In Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Hawaii Becoming the 50th State, Introducing the All-Time Hawaiian Baseball Team!

On August 21, 1959, Hawaii was admitted into the Union as the United States' 50th state. Fifty years later, even as the state commemorates (not celebrates out of respect to the Native Hawaiians) the upgrade from territory to state, there is still a lot of tension and controversy surrounding this historic event.

And while this humble little blog is not about to jump into the fray and discuss his opinions about these matters (not only am I unqualified to do so, but I do not feel that I am entitled to do so), to commemorate this event, I'd like to continue a tradition started earlier this May by presenting it's All-Time Hawaiian All-Star Team!!!

As of August 26, 2009, there are 35 players in the Major Leagues born in Hawaii. This pretty much means almost everyone Hawaiian born player is going to be on this list. The first Native Hawaiian to play in the Majors was pitcher Johnnie Williams, who played for the Detroit Tigers back in 1914. In four games, three starts, he sported a record of 0-2 with an ERA of 6.35. The first position player coming out of Hawaii was Tony Rego, a catcher who played a two seasons for the St. Louis Browns in the 1920's. He got into 44 games with the Browns, hitting .286 (26 for 91), scored 10 runs, and drove home eight more.

All total, as of August 26, 2009, Hawaiian players have hit 262 home runs, driven in 1,338 runs batted in, have a .241 batting average, stolen 193 bases with an OPS of .661. Hawaiian pitchers have a combined record of 740 wins against 722 losses, an ERA of 3.91, have struck out 8,866 batters, walked 5,442, and earned 105 saves. (All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference).

So without further ado, introducing bdj610's All-Time Hawaiian All-Star Team:

Starting Pitchers

Charlie Hough, Honolulu, 216 (Hawaiian Leader)-216, 3.75 ERA, 2362 K's, 61 saves (Hawaiian Leader), All-Star



Sid Fernandez, Honolulu, 114-96, 3.36 ERA, 1743 K's, 2-time All-Star


Ron Darling, Honolulu, 136-116, 3.87 ERA, 1590 K's, All-Star, Gold Glove Winner


Milt Wilcox, Honolulu, 119-113, 4.07 ERA, 1137 K's


Relief Pitchers

Brian Fisher, Honolulu, 36-34, 4.39 ERA, 370 K's, 23 saves


Carlos Diaz, Kaneohe, 13-6, 3.21 ERA, 207 K's, 4 saves, 77 games finished


Catcher

Kurt Suzuki, Wailuku, .272 AVG, 24 HR's, 138 RBI's, .721 OPS, 7 SB's


Infielders

Joey Meyer, Honolulu, .251 AVG, 18 HR's, 74 RBI's, .716 OPS


Joe DeSa, Honolulu, .200 AVG, 2 HR's, 7 RBI's, .587 OPS, died on 12/20/1986 in a car accident while in Puerto Rico.


Lenn Sakata, Honolulu, .230 AVG, 25 HR'S, 109 RBI'S, .616 OPS, 30 SB'S


Mike Huff, Honolulu, .247 AVG, 9 HR'S, 75 RBI'S, .695 OPS, 19 SB'S


Outfielders

Mike Lum, Honolulu, .247 AVG, 90 HR's (Hawaiian Leader), 431 RBI'S, .689 OPS, 13 SB'S


Shane Victorino, Wailuku, .288 AVG, 43 HR'S, 217 RBI'S, .786 OPS, 104 SB'S (Hawaiian Leader), All-Star


Benny Agbayani, Honolulu, .274 AVG, 39 HR'S, 156 RBI'S, .807 OPS, 16 SB'S


Future Star

Kila Ka'aihue, Kailua, .286 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .804 OPS, 2 SB'S


There you have it ladies and gentlemen, hui maupaʻa ka 'oi pāʻani kinipōpō kanaka Hawaiʻi (A team consisting of the best baseball players from Hawaii.)


Mahalo na heluhelu (Thank you for reading). Aloha!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama