"It's a split," David Schutter said. "This is discrimination. But discrimination is not necessarily against the law.

"There's nothing wrong with forming leagues for people of a specific ancestry, as long as the facilities are available equally to other such groups," Schutter added. "But if they have a stranglehold on use, if it's available for free to them, and not others, then they might have a problem."

Blanchette, a former University of Hawaii star who had a brief professional career, has been trying to enter the amateur league for several years. AJA league rules state that only people of Japanese heritage may participate. Blanchette is of French-Canadian ancestry.

Although Blanchette has complained that public parks should not be used for racially-exclusive activities, he also said he has no intention of taking the league to court.

AJA president Homer Sheldon said that the league's board of directors will meet next month to determine whether it will allow Blanchette to play, and if it will change its eligibility requirements.

"If they feel that maybe it's time for change, then I would submit my resignation with an offer to help the people who want to change," said Sheldon, who has been involved with AJA baseball for 26 years.

Other veteran league officials have also said they don't support altering the eligibility rules further (at the league's inception, only full-blooded Japanese were eligible), and that such action could damage or even destroy the league. But Sheldon said younger board members may vote for change.

The league plays its games in public parks that come under the jurisdiction of the City & County of Honolulu. But the city cannot make a determination on whether Blanchette should be allowed to play or not.

"The city's role is to maximize use of the parks and make sure different groups don't bump heads (on scheduling)," Honolulu Managing Director Bob Fishman said. "We don't make those kind of determinations on our own."

Fishman said the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission can make rulings on issues of this type.

"We haven't heard any complaints in this area. But there are some questions for us to look at if it's brought before us," said Todd Withy, deputy executive director of the commission. "What we do covers places of public accommodation that are extended, offered or sold to the general public.

"You can have private clubs," Withy said. "But if it's a place of public accommodation there are six areas of discrimination we'd be concerned with: race, sex, color, religion, ancestry and disa- bility."

AJA baseball was founded in the early 1900s, Sheldon said. He said the league started "so Japanese people could play together." Many other baseball leagues and teams in Hawaii were composed along ethnic lines, but AJA is the only such league still surviving.

Blanchette said he wants to play in the league because it is the only competitive baseball league available in the winter months. He said he respects the tradition of AJA baseball, but that it is time to change.

"All I want to do is play baseball with the guys I played with from Little League through UH," Blanchette said. "I respect culture and tradition, but this is 1996 and things are not the same. I've never asked for it to be shut down. I just want to be accepted."

Said Sheldon: "My place is to uphold the (league's) constitution. People shouldn't think I have a hard head. But my feeling is I should uphold the tradition."