Hawaii Islanders

• Location: Honolulu, HI
• League: Pacific Coast League 1961-1987
• Affiliation: Kansas City Athletics 1961; Los Angeles Angels 1962-1964; Washington Senators 1965-1967; Chicago White Sox 1968; California Angels 1969-1970; San Diego Padres 1971-1982; Pittsburgh Pirates 1983-1986; Chicago White Sox 1987
• Ballpark: Honolulu Stadium 1961-1975, Aloha Stadium 1976-1987

The Hawaii Islanders were originally a very strong amateur team. In 1961 when the Pacific Coast League expanded to Hawaii, the Kansas City Athletics' farm club took the nickname. The affiliation would change frequently over the years. A good deal of the turnover may be due to the inconvenience and travel expenses of having a farm club several time zones away. The most famous player to come from the Islanders was possibly Barry Bonds, who was with the club for a portion of the 1986 season. After the 1987 season, the club relocated and became the Colorado Springs Sky Sox

• Members of the original 1961 Islanders included Jim McManus, Carlos Bernier, Bobby Prescott, Ken Toothman, Rac Slider, Jay Ward, Bobby Balcena, and Jack Parks. The pitching staff was led by Dave Thies, Bill Werle, Diego Segui, and Julius "Swamprat" Grant. Ray "Jabbo" Jablonski started the year with the Islanders but was traded to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Rangers of the American Association when the Islanders obtained Toothman.

• Harry Kalas was the team's original broadcaster, working for the club from 1961 through 1964.

• Irv Noren managed the team in 1962-63, and had a $50 fine for any player who showed up too sunburned to play ball.

• Bo Belinsky first pitched for Hawaii in 1963 after the Los Angeles Angels sent him down. The notorious playboy loved it there so much (especially the women) that he was depressed when the Angels recalled him later that year. Bo managed to wangle assignments to Hawaii in 1968 and 1969, even though the Islanders were not affiliated with the organizations he was in at the time. Al Michaels, then a broadcaster for the Islanders, called Belinsky's second professional no-hitter on August 20, 1968.

• Due to being 2500 miles from their nearest opponent, the PCL had a unique schedule for the Islanders. Initially, teams made one four and one seven game visit to the Islands with the Islanders doing the same. Later, as the league expanded, the Islanders played 8 game series against each team in order to cut down on travel costs.

Related Reading

• "Islanders a fan hit during 27-year run," by Stacy Kaneshiro, Honolulu Advertiser, July 4, 2009

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1961	68-86	6th	Tommy Heath (19-30) / Bill Werle (8-2) / Tommy Heath (38-46) / Bill Werle (3-8)	none
1962	77-76	5th	Irv Noren	none
1963	81-77	4th	Irv Noren
1964	60-98	10th	Bob Lemon
1965	75-72	6th (t)	George Case
1966	63-84	10th	George Case
1967	60-87	12th	Wayne Terwilliger
1968	78-69	3rd	Bill Adair
1969	74-72	4th	Chuck Tanner
1970	98-48	1st	Chuck Tanner	Lost League Finals
1971	73-73	4th (t)	Bill Adair
1972	74-74	5th	Rocky Bridges
1973	70-74	5th	Rocky Bridges (13-19) / Warren Hacker (2-3) / Roy Hartsfield (55-52)
1974	67-77	6th	Roy Hartsfield
1975	88-56	1st	Roy Hartsfield	League Champs
1976	77-68	2nd	Roy Hartsfield	League Champs
1977	79-67	2nd	Dick Phillips
1978	56-82	8th	Dick Phillips
1979	72-76	8th	Dick Phillips
1980	76-65	5th	Doug Rader	