FOUR of the best players in Major League baseball history will be at Aloha Stadium this weekend as the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres meet in the first-ever big league games here. Baseball history
at Aloha StadiumESPN broadcaster Joe Morgan -- who will work Sunday's game -- is already in the Hall of Fame for combining power, speed, hitting and defense like no second baseman before him or since (Robbie Alomar comes pretty close, but Morgan never spat on an umpire).
In less than five years, Morgan will be joined in the Hall by baseball's consummate showman and the greatest defensive shortstop of all-time. Ozzie Smith, who retired last year, is now the host of This Week in Baseball, replacing the deceased Mel Allen. It's fitting that Smith -- who starred with both the Cardinals and Padres -- will be here to help record the history-making by the two clubs.
Rickey Henderson, the greatest base stealer ever, is in the twilight of his career and San Diego's fourth outfielder. Sometime in the early 21st century, Henderson -- despite alienating much of the media with what is perceived as a selfish attitude -- will be an easy first-ballot choice for Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers of America.
Tony Gwynn is Henderson's opposite in temperament. It almost seems he could get into the Hall on personality alone, with the seven National League batting titles and the Gold Gloves mere throw-ins. Gwynn was hitting .426 after last night's win over the Pirates. But he'll probably take extra batting practice tomorrow at Halawa -- Gwynn has hit home runs in two consecutive games and in the past, home runs in bunches has made him worry that he's not swinging correctly.
Morgan, Smith, Henderson and Gwynn all just happen to be black. Thank you, again, Jackie Robinson, for leading the way.
Retiring #42: Morgan is an astute baseball analyst, but we feel he got a little carried away when he suggested Tuesday night that all Major League players currently wearing No. 42 hang up those digits in honor of Robinson immediately, rather than at the ends of their careers as the edict from the league office calls for. If a high-profile star like Boston's Mo Vaughn continues to wear the number, it is a constant reminder of Robinson's contributions to the sport and our society. Incidentally, former University of Hawaii pitcher Scott Karl, now with the Milwaukee Brewers, also wears 42.
These are some of the reasons Dean Chadwin, an English professor at Chaminade, decided to write a book about University of Hawaii Wahine volleyball.
"Also, we get caught up in how the players performed on a certain night," Chadwin added. "But how did they get here? What's the difference between playing for fun when you're 10 years old and, when you're 20, playing in front of 10,000 fans."
Chadwin's book, "WahineBall," aims not only a fresh eye (he's lived here only two years) at the Wahine run at national championships in 1995 and 1996, but also takes a historical look at the program (warts and all) and the history of a sport he sees as underrated on the Mainland.
"It struck me that volleyball is treated as the poor cousin to basketball," he said. "But it's an American sport, the first Olympic team sport for American women. I wanted to write about the history of the sport because it hadn't been done."
Some folks close to the Wahine program will not like everything Chadwin has to say about "Hawaii's most beloved team." But the book is worth reading -- if for no other reason than such in depth treatment of UH sports is very rare.
Dave Reardon is a magazine editor and freelance
writer who has covered Hawaii sports since 1977.
He can be reached via the Star-Bulletin or
by email at reardon@aloha.com.
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