Now & Again

With 50 years behind it, Hawaii Business looks back and looks ahead

Catching Baseball Fever ... Again

1970 Hawaii was home to one of the most popular minor league organizations in its day—the Hawaii Islanders. The farm club played on Oahu from 1961 to 1987, and was the Class-AAA affiliate for multiple major league teams, including the Kansas City Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Although the team had multiple parent clubs, it remained a constant fan favorite, thanks to the talent that graced the field at both the Honolulu and Aloha stadiums, including future Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Barry Bonds. As a testament to its success, the 1970 Islanders squad, which compiled an incredible 98-48 record, was recently named No. 38 by Minor League Baseball on its list of the 100 greatest minor league teams.

In the February 1970 edition of Hawaii Business, a report stated that the Islanders led all minor league teams—at the time there were 155—in attendance with a total of 538,390 fans from 1968 to 1969. But the Islanders didn't turn a profit until 1967, six years after their inaugural season. In 1969, the team netted its highest profit of the decade: $40,000.

Minor League Baseball returned to Hawaii this year with the recently completed Hawaii Winter Baseball League. The four-team league gave 120 of the best minor league prospects from the U.S., Japan and Korea some valuable time on the field, which could expedite their advancement to the major league level.

In its first incarnation from 1993 to 1997, HWB featured such players as Ichiro Suzuki, Jason Giambi and Todd Helton, all of whom are now major league superstars. While the Islanders live on in history books and memories, local fans have the opportunity to follow a new batch of minor league hopefuls as they perpetuate every ball player's dream of making it to the big leagues.

HWB is owned by Duane Kurisu, who also owns PacificBasin Communi-cations, the parent company of Hawaii Business.

Getting Bushwacked

1969 Island Tour Buggies stunned the rival rental car companies by offering the use of small dune buggies. The small vehicles, termed Bushwackers by store owner Michael Shay, appealed to visitors because they resembled “a cross between an alligator and a drag racer.” While small in size, the buggies were not cheap to rent, costing $30 per day—the same rate at the time to rent a Cadillac. Today, the closest thing available for anywhere near that price is a moped, which costs about $37 per day.

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