Unfortunately, this time aloha means goodbye. I got some indication that this was coming during my time in Las Vegas, but today the hammer finally came down as the general managers voted to consolidate off-season leagues to Arizona, thus ending the three-year return of the Hawaiian League.
League owner Duane Kirisu is a man whose love of both baseball and Hawaii knows no bounds, and he poured a considerable amount of his own resources into the league, but it proved to be a quixotic endeavor due to distance and minuscule attendance, as when you are in Hawaii, going to baseball games is far from the top of the list when it comes to ways for one to spend their leisure time, especially the tourists.
Still, the league filled a crucial gap in the winter league landscape, providing the opportunity of extra playing time for talents one notch below the AA/AAA level of the Arizona Fall League and the various Latin American circuits. The league even benefited from the new draft signing deadline, as numerous top picks who signed late (including Buster Posey and Yonder Alonso from this year’s class) were able to cut their teeth in the league.
Major League Baseball certainly saw value in such a league, but the logistics just proved to be too much to overcome. Expect an announcement in the coming days of a second, lower-level fall league in Arizona.
It certainly makes sense on a cost control level, but it won’t be nearly as cool.
For a minute there, I thought this was going to be about how you were in Hawai'i, and I was going to be super pissed, as it's 18 and falling here in the warm part of Oregon.
Eighteen degrees? We have not seen a temp that high in about a week, nine below and snowing right now in Minneapolis.Good thing the twins are moving to an outdoor stadium.
RIP, HWB. Too bad, as it was always kind of interesting to have a prospect league with players from the NPB also there. The HWB was unique in more than one way.
It's sad, but it's just so far away, so expensive. It would be cool to have the secondary league in Florida. Even though that would be cheaper than Hawaii, having 2 different venues is still more expensive because of the loss of economies of scale that would be realized from having both leagues in Arizona. Just showing love for Florida I guess.
There are certainly fields in the Phoenix area that aren't used by the AFL (haven't Maryvale and Suprise been off the rotation the last few years?), and worse come to worse they could even play in Tucson. Will make those October/November trips that much more fun . . .
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For a minute there, I thought this was going to be about how you were in Hawai'i, and I was going to be super pissed, as it's 18 and falling here in the warm part of Oregon.
As it is, this is kind of a shame.
Eighteen degrees? We have not seen a temp that high in about a week, nine below and snowing right now in Minneapolis.Good thing the twins are moving to an outdoor stadium.
I'm optimistic. A few snowouts in April could mean doubleheaders in June.
At least that's seasonal. When there's a foot of snow in Seattle, something's wrong.