by Don Chapman
"Hey, nobody is right and nobody is wrong - it's just baseball." - Trent Jewett
Every winter, the best young baseball prospects from the United States and Japan come to Hawaii to play ball.
They are the Boys of Winter
Not far from Pearl Harbor, where their grandfathers began a world war, they come as strangers, then become teammates.
They become Sharks, Stingrays, Stars and Canefires. Somehow, without sharing words, they also become friends.
Baseball is their language, it is their bond. Through baseball, they learn how much they share in common.
This is the story of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.
Some of these prospects are top draft choices. Some are the sons and brothers of big leaguers. Some are scratching to make a name for themselves as professional ballplayers. They are each the sons of Alexander Joy Cartwright, the Father of Baseball, who lived most of his life in Honolulu.
And in the winter of 1994, the Boys of Winter were joined by two young women. They came to Hawaii and made history when they played alongside male teammates. Their stories are part of the stoy of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.
After just two seasons, the Hawaii Winter Baseball League has sent 20 players to the big leagues of America and Japan. How do you start a professional baseball league? How do you overcome resistance to a new idea? And how do you fill seats?
This too is the story of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.
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