HIDEO Nomo goes into the stretch. He stops, checks Alex Rodriguez at first and fires the 2-2 pitch. Series whetted the
appetite for moreCrack!
Ken Griffey, Jr. times the sinker perfectly and crashes it to deep right. Raul Mondesi leaps but comes away empty, as the ball reaches the fifth row at . . . Aloha Stadium?
Yes, Dodgers vs. Mariners is a fantasy. But one that is a lot more likely to come true after Hawaii's initial foray into big-league baseball last weekend.
The San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals gave this Show-starved state just what it needed: Hall of Fame matchups (it doesn't get any better than the ninth inning of Saturday's first game -- Eckersley vs. Gwynn, Caminiti and Joyner) and games that really count in the standings.
The Padres, in particular team president Larry Lucchino, are to be commended for leading the way in bringing major-league baseball to Hawaii.
The entire San Diego operation is classy and accommodating and took a good, calculated risk. The Padres made a lot of friends here and they put a quality product on the field.
Still, although there are many San Diego fans here, the simple truth is that the Padres will never be Hawaii's "home team." There will never be one favorite team here (unless Honolulu becomes permanent host to a franchise -- extremely unlikely in the near future).
ST. Louis manager Tony La Russa didn't like his team being billed as the Washington Capitals to the Padres' Harlem Globetrotters.
Can't blame him. Ron Gant, Dennis Eckersley and Willie McGee are established stars nearly as big as the Padres' bright lights and deserved better.
But the Cardinals were much less accessible to the Hawaii media than the Padres, partly because of the crazy travel schedule that had St. Louis flying here from Florida.
When asked by a mainland reporter if this series was "good for baseball" La Russa replied:
"That's a helluva statement. I thought it was baseball and we are all supposed to share in it. It looked like the Padres doing it for the Padres. I applaud their ambition and this wouldn't have happened if they didn't push for it. But does that make the rest of us the stooges?"
Not at all. The Cardinals had a lot of fans this weekend. Especially McGee, who has played for almost everyone's favorite team at one time or another, and is the lone remaining link to St. Louis' last World Series championship.
But come to think of it, the Padre mascot, the Swingin' Friar, does looks a lot like Moe.
Serious baseball fans would be glad to have these teams back next year. But how many of the casual and curious would return for the Cardinals and Padres? And will the Honolulu Marathon buy 15,000 tickets every year?
THANKS, Padres, but now that we've gotten to first base it's time to inch off and think about second. We just need to wait for the right pitch.
And Mariners-Dodgers might be the perfect one to go on.
If the Padres and Cardinals can draw nearly 80,000 for a two-day, three-game series, imagine what the Dodgers (one of Hawaii's two favorite teams), and the Mariners, (led by Griffey -- the Tiger Woods/Michael Jordan of baseball) would do?
Toss in a Nomo start, that, incidentally, would pump a few million yen-to-dollars into the state economy, and the answer is easy.
Sellouts. Guaranteed.
Some kinks need to be worked out. Food lines were way too long and it makes no sense to cut off beer sales in the seventh inning of the first game of a doubleheader only to resume them at the start of the second game.
Still, not bad for a first effort.
If Hawaii and Major League Baseball really get it together maybe next year we can dare to fantasize about hosting the All-Star Game.
Dave Reardon is a magazine editor and freelance
writer who has covered Hawaii sports since 1977.
He can be reached via the Star-Bulletin or
by email at reardon@aloha.com.
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