Edgardo Herrera and minor-league outfielder Iemochi Amano. Nobody doubts his talent, but Sotokoba is rumored to be extremely unhappy with the deal, and it's anybody's guess whether that will affect the clubhouse chemistry in Kihei. The Kona Beans split a wild pair against the Giants, winning 18-7 and then losing the next day 11-13. In the two games, LF Pete Hayagawa went 6 for 11, scoring four times and driving in three. The Lahaina Whalers have to be hoping their pitching will show up soon. Through six games, their staff has a combined 7.17 ERA. Highlighting the problem: SP Cameron Faulkner, who in just five innings against Lihue gave up 6 walks and 8 hits, including three round-trippers. The Lanai City Pineapples have to be excited about the performance of 3B Jose "The Rat" Gonzalez. The 21-year-old Dominican has gone 11-for-21 with six walks so far this season, posting a stratospheric OPS of 1.392. The Molokai Doves have been stealing bases right and left in the early going. Leading the pack is LF Tetsui Takeda, who has 7 swipes already and could easily have double digits if he could only figure out a way to steal first - his OBP is a lowly .258. The Volcano Volcanoes have been slamming the ball - the team as a whole is batting .344 and slugging .622. The biggest swings are being taken by Player of the Week Daniel Cartajena, who leads the HL in homers, walks, and RBI. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 05-05-2007 at 02:43 PM.

