hunterbishop.com

I know baseball isn't the most popular sport here in Hawaii. It's not my favorite sport, however, I'm a sports nut and I will always be a "Mariners" fan.

Anyone care to post who "YOUR" team is?

Hey Damon,
I grew up watching the Philadelphia Phillies in the late great Connie Mack stadium at 21st and Lehigh. Dick "Don't Call Me Richie" Allen was my hero. The Fightin' Phils will always be my favorite team. Thanks for the response.There's not much I like better than baseball and the only thing I miss in Hawaii is going to major league games.

I was lucky enough to go to a couple of Hilo Stars (Hawaii Winter league) games in the 90's. There was a young japanese player that stood out for his hustle and fundamental skills. Back then a lot of people were skeptical that a Japanese player could make it in the "bigs".

The players name: Ichiro Suzuki

I was lucky enough to be in Bellingham, Washington back in the 80's. We had a team called the Bellingham Mariners.

A young kid played there for a year and was seen partying at many nightspots througout town.

His Name: Ken Griffey Jr.

I liked the Philly's when they had Tug McGraw! That Pitcher had a face on him that looked like he could play linebacker.

While were at it...

Back in the 90's... at UH Hilo had a tall local kid named Ty that was dating a short girl from Kauai in one of my classes.

Doh... Tyler Yates

On that same UH Hilo team... Thomas Ford, who eventually played for the Baltimore Orioles for awhile.

Ok... now to put two and two together on your Blog... Thomas Ford and Keala (Hoyt) were really good friends as well as a few others that hung out for awhile. However, Thomas and Keala were real close... not dating... but close friends.

How I know... geez...never mind.

Actually Thomas Ford, a lefty who relied on craftiness, never made it to the big leagues, although he did play awhile in the minors for the Orioles organization. As for Tyler Yates -- whose name is reminiscent of an Old West gunslinger -- he pitched a scoreless inning in the Atlanta Braves' Opening Day loss to the Washington Nationals. Despite having "Tommy John" surgery, he throws consistently in the mid-90s these days, a good 5-7 mph faster than he was when he was with the Vulcans. He is an intimidator at 6-4, 240 lbs.

Tyler Yates was quietly shipped off to Pittsburgh. He pitched two scoreless innings (7th and 8th) today in a wild home opener for the Pirates, who came back from a 7-0 deficit to tie the game at 8-all and send it into extra innings. Jon Lieber came up big for the Cubbies, who ended up turning back the determined Buckos in 11, 10-8. I'm a Cubs fan, so I'm happy, but I'm also a UHH alum, so it was great to see Yates pitch well for a new ballclub,