FOR University of Hawaii baseball fans, the last few years at Rainbow Stadium have been more painful than watching a fading superstar in the latter swings of his career. UH baseball program
needs late-inning rallyThe steady decline of a program that was once among the nation's best can be seen in all the empty seats staring back at you during this week's 23rd annual Rainbow Easter Tournament.
If you haven't been to Rainbow Stadium lately -- and judging by the attendance figures, you haven't -- then you wouldn't recognize the place or the opponents on the field.
UH head coach Les Murakami was always fond of saying that if you want to be the best, you have to play the best. But that was way back when in the salad days.
Now it's a schedule filled with more cupcakes than a hostess bar. It was bad enough when Hawaii's nonconference schedule included weak sisters San Francisco, Cal State Sacramento and Hawaii-Hilo. But even the once prestigious Easter Tournament has been reduced to backwater teams like Wright State, Lewis-Clark State and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
This week's promotional theme should be to name the three states where those teams reside. UH could offer a new car and have no fear of giving it away.
In actuality, Hawaii's giveaways are always slightly flawed. Take Sunday's idea to hand out 1,500 caps to celebrate Murakami's long-awaited 1,000th win.
INSTEAD of offering them to the first 1,500 fans as part of a promotional giveaway to kick off the Easter Tournament on Monday, officials decided to give them to people leaving the park after the victory over Fresno State.
The ones who didn't stick around to watch the presentation for Murakami got caps. Some who waited until the bitter end didn't. Not exactly promotion friendly for a program in desperate need of upgrading its fan base.
Despite already surpassing last year's victory total, fans aren't exactly streaming into the old ballpark. You would have thought last Sunday's rubber game against rival Fresno State, with Murakami's 1,000th win looming, would draw the fans.
But the announced attendance was 1,500 -- as in the number of caps they had -- which in the old days, was a random number usually reserved for games scheduled on Super Bowl Sunday.
The sad thing is, local fans are missing the best brand of Rainbow baseball since UH last advanced to the regionals in 1993. The outfield of Neal Honma, Darren Blakely and Greg Millichap is perhaps the best Murakami has ever had.
The infield corners are covered nicely by the talented tandem of Matt Wheeler at third and Jamie Aloy at first. Freshman Patrick McNair is the most promising pitching prospect since Mark Johnson took the hill in 1994.
So where is everybody?
In the arena.
THE recent success of men's basketball and volleyball, coupled with a faltering baseball program that hasn't been involved in postseason play in five years, are two reasons Rainbow Stadium is practically empty.
Year after year, fans kept hearing Murakami say the program was about to turn the corner. And now that it finally has, nobody's on that street.
To get them back, Murakami must guide this team into the Western Athletic Conference tournament in San Diego. It's not an unrealistic goal, especially when you consider that the easier league games are next on the schedule.
But should the Rainbows falter, some tough questions are going to have to be asked and answered regarding the coaching staff and its approach to local and mainland recruiting.
Not so long ago, Baseball America rated Rainbow Stadium as the best college facility in the country. Unfortunately for UH fans, Murakami's teams haven't matched that tradition. And eventually, somebody is not only going to have to face that fact, but be held accountable for it.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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