04-25-2007, 09:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-23-1990 Another week in the books, and for the Hilo Orchids and Lihue Zephyrs, the season looks bright indeed. For the Kaneohe Coconuts, on the other hand... well, they did win one game this week. So they've got that going for them. Code: Sugarcane League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Lihue Zephyrs 10 3 .769 - 9-4 1 4-1 6-2 1-0 1-3 145 W2 7-3 Honolulu Kings 7 6 .538 3.0 8-5 -1 2-3 5-3 0-1 2-3 L1 6-4 Kailua Surfers 7 6 .538 3.0 6-7 1 5-1 2-5 2-0 2-1 L4 5-5 Kapa'a Giants 6 6 .500 3.5 5-7 1 2-5 4-1 2-1 0-0 L1 6-4 Waipahu Waves 6 6 .500 3.5 5-7 1 4-3 2-3 0-0 2-2 L1 5-5 Kaneohe Coconuts 3 9 .250 6.5 4-8 -1 1-6 2-3 1-1 1-2 L7 1-9 Waikiki Diamonds 3 9 .250 6.5 2-10 1 3-4 0-5 0-0 2-0 L2 2-8 Pearl City Islanders 3 10 .231 7.0 4-9 -1 1-5 2-5 0-1 1-1 L1 3-7 Pineapple League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hilo Orchids 12 2 .857 - 11-3 1 8-1 4-1 2-0 4-0 144 W7 9-1 Kona Beans 9 5 .643 3.0 9-5 0 5-0 4-5 1-1 3-0 W3 7-3 Molokai Doves 9 5 .643 3.0 8-6 1 4-1 5-4 0-1 2-1 W1 8-2 Volcano Volcanoes 8 6 .571 4.0 10-4 -2 5-2 3-4 1-0 1-3 W2 5-5 Lahaina Whalers 7 6 .538 4.5 8-5 -1 5-3 2-3 0-0 2-3 W1 5-5 Lanai City Pineapples 6 7 .462 5.5 5-8 1 4-3 2-4 0-0 3-1 L2 5-5 Kihei Beachcombers 5 9 .357 7.0 6-8 -1 3-4 2-5 0-2 1-6 W1 3-7 Kahului Blues 4 10 .286 8.0 4-10 0 3-4 1-6 0-2 1-2 W1 3-7 Players of the Week In the Sugarcane League, Zephyrs LF Orlando Vega took home his second straight PotW award. He hit 4 homers while driving in 15 and scoring 8 times himself, and hit .483/.545/1.000 as the Zephyrs jumped out to a 3-game lead over Honolulu and Kailua. In the Pineapple League, Hilo's RF Hugh Brown took home the honors as his team ran up the best record in the HL in the young season. Brown hit .422/.521/1.158, with 4 dingers, 14 RBI, and 8 runs scored for the week. Around the League The Honolulu Kings made up for a rough first week by winning 6 of 7, with the lone loss coming against Kailua. Although CF Guri Manusa remains the team's leader in hits, walks, runs, and steals, the team really caught fire when 1B Chris Turner found his power stroke. He leads the team with 5 homers and 13 RBI. The Kailua Surfers suffered back-to-back blowout losses at the hands of the Orchids, losing Friday 10-3 and Saturday 12-3. The culprit in both losses: rocky starting pitching. In the first game, SP Ernest Hayes coughed up 7 runs in just 2 2/3 innings; in the second, SP Farris Miyamoto gave up 6 in 4. For Hayes (currently 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA), it marked the second time in three starts that he failed to make it through the third inning. The Kaneohe Coconuts had a horrible week, losing 6 of 7 and getting swept by, successively, the Giants, Kings, and Beans. Although no one facet of the 'Nuts game was wholly responsible for the slump, fans point to the loss of RF Takanobu Ishida in a game against Kapa'a as the breaking point. Ishida suffered a concussion sliding into third on a triple; he was batting .393/.469/.643, but his replacement, Edgardo Ramirez, is hitting just .167/.259/.333 in only 4 fewer ABs. The Kapa'a Giants, on the other hand, had a great week, losing just once in a shutout by Kailua's Waldo Stephens. OFs Bret Meshizuka and Jose Montes have been the engine driving the Giants higher in the standings, posting OPSes of .991 and .866 respectively. The Lihue Zephyrs lead their league, and but for a few bad breaks might well be undefeated; all of their losses have been by just one run. Though the club looks solid all the way through