Hawaii Winter League to Return in 2006

Great news! NPB and MLB prospects had played together and against each other in the past, but people often forget this Hawaii league is where this happened. And now that Korean and Taiwanese players will be involved, it could only be better for the game of baseball in the Pacific Rim.

Good news indeed! I went to a Maui vs. Honolulu game in 1996. Hopefully attendance will be better this time. Korean and Taiwanese players were involved with Japanese and MLB prospects in the orginal HWL also.

The founder of the league made the official announcement of the 2006 Hawaii Winter League on June 28. There will be 4 teams all based on Oahu. Players will be from MLB minors, Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan.

Source

I had not known about this -- many thanks for this great news! The website, which is a nice one, is here.

Relatively speaking, attendance for HWL was pretty good...

"In the final year, total attendance was a record-high 112,761, or just over 1,000 fans per game. That figure is roughly four times the average of the Arizona Fall League. "

Check out this article if you can, subscriber only...

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5437

Yeah, attendance was never the HWL's problem, it was having revenue, which there was none. Now that MLB and the NPB are helping to sponsor the league, it should prosper. Add that on top of the HWL, televising the games to fans all over the United States and Canada, and Japan, the league should be just fine.

The Hawaii Winter League's site is updated with schedule and rosters. No Korean or Taiwanese prospects this season, but they're planning on adding them in the future.

Help.

I will be going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and was wondering if someone could recommend a couple of players from Japan to watch. I just looked at the rosters and there are Japanese players scattered throughout all four teams.

I can probably catch at most two games and would really value any expertise regarding the Japanese players.

Thanks!
Scott

Just looked at the rosters. I'd say that Honolulu looks the most interesting with Ichiba and Tsujiuchi. They were the top draft picks of the past couple years. Ichiba is a starter with a ton of stamina. I remember him throwing 170 or so pitches against Fumiya Nishiguchi, who was throwing a perfect game. Tsujiuchi is a raw pitcher with lots of velocity and no control. His claim to fame is throwing 156 km/h in high school, which is around 95 or 96 MPH.

They also have Kamei in the outfield, who's a kid the Giants are hoping will turn into a future star. He'll need to bring his bat up to par.

Thank you BigManZam for the information.

Aloha,
Scott

Here's the list of all participating Japanese players from the NPB site (in Japanese), 32 of them from 10 clubs. It doesn't indicate their Hawaii team though, so it's more of a development guide I guess.

This is just great news about HWB. Thanks to these posts I got late-season yakyu-fever, jumped on a super fare that Air Canada has this month, and will go with a Japanese friend to the Sharks-CaneFires game on October 29th, at Les Murakami Stadium. I'll write up a report on who and what I see (besides Diamond Head beach, of course)! If anyone can get me advance notice on NPB prospects to look for, I'll keep an eye open for them.

- If anyone can get me advance notice on NPB prospects to look for, I'll keep an eye open for them.


Here's a list of the rosters [Eutaw Street Bombers] for the HWL that I listed on my blog.

The San Jose Giants' manager Lenn Sakata is back home managing the Waikiki Beach Boys.

I saw a game last week on Tuesday. If you watch West Oahu Canefire Games, Roger Clemens comes sometimes because he vacations on Maui and his son Koby plays third base.

It's amazing watching the Japanese players mixed with quite a few Single-A ball prospects for the U.S. Most of the American prospects are young, so there isn't a lot of older professional Crash Davis in there.

I haven't seen Tsujiuchi yet. The Canefires are pitching a lot of the Japanese players in relief. Some of them are quite crafty and have pretty interesting stuff. Maruyama is doing well, and I think he impressed me the most. He walked a bit, but he had pretty good movement and kept them off balance. I believe he was the one with a pretty wicked slider type pitch. He pitched it low and inside and he got it past guys like Xavier Paul and Cory Dunlap.

If anyone has anybody else other than the two mentioned above to keep track of let me know. There is talent in this league.

Any home runs will be legitimate ones generally. Hans L'orange field is 419 to dead center and it's generally not blowing out. Les Murakami, where the University plays, is only 380 in center, but the ball doesn't carry often and usually blows in from right field. They brought it in because it was hard to hit homers there from 400 feet.

There are only two stadiums right now, and both on Oahu. If anyone needs some tips or info on how to get there please let me know.

I saw a game between the Maui Stingrays vs. the Honolulu Sharks at Les Murakami Stadium in 1996. I will be in Honolulu November 12th through the 17th and will see games at both stadiums if possible.

DirectTV has HWL games listed on MASN.

