Hawaii Winter Baseball
By Al Chase
had record-setting season
Star-BulletinHawaii Winter Baseball's fifth season of operation was a record-breaker in several categories on the field and one important one in the stands as attendance totaled 136,270, an increase of 19.8 percent over 1996. The 9-8 victory by the Honolulu Sharks over the Hilo Stars in the thrilling championship game at Hans L'Orange Park Dec. 12 was the whipped-cream topping on HWB's finest season.
Most Valuable Player Nobuhiko Matsunaka (West Oahu, Daiei Hawks) won the batting title with a league-record .372 average and was tops in hits (71), doubles (18), runs batted in (37), on-base percentage (.429), slugging percentage (.618) and extra base hits (29).
Terrance Long (West Oahu, New York Mets) had a record seven triples while Eugene Kinsale (Maui, Baltimore Orioles) and Nelson Castro (Honolulu, Anaheim Angels) have the most at bats ever, 204 and 202, respectively.
Jim Chamblee (West Oahu, Boston Red Sox) struck out 57 times, a dubious single-season high.
The West Oahu CaneFires set records for home runs (53), hits (470) and runs (290). The CaneFires also allowed the second most home runs in league history (46) and had the third highest earned run average ever (4.30).
Darrin Babineaux (Maui, Los Angeles Dodgers) was the top pitcher with a 1.35 ERA and was named the First Hawaiian Bank Million Award winner. He began the season with 22 consecutive scoreless innings.
Junichi Kawahara (Honolulu, Yomiuri Giants) and Brian Cooper (Honolulu, Anaheim Angles) moved into third and fourth place on the HWB strikeout list with 68 and 61, respectively.
The two right-handers helped the Sharks set a mark for strikeouts (485).
Hawaii Winter Baseball
Final individual leaders
Batting
Minimum 146 plate appearances
AB R H RBI Avg Matsunaka, W.O. 191 33 71 37 .372 Johnson, Hilo 158 17 53 17 .335 Fick, Hono 146 23 48 30 .329 Barrett, W.O. 175 23 55 24 .314 Long, W.O. 182 35 55 16 .302 Pickering, Maui 153 21 46 29 .301 Bates, W.O. 175 29 52 31 .297 Casimiro, Maui 150 18 44 15 .293 Winn, Maui 138 18 39 17 .283 Kapler, Hono 188 31 53 23 .282Runs Batted In: Matsunaka, W.O., 37; Minor, Hono., 34; Chamblee and Bates, W.O. 31; Fick, Hono, 30.Doubles: 11: Matsunaka, W.O., 18; Fick, Hono., 14; Funaro, Maui, 14: Deck, Hilo, 13; Long, W.O., 13.
Triples: Long, W.O., 7; Hutchins, Hono., 6; Budzinski, Hilo, 5; Matsunaka, W.O., 4.
Home runs: Pickering, Maui, 10; Chamblee, W.O., 10; Minor, Hono., 8; Iguchi, W.O., 8.
Stolen bases: Hutchins, Hono., 13; Kennedy and Johnson, Hilo, 12; Chamblee, W.O., 11; Castro, Hono., 11; Porter, Hilo, 11.
On-Base Percentage: Matsunaka, W.O., .429; Pickering, Maui, .426; Bates, W.O., .392; Fick, Hono., .384; Minor, Hono., .383.
Slugging Percentage: Matsunaka, W.O., .618; Pickering, Maui, .556; Minor, Hono., .519; Long, W.O., .516; Bates, W.O., .503.
Minimum 43 innings pitched
W L IP H ERA Babineaux, Maui 3 2 46-2/3 26 1.35 Evans, W.O. 4 3 48 38 1.69 Grilli, Hono 2 5 56 45 2.41 Masaoka, Hilo 1 3 44 38 2.66 Villafuerte, W.O. 2 3 46-1/3 44 2.91 Kawahara, Hono 3 2 52-2/3 45 3.25 Cooper, Hono 3 4 51-1/3 47 3.27 Ah Yat, W.O. 3 2 43-1/3 37 3.74 Manon, Maui 2 4 45 41 3.80 O'Malley, Hilo 4 4 53-1/3 52 3.88Other Hawaii players
Apana, Hono 2 1 24-1/3 18 2.96 McCutcheon, Maui 0 1 24-2/3 19 3.07 Kawabata, Hilo 3 1 19 28 9.00Wins: O'Malley, Hilo, 4; Hackman, Maui, 4; Evans, Kurano, Grundy, W.O. 4.Strikeouts: Kawahara, Hono., 68; Cooper, Hono, 61; Evans, W.O., 54; Randall, Maui, 50; Manon, Maui, 47.
Walks: Parrish, Maui, 27; Kelly, Hilo, 26; Warrecker, W.O., 23; O'Malley, Hilo, 22.
Saves: Kohlmeier, Maui, 8; Almanza, Hilo, 6; Stentz, Hono., 4; Temple, Hilo, 4.
Games: Ah Yat, W.O., 24; O'Conner, Hilo, 23; Kohlmeier, Maui, 23; Shaffer, Hilo, 22; Listo, W.O., 22.
Team statistics
AB R H HR SB Avg West Oahu 1,804 290 470 53 54 .261 Honolulu 1,822 259 451 30 62 .248 Maui 1,741 212 422 23 39 .242 Hilo 1,703 211 401 27 66 .235
Won Lost H BB SO ERA Maui 25 29 388 186 434 3.48 Honolulu 27 27 440 187 485 3.72 Hilo 29 24 461 178 340 3.75 West Oahu 26 27 455 187 424 4.30