the lineup, LF Orlando Vega seems to be playing a different game entirely; he leads the league in average, slugging, hits, homers, and RBI. The Pearl City Islanders had a bad week, although not as bad as their first. One bright spot was the start by SP Julian Viau, who pitched a win against the Whalers and proved that the Islanders can win with someone not named Wesley Etheridge on the mound. The Waikiki Diamonds have 3/4ths of a solid rotation. Unfortunately, the other starter is Gary "Bad Company" Kauffman, who demonstrates both questionable taste in music and questionable judgment on the mound. So far he's sporting a 2.54 WHIP and an unsightly 11.08 ERA; he has yet to reach the sixth inning this season. The Waipahu Waves' offense begins and just about ends with star 2B Yoshi Watanabe, who leads the team in every batting statistic except doubles and strikeouts. The Hilo Orchids' pitching remains phenomenal, and is the biggest reason for the team's early success. SP Aisea Hu is, for now at least, far and away the most dominant pitcher in the league; but Kensaku "Warlock" Ishii would be the staff ace for most clubs himself; he's got a 2.05 ERA after four starts and is striking out 11 batters for every 9 innings pitched. The Kahului Blues are bringing up the rear in the Pineapple League, but still swept the Beans in a two-game series, as SP Curtis Hayagawa and reliever Cho Sugano combined on a shutout and 1B Iggy Haga belted a pair of quadrangles in the second game to put the Blues over the top, 5-3. The Kihei Beachcombers lost every game last week, but they were all close - except for Friday's game against Kapa'a. The Giants turned a convincing 5-1 advantage into a rout by scoring six times in the top of the ninth against MR Richard Kowalchuk. It was Kowalchuk's first relief appearance after beginning the year in the Beachcombers' rotation. He didn't record a single out in the inning, and his ERA ballooned from 3.31 to 6.61. The Kona Beans had a good week, punctuated by a 15-9 pie fight against the Coconuts in which LF Pete Hayagawa and DH Jesus Salinas each hit 3 home runs. The Lahaina Whalers have had a rough couple of weeks on the mound, with the second-highest team ERA in the Pineapple League at 6.16. Although none of the starters have pitched well, the biggest offender has been SP Juan Jose Santos, who in four starts has posted a 10.69 ERA. Despite his 27 strikeouts and a 3.4 K/BB ratio, opposing batters are lighting him up for an OPS of 1.050. The Lanai City Pineapples have the highest team ERA in the Pineapple League, but in contrast to the Whalers, their starting pitching has been pretty mediocre. Their relief pitching, however, has been hideous. MR Norbert Kaelin, who leads the bullpen in appearances and innings pitched, is the only reliever with an ERA under 15.00 - and his is a none-too-impressive 6.75. The Molokai Doves LF Tetsui Takeda has been laying off more pitches out of the zone, and it's brought his OBP up to a respectble .367. He's now stolen 12 bases and been caught just once - which gives him more steals on his own than 14 teams have, total. The Volcano Volcanoes are still tearing the cover off the ball, and all but one of their losses have been close. The one exception was a game against the Whalers, where the league's best offense and worst pitching staff should have led to some real fireworks. And so it did, until the bottom of the eighth, when MR Steve Kurusu got two outs and then gave up six runs as the Volcanoes lost, 8-14. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 05-05-2007 at 02:59 PM.