Hawaiian Winter, I'll take you up on your offer, just to know what's the best way to get from the Waikiki Beach area to Les Murakami Stadium. I figured on taking a cab, but if there's a cheaper and/or easier way - walkable? bus line? - please do fill me in. Many thanks!

Take the #4 Nuuanu bus from Kuhio Ave in Waikiki and get off at the University of Hawaii.

When I went 10 years ago there were less than 200 people in the stadium including players, umpires, and staff. Hopefully attendance has improved.

Kiyoshi is right. The #4 bus will go right to the University of Hawaii, it sometimes has a title that says Nuuanu, but all #4 buses from Waikiki pass the university.

The same is not true getting home though. You have to be on the other side of University Avenue from where you get dropped off and take any #4 bus that says Waikiki. If it says Moiliili, don't get on. That will only go like one block down and stop. Seems like common sense, but I've seen it happen. Just be sure to ask the driver if it goes all the way to Waikiki.

When you get there you will be on the corner of University Avenue and Dole Street. Walk down dole street and you can take the elevator at the parking structure which is on your right, and then walk out to the stadium which will be visible if you come out of the left side of the parking structure. It's not obvious to get there if you haven't been there, so here is the campus map. Sorry, I am assuming some have not been on the campus before.

The stadium is built in what used to be a rock quarry, so it's not really common sense on getting there. Notice the parking structure on the right of Dole street.

I hope you enjoy the game.

WOW! Are the yakyu fans here the greatest or what! Thank you so much, Kiyoshi and HawaiianWinter, for the detailed info and even a map to assist me.

It's probably one of the more irresponsible acts of my life, going to Honolulu for a weekend to see baseball, but then again, it was a cheap fare and life is short, so tanoshimashou ne. Sometimes I'm a little lax in my detailed attention at baseball games (beer does that), but I'll take notes on this occasion, try to repay all this kindness with correct observations of the players I see.

There are a fair number of Nihonjin players on all the Hawaiian teams (when you go to the HWB website, click on the individual teams, and you can access rosters which tell you their Japanese team). I am assuming they are ni-gun up-and-comers, but do tell me if this is not the case. Other than the Hanshin Tigers I am not so familiar with the rosters of NPB teams (excluding well-known stars).

A pineapple and fistful of macadamia nuts to you both, Kiyoshi and HawaiianWinter. Doumo arigato!

Hawaii is a surreal place to see a ballgame - a rain shower will drop some rain and within 10 minutes all traces will disappear - that is what I experienced in 1996 when I saw the Maui Stingrays play the Honolulu Sharks at Les Murakami Stadium.

Well, Ichiba's season will be cut short, as he is experiencing strong shoulder discomfort [Japan Baseball Daily], and will return to Japan on the 15th.

Ichiba [Rakuten Team Stats - Borisov's Pro Yakyu] went 7-14 with a 4.37 ERA in 30 starts this year. One has to wonder why Rakuten would send Ichiba to the HWL, when he has pitched 193 and 2/3 innings and has taken on a full load this year with Iwakuma being out most of the year.

Ichiba [Hawaii Winter Baseball - Honolulu Sharks Team Stats] went 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his only HWL start this October. He walked none and struck out 6, but has said he has can't throw without pain.

- I am assuming they are ni-gun up-and-comers, but do tell me if this is not the case. Other than the Hanshin Tigers I am not so familiar with the rosters of NPB teams (excluding well-known stars).

Yes, for the most part it is mainly up and comers, but Ichiba from Rakuten is playing in the HWL.

For all who are interested, the Japanese players in the HWL are:

Pitchers (15)
Kazumasa Kikuchi (HNHF)
Kanehisa Arime (TRGE)
Shun Tono (YG)
Shoto Kimura (YG)
Takanobu Tsujiuchi (YG)
Takuma Kadowaki (YG)
Keisuke Hayashi (CLM)
Terufumi Mishima (CLM)
Ayumu Yamamoto (SL)
Satoshi Yamazaki (SL)
Atsushi Nohmi (HT)
Kazuya Tsutsui (HT)
Toyoji Matsumara (OBs)
Yasunari Takagi (OBs)
Takashi Muruyama (TYS)

Catchers (5)
Hisashi Kawata (TRGE)
Ken Kato (YG)
Keiyo Aomatsu (CLM)
Kenta Nakanishi (FSH)
Ryo Asai (HT)

Infielders (5)
Masaya Ozaki (HNHF)
Takehiro Donoue (CD)
Tomoaki Egawa (FSH)
Makato Moriyama (OBs)
Yasushi Iihara (TYS)

Outfielders (4)
Atsushi Ugumori (HNHF)
Yoshiyuki Kamei (YG)
Issei Nakamura (CD)
Tomtaka Sakaguchi (OBs)

There are currently 29 Japanese players in the HWL.

