WAIT 'til next year! The return of major league baseball to Hawaii, that is. Hawaii proved it can
be host with the mostThe San Diego "Padres Paradise Series" over the weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals at Aloha Stadium proved a tremendous success. Good enough that Padres' president Larry Lucchino says that if a vote were taken among the team's front office and players, it would be overwhelming in favor of coming back.
No offense to the Cardinals, but could the Padres maybe bring the San Francisco Giants next time? After all, if any team, the Giants might be the favorites among the majority of the baseball fans here.
Whatever the Padre motives -- eyeing Japan, expanding their small market or championing the cause of international baseball -- Hawaii's fans, so starved for live major-league sports and real baseball, were the ultimate winners.
It showed as 77,432 fans turned out for the historic two-day series, which set back-to-back attendance records for baseball in Hawaii.
If anything, Sunday's record crowd of 40,050 got the attention of the other major league owners. Only the Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Indians outdrew San Diego in games played at 13 other ballparks that day.
National League President Len Coleman called it "a definite thumbs-up for Hawaii."
SO don't be surprised if the Seattle Mariners or Anaheim Angels look out this way in future years if or when the Padres pass on coming here.
However, don't hold your breath hoping that the Los Angeles Dodgers come here. With their own stadium, it's hardly likely that they'd relinquish a home series just to play here. Or the Padres and Giants giving up their home dates when the Dodgers come to town.
But you have to give the Padres first dibs on playing here again next season. They deserve it for being boldly innovative enough to try the grand experiment in the first place. Hawaii's first look at major-league baseball wouldn't have happened in the first place if they hadn't pushed for it.
And the next time -- and there surely will be a next time, no matter which West Coast team -- it wouldn't be surprising if it'll be a midweek series instead of one on the weekend.
That way no team will give up a money-making home weekend series. The Padres might have lost money playing here on the weekend instead of at Jack Murphy Stadium. But they would be in the black in week-night games, considering they twice had crowds below 17,000 on their first homestand.
But I don't buy the Padres' claim that they lost around $250,000 playing here because they would have drawn 100,000 fans for the Cardinal series played over three days back home.
ALL that talk about planting the Padre flag in the 50th State aside, it was a good business venture for the National League franchise, whose smaller market prompted the experiment in the first place.
First of all, the Padres got a sweetheart deal to come here. A "Pro Bowl Deal" by the governor's office, if you will.
They got Aloha Stadium rent free and got to keep all of the ticket revenue. No official figures are yet available, but just the gross receipts from the nearly sold-out seats back of home plate were well over $360,000 each day. That's not counting the outfield seats.
Add to that, all but 71/2 percent (the Aloha Stadium's share) of the more than $180,000 worth of Padre souvenirs sold in the two days.
Aloha Stadium, however, got to keep the money from food-and-beverage concessions and parking. And a chance to show it can be gussied up for baseball on national television.
So, it was a win-win situation for everyone concerned, especially the San Diego Padres.