Hawaii Islanders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hawaii Islanders was the name of a AAA minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1961 through 1987. The Islanders were one of the most successful minor league teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, leading the minors in attendance, but, ironically, as minor league baseball began to surge in popularity during the 1980s, the Islanders faltered and ultimately moved to the mainland as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 1988.
The team was born on December 17, 1960, when the Sacramento Solons, a longtime PCL stalwart, moved to Honolulu. Minor league baseball was then in free fall, as sparse attendance, rampant major league TV broadcasts, expansion and franchise shifts at the major league level, and retrenchment in farm system support caused the contraction of many leagues, and the utter collapse of others. By the end of the 1960s, however, Hawaii was the model franchise for the minors. In 1970, the Islanders, then an affiliate of the California Angels, won 98 games and drew over 400,000 fans to lead the PCL and the minors as a whole.
But being located thousands of miles from the mainland PCL ultimately proved too much of a challenge. The Islanders achieved success and stability as a longtime affiliate of the Angels and the San Diego Padres, but when those teams found tie-ups closer to home, Hawaii shifted from organization to organization. It was also affiliated over the years with the Kansas City A's, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Its last club, in 1987, finished last in its division and last overall in attendance (a little over 116,000) in the PCL.