Out of them: Arime, Ichiba, Nohmi, Asai, and Kamei spent a decent or large amount of time with the ichi-gun squad or parent team. You can see all of the stats of the ni-gun players here [NPB-BIS Farm Stats - In Japanese]. The bottom drop down box is for individual team hitting and pitching stats (hitting is on the left, pitching on the right).

I forgot to tell SaraB or anyone that is planning to attend HWL games. Don't make the mistake I made of paying for the most expensive seats then walk in and see a lot of empty seats. Buy the least expensive tickets - you will have plenty of seats to pick from. Besides, there are no bad seats at Les Murakami stadium.

Thanks, Kiyoshi. I had a feeling. But zannen, osoi da na. I got some tickets on-line in advance and did just what you warned not to do. However, all the tickets are very cheap so it just adds up to a few extra dollars - not like big league tickets.

I'm going the day after tomorrow. With the sorrows of tamed Tigers, yoked Yankees, torpedoed Mariners, and (it looks like) shameless Shinjos (c'mon Dragons! Grrr.) in my mind, Hawaiian baseball may be just the tonic for a lost season. Seems to be about 90 degrees there - just right for a cold one behind the plate or on the beach at Waikiki.

Hello,

I went to the CaneFires vs. Sharks game on October 21st at the Les Murakami stadium. It was awsom. I took my whole family to the game and the first base coach for the Sharks (Hensley Meulens) threw a ball from the field to both my son and daughter. Muelens - you rock dude! After the game, we went down to the field and Muelens signed both balls for my kids. This was a moment that I will never forget. Hensley "aka Bam Bam" is a great ambassador for the league and spent quite a while talking to me and my kids.

Also, before the game, while we were sitting in the stands, Clyde Nekoba (Director of Operations for the HWB) approached us and talked baseball with me for quite a while. Good luck to you Clyde! He told me stories about Ichiro and the rest of the Japanese Players who played in Hawaii and are now in the MLB.

After the game was over we noticed that all of the players were eating at the snack bar and I was able to get John Mayberry Jr. to sign a ball for me.

The game itself was very entertaining and I hope that the league gets support from the Japanese Baseball community and the Hawaii baseball fans.

Yep, that's Manoa. The place showers a sprinkle almost constantly and then it disappears into nothingness most of the time, pulverized by bright sunshine. The turf also can take a huge amount of water before being unplayable, although players have to watch out about hydroplaning out there. It will be interesting when they replace it with field turf in a year or so. The Grounds crew have an enormous amount of cornstarch, and I've seen them play in some pretty heavy rain.

Manoa is usually a great place because, although it rains often, it usually isn't permanent and is quite comfortable. There also is usually a gentle breeze. It's only when there are no trade winds that the place gets incredibly muggy, which unfortunately, happened often in September and October.

Also the feel of the Winter League is incredible. I was at Hans L'Orange park and I almost ran into a few players when I wasn't paying attention. Talk about close. If you stand up to the fence you are so close to Koby Clemens at third that you can see his skin pores. Man, that's what you call intimate.

Just back from Honolulu, where I saw the Honolulu Sharks - West Oahu CaneFires game of October 28 (Saturday night), at Les Murakami Stadium. A lovely park, not a bad seat in the house. As Kiyoshi indicated, it was pretty empty. There was an announced crowd of 411, but I figured about 250 - quietest game I ever saw! But well-played with tough pitching on both sides. The Sharks won, 3-1.

Kaneshisa Arime (of Rakuten) started for the Sharks and went five innings. He has quite the springy wind-up and kept the CaneFires off-balance until the fifth when he put men on 1st and 3rd and nobody out. But then Arime coaxed one out at the plate (SS to home) and then a double-play. Overall he showed some control problems, starting off many batters with balls, but I was impressed with his craftiness.

Yasushi Iihara, CaneFires' third baseman (of Swallows, ni-gun) showed great speed throughout the game, squeezing out a tight single in the 2nd inning and then stealing second. On a hit by Will Venable, LF, he tried to score but was thrown out - just - at home.

Also impressive for the CaneFires was relief pitcher Takashi Maruyama (of the Yakult Swallows, ni-gun), who came on in the 7th inning. Starter Ian Kennedy, with a nice curve ball, went five innings. Gilbert de la Vara came on in the 6th and yielded two runs to the Sharks, on successive hits by Nyjer Morgan OF, Ken Kato C (of the Yomiuri Giants, ni-gun) - who got a double - and Eric Campbell, 3B. Maruyama has a tricky, late-breaking sinker that kept the Sharks scoreless for the last third of the game.

Also appearing for the Sharks was Masaya Ozaki 2B (of Nihon Ham, ni-gun) who struck out twice and drew a walk in the 7th.

I'd have to say that the most interesting non-pitcher I saw was John Mayberry Jr. OF for the CaneFires. He clobbered a tremendous double off Sharks reliever Wardell Starling in the 9th, though overall he was 1-for-4 on the night. Nonetheless, his quick swing and athleticism are apparent, and he had hit a 3-run homer the night before, when the CaneFires demolished Honolulu 8-1. This is a player to watch.

This is the first attempt I have ever made at describing a game in any kind of written detail, so I apologize for missing info and rookie sports writing errors! Anyway, I figured the reader wouldn't need a play-by-play, just a few impressions of the Nihonjin players I saw and the HWB experience. It was really wonderful, and surely there aren't many nicer ways to spend your evening than in the warm Waikiki breeze with a yearbook in one hand and a cold brew in the other. You really can get close to the players, as others have noted here. My favorite moment of the evening was when a very excited four-year-old boy ran up beside the warm-up circle and yelled "Iihara ganbatte!" Mr. Iihara quietly turned around and gave the youngster a most proper and polite bow before resuming his warm-up swings. In my book, that's baseball.

Sugokatta, totemo tanoshimimashita. Hope some of the Westbay-ites here can get to some HWB games and let us know what they think.

Well the season is over, but I thought I'd weigh in.

Looks like the Hawaii Winter League will continue and hopefully, with everyone's support, thrive. Please come see a game if you are in the area since we need the support.

3,782 people came to the championship game which was by far the largest crowd then. Attendance has been okay mainly because it seems that a lot of people have been slow to making winter league baseball part of their sports routine. It got better at the end of the year, and I think awareness is increasing. I've gone to about 10 games. I think we'll support them well. I think that eventually we may see more support for the outer islands like Maui, some flew in to make the championship game. I could see a team cropping out in Maui, but for now there is a promise of doing a few series out there.

Player reports:

First of all, Iihara looks impressive. I got word he might be tried out by the Swallows given Iwamura's departure. Iihara lead the league lead in homers and I saw him hit. He has legitimate power and seems to deal with hard fastballs quite well. Pretty good poise and I would surprised if he doesn't develop into a decent power hitter. His home run that I saw was possibly as long as 387 feet. While not huge, he can definitely hit. Most people agree that the any home run here is pretty legitimate.

Nohmi was said to have been with the big club and he showed it, as he was very good. He seemed to be in control lots of movement and fairly crafty pitching wise. Real good slider-like pitch I believe, good off speed stuff as well. His fastball has good action and life on it. I hope he has a long career in the NPB.

Tsujiuchi seems to be developing since, from the reports, I expected a somewhat raw fire baller. While still developing, and coming apart when he starts to tire or not executing his form, he will be a force. His fastball command was a lot better when I saw him. He is trying very hard to locate the ball low, which sometimes causes him to throw into the dirt. When he keeps it low and then buzzes in some high heat he was unhittable. He was throwing as hard as any pitcher there. I didn't have a gun, but he was throwing 95 to 96 consistently in a 5 inning stint. He seems to be trying to work on a change up which can work well if he keeps it down, but not so much when it stays up. Most of the hits against him was on change ups. When he got tired his mechanics broke down a bit and he got wild, so they are probably working on that.

Tsujiuchi really impressed me; not as polished as Nohmi and does not have the variety of pitches, but if he continues to improve he will definitely be up there with the American prospects like Joba Chamberlain (Nebraska all-American pitcher, Yankees) and Zach Hammes (Dodgers).

I was also impressed by short Satoshi Yamazaki; at 5'6" he is one heck of a pitcher. Pretty decent velocity. No idea what it is, but not surprised if it was 90 mph. Running fastball, excellent change up and curve.

Arime was very nice as well, although I believe he got flustered sometimes. When in the zone he was really attacking batters.

I would really like to know more about these guys, hopefully I'll be able to get a radar gun and give reports on the velocity next year.

Also word is they lost money, but the losses were not nearly as big as the first year, and I believe fan support will improve as awareness improves. Hopefully with support of the fans they can at least break even and provide an environment where some of the best prospects in the world play. I also look forward to the Korean and Taiwanese sending some players, although truth be told, Japan and the U.S. sent quite a bit of players. It's just great getting to see a game played by people from both sides of the Pacific. Hopefully it can continue.