Aloha Ka Punahou 2005.13
Hapless Hawaiians open season with 16 home games
Jake Kestle to throw out 1st pitch vs former club Vancouver
Hawai'i faces California 10 times by April 22; 4 times in September
New CEO Charlie Hough and new management Alexander & Baldwin won't
have to travel far to get a good look at how Hawai'i opens 2005, since the
team begins the season with 16 games at Tropics Stadium.
The expected squalid results may be enough to deter Hough and any of the
A&B crew from bothering to travel with the team abroad, er, to the North
American continent to see any road games.
Hough has deferred to free agent signee Jake Kestle to throw out the opening
pitch tomorrow against the visiting Vancouver Mounties. Kestle has promised
to use his non-pitching arm. His pitching arm is on the DL for another 4 months.
After the opening three-game series with Vancouver, California, Valencia, Balti-
more, and California (again) come to O'ahu to enjoy the island scenery, enter-
tainment, and to beat the pants off the Tropics. The team than flies to California
to face the Crusaders at home for three.
"Yeah," said team spokesperson Stitch Lilo, "It's an anomaly of the schedule that
we face Cali 10 times in our first 19 games—and then not again until September."
Hoot has decried the schedule as "even worse than last year."
Hawai'i expects to send Duran, Wallace, and Carter against the Mounties magical
trio of Sargent, Wookie, and Mayes. Noticeably absent from Vancouver's starting
staff will be Kestle, who former Mounties owner dispatched after learning Kestle
was to have Tommy John surgery.
The starting line up against right handers this year has been announced as:
cf Albert Hughes*
rf Sad Sam Jones*
1b Sunny Joe Sullivan
c Hurley Reyes
lf Ignacio Ramos*
2b Pat Sims (switch hitter)
3b Jeff Mueller
ss Barney Bancroft / Tex Whitaker
* indicates left-handed batter
Notes:
Ramos, 2002 1st-round pick, will play everyday in his first full time ML season.
Jones spent all of 2004 at Triple-A.
rf Chong Dae-ik will start vs lefties.
Liao Kuan will watch the first 4 months of games with Kestle and Hough in the
Hawai'i 5-0 Sky Box.