04-25-2007, 09:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 04-26-2007 at 07:54 AM.

04-25-2007, 09:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 04-26-2007 at 07:54 AM.

04-26-2007, 07:55 AM	#6 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	Formatting issues resolved. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association

04-29-2007, 08:24 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	This Week In Hawaiian Baseball - 4-30-1990 No changes at the top of the standings this week, as the Hilo Orchids and Lihue Zephyrs continued to set the pace in their leagues. The Pineapple League seems to be the tighter race so far, with four teams within two games of the leader. Code: Sugarcane League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Lihue Zephyrs 14 6 .700 - 14-6 0 6-3 8-3 1-2 1-4 139 W2 6-4 Honolulu Kings 12 8 .600 2.0 13-7 -1 7-5 5-3 0-1 4-5 W3 7-3 Kailua Surfers 11 9 .550 3.0 11-9 0 8-3 3-6 3-0 4-2 L1 4-6 Waipahu Waves 9 10 .474 4.5 8-11 1 4-5 5-5 2-0 3-4 W1 4-6 Kapa'a Giants 8 11 .421 5.5 6-13 2 3-7 5-4 2-1 2-0 L2 4-6 Waikiki Diamonds 7 12 .368 6.5 6-13 1 3-4 4-8 1-0 4-1 L1 5-5 Pearl City Islanders 7 13 .350 7.0 7-13 0 1-7 6-6 0-1 2-1 L1 5-5 Kaneohe Coconuts 5 14 .263 8.5 7-12 -2 2-10 3-4 1-2 3-4 L3 2-8 Pineapple League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hilo Orchids 15 6 .714 - 13-8 2 8-1 7-5 3-0 4-2 139 W1 6-4 Kona Beans 14 7 .667 1.0 13-8 1 7-2 7-5 1-1 4-0 W3 8-2 Volcano Volcanoes 14 7 .667 1.0 15-6 -1 9-3 5-4 1-0 2-4 W1 8-2 Molokai Doves 13 8 .619 2.0 12-9 1 8-4 5-4 0-2 3-3 L1 6-4 Lahaina Whalers 8 12 .400 6.5 10-10 -2 6-5 2-7 0-0 2-3 W1 3-7 Lanai City Pineapples 8 12 .400 6.5 7-13 1 5-7 3-5 0-0 4-1 L2 3-7 Kahului Blues 8 13 .381 7.0 8-13 0 5-4 3-9 0-2 1-3 L3 5-5 Kihei Beachcombers 8 13 .381 7.0 10-11 -2 4-5 4-8 0-3 1-7 W2 4-6 Players of the Week In the Sugarcane League, Kapa'a Giants RF Jose Montes took home the PotW hardware for hitting .481/.500/.667 with a homer and 6 RBI. It's his first PotW award. In the Pineapple League, LF Pete Hayagawa led the Kona Beans to five wins over the past week, batting .375/.484/.833 with three quadrangles and 11 RBI. That was impressive enough to earn Hayagawa his first PotW award. Around the League The Honolulu Kings had an up-and-down week, but won a laugher at home against the Giants, 19-9. The score makes the game look closer than it actually was, as Kapa'a scored five of their runs in the eighth and ninth off of reliever Saba "The Tank" Battle, by which point the Kings already had a 15-4 advantage. The Kailua Surfers also got healthy against Kapa'a, taking a two-game set 10-1 and 5-0 behind strong pitching by SPs Farri Miyamoto and Waldo Stephens. Both Kailua starters went the distance, giving up just eight hits total and striking out 17 over the two games. The Kaneohe Coconuts moved to shore up the HL's most combustible relief corps after the Coconuts bullpen coughed up late leads against Kailua, Honolulu, and Kona. The 'Nuts sent SP Noa "Nasty" McNeil, MR Sergio Duenas, and a pair of outfielding prospects to Kailua for 17-year-old pitching phenom Jules Ishibashi and a minor-league outfielder. Ishibashi was immediately installed as the Kaneohe closer. The Kapa'a Giants, as noted, had a tough week. Nonetheless, RF Jose Montes kept hitting like an All Star and picked up his first PotW award. He's batting .412/.435/.550 for the season. The Lihue Zephyrs stayed on top of the SL standings, and SP Del Tomlin is a big reason why they're leading the league as the season heads into May. After a rough first week, he's rebounded to post a 5-0 record and a 3.53 ERA. In his last three starts, he's allowed just two earned runs. The Pearl City Islanders had their best week of the season, winning two games each against Waipahu and Lahaina. A big reason for their recent success has been the play of 1B Jesus Nunez. Over the last week he's hit .300/.444/.500 with a dinger and 5 batted in; for the season, he leads the team with an .862 OPS. The Waikiki Diamonds have had real problems hitting for power. The team has combined for just 8 round-trippers, led by RF Lee Green with 3. For comparison, league leader Orlando Vega of Lihue has 9 homers on his own. The Waipahu Waves may not have the league's best starting pitching or lineup, but their bullpen has been terrific. CL Don Dixon is 5-for-5 in save opportunites, and has given up just one earned run so far this season. The Hilo Orchids had a pretty good week, but they lost ground to the Beans thanks to a couple of rough games where Orchids starters Paul Conner and Rudik Hayashi were roughed up early for 6 and 7 runs, respectively. Neither man completed the fifth inning as the Orchids lost a pair to Kona, 0-6 and 8-9. The Kahului Blues had a pretty good week thanks to the outstanding play of LF Richie McGhee, who belted four home runs and drove in eight as the Blues swept the Beachcombers and a tough Kona club. The Kihei Beachcombers didn't have much to cheer about this week, but one bright spot was the 10-2 pasting they laid on Hilo. The star of the game was SS Fryderyk Maloney, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, 3 runs scored and two driven in. The Kona Beans can't seem to figure out the Blues, and dropped a pair to Kahului to fall to 0-4 on the season against them. Beans starters Carlos Alejo and Mark White were the victims this time, giving up early runs to a Blues offense that seems to gear up especially for games against Kona. The Lahaina Whalers have been tearing the cover off the ball, with six different players slugging 3 or more home runs. In the lead is 2b Lonnie Zimmerman, tied for the Pineapple League lead with 6 homers and in second place with 22 driven in. The Lanai City Pineapples continue to have bullpen problems. This week's goat was MR Mateiu Bradburn, who started the top of the ninth with Lanai City down 2-0 to Lihue. He failed to record an out as the Zephyrs plated five runs, finally winning 7-1. Bradburn's ERA is now an unsightly 33.76. The Molokai Doves got some bad news on Saturday as CF Noriaki "Admiral" Yamamoto fractured his hand in a baserunning accident. He'll be out for at least two months, and the Doves will be hard pressed to replace him. A pretty fair batter, Yamamoto is probably the league's premier defensive CF, with great range and sure hands. The Volcano Volcanoes had a fantastic week, losing just once, a 2-3 nailbiter to the Diamonds. During the hot streak, the Volcanoes' pitching really rounded into form, posting the lowest team ERA in the HL at 3.55. Staff ace Kaz Samurakami has surrendered just 7 earned runs in 6 starts - all wins for the crafty southpaw. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 05-05-2007 at 03:18 PM.

04-30-2007, 08:50 PM	#8 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	Monthly Review - May 1, 1990 Monthly Review - May 1, 1990 Standings Code: Sugarcane League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Lihue Zephyrs 14 6 .700 - 14-6 0 6-3 8-3 1-2 1-4 139 W2 6-4 Honolulu Kings 13 8 .619 1.5 14-7 -1 7-5 6-3 0-1 4-5 W4 7-3 Kailua Surfers 12 9 .571 2.5 12-9 0 9-3 3-6 3-0 4-2 W1 5-5 Waipahu Waves 9 10 .474 4.5 8-11 1 4-5 5-5 2-0 3-4 W1 4-6 Kapa'a Giants 8 12 .400 6.0 6-14 2 3-8 5-4 2-1 2-0 L3 3-7 Waikiki Diamonds 7 12 .368 6.5 6-13 1 3-4 4-8 1-0 4-1 L1 5-5 Pearl City Islanders 7 13 .350 7.0 7-13 0 1-7 6-6 0-1 2-1 L1 5-5 Kaneohe Coconuts 5 15 .250 9.0 7-13 -2 2-10 3-5 1-2 3-4 L4 2-8 Pineapple League Standings Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10 Hilo Orchids 15 6 .714 - 13-8 2 8-1 7-5 3-0 4-2 139 W1 6-4 Kona Beans 14 7 .667 1.0 13-8 1 7-2 7-5 1-1 4-0 W3 8-2 Volcano Volcanoes 14 8 .636 1.5 15-7 -1 9-4 5-4 1-0 2-4 L1 8-2 Molokai Doves 13 9 .591 2.5 12-10 1 8-4 5-5 0-2 3-3 L2 5-5 Lahaina Whalers 9 12 .429 6.0 11-10 -2 7-5 2-7 0-0 2-3 W2 3-7 Lanai City Pineapples 9 12 .429 6.0 9-12 0 5-7 4-5 0-0 4-1 W1 3-7 Kahului Blues 8 13 .381 7.0 8-13 0 5-4 3-9 0-2 1-3 L3 5-5 Kihei Beachcombers 8 13 .381 7.0 10-11 -2 4-5 4-8 0-3 1-7 W2 4-6 Pitchers of the Month The Sugarcane League Pitcher of the Month was Waldo Stephens of the Kailua Surfers. Stephens went 4-1 in 6 starts, posting a 1.84 ERA. He's thrown 2 shutouts (both against Kapa'a) and 4 complete games. Remarkably, he has yet to give up a home run. In the Pineapple League, the Pitcher of the Month award went to Kazuyoshi Samurakami of the Volcano Volcanoes. Kaz won all 6 of his starts, registering a 1.54 ERA. He hasn't gone the distance in any of his wins, but with the run support his teammates have given him, he hasn't had many close-and-late situations to deal with. Like Stephens, Samurakami has kept the ball in the park in each of his starts so far.[/color] Batters of the Month The Lihue Zephyrs' LF Orlando Vega took home the Sugarcane League's Batter of the Month award for his impressive .415/.489/.841 April. His 9 home runs, 29 RBI, and 25 runs scored lead all batters in the HL. Daniel Cartajena of the Volcano Volcanoes won the Pinapple League's Batter of the Month honor, joining teammate Kaz Samurakami as a monthly award winner from the red-hot Volcano club. Cartajena posted a .392/.400/.649 batting line, belting 5 round-trippers, driving in 19 runs, and crossing the plate 18 times himself. Flamethowers Waldo Stephens, Kailua Surfers, 66 Ks. Aisea Hu, Hilo Orchids, 61 Ks. Carlos Alejo, Kona Beans, 48 Ks. Robby Kettley, Kihei Beachcombers, 40 Ks Noa "Nasty" MacNeill, Kailua Surfers, 39 Ks. BB Guns Cameron Faulkner, Lahaina Whalers, 23 walks. Julien Viau, Pearl City Islanders, 23 walks. Carlos "Rogue" Guerra, Kaneohe Coconuts, 21 walks. Shigemori Hayashi, Kihei Beachcombers, 21 walks. Santiago Huertas, Lanai City Pineapples, 20 walks. Dean O'Higgins, Lahaina Whalers, 20 walks. Hit Men LF Orlando Vega, Lihue Zephyrs, 34 hits. RF Jose Montes, Kapa'a Giants, 33 hits. CF Daniel Cartajena, Volcano Volcanoes, 29 hits. CF Jesus Salinas, Kona Beans, 29 hits. SS Ronald Zimm, Volcano Volcanoes, 29 hits. Hack Men 2B Jake Peterson, Lihue Zephyrs, 28 strikeouts. LF Jae Ball, Kapa'a Giants, 27 strikeouts. 3B Leo Bryant, Pearl City Islanders, 25 strikeouts. SS Deaglan Barrett, Kahului Blues, 24 strikeouts. SS Mike Fox, Hilo Orchids, 23 strikeouts. __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association Last edited by Mel Ott : 05-05-2007 at 03:29 PM.

04-30-2007, 09:03 PM	#9 (permalink)
texasmame Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Planet Texas Posts: 417	Cool idea! I was married on Maui on the beach. Great place! You ever been? __________________ Thank you, Curt, for 2004. Without you, we would still be looking. . . GM, Manager and clubhouse attendant - GRANITE CITY KRAZY KATS - World Champs 2000, 2003 and 2004; Pennants in 2001, 2005. A.L. East Champions 2010. (No seasons 2002, 2006-2009) ". . .at the moment, I'm trying to hurt Toby Hall." - Eriqjaffe

05-01-2007, 12:11 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mel Ott Minors (Double A) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 103	No, all I know about Hawaii I learned from Wikipedia. I was inspired by BigSix's Keystone League and AZTarHeel's Arizona League to start a new dynasty with OOTP 2007, so I was looking for a state or a region to set up a league in. It was a really dreary March and April, weatherwise, and I thought it would be fun to have a league somewhere where the weather was nice all the time. Glad you're enjoying it so far! __________________ The American Professional Baseball Association

05-01-2007, 04:06 PM	#11 (permalink)
texasmame Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Planet Texas Posts: 417	You gotta get there someday. Heh. Mel Ott. He was one of my Big Pair - Frank Thomas #3, Ott #4. OBP guys who could mash the ball, too. Greatness. __________________ Thank you, Curt, for 2004. Without you, we would still be looking. . . GM, Manager and clubhouse attendant - GRANITE CITY KRAZY KATS - World Champs 2000, 2003 and 2004; Pennants in 2001, 2005. A.L. East Champions 2010. (No seasons 2002, 2006-2009) ". . .at the moment, I'm trying to hurt Toby Hall." - Eriqjaffe

05-02-2007, 09:31 AM	#13 (permalink)
woodfeld Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 175	I'm pulling for the Zephyrs.

05-02-2007, 09:59 AM	#14 (permalink)
cochrane Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 172	Go Giants! -- ZC __________________ Dyansty Threads Golden State Baseball League (1988) [Current] I've Got a Giant Attitude (2007) [Current] Hope Station Giants (2130, Science-Fiction) [Defunct] Online Leagues I'm retired from online leagues. Sorry.

05-04-2007, 04:45 AM	#16 (permalink)
CatKnight Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 236	I'm curious. How are you pulling out so much info on each team week by week? Are you studying each boxscore, or...?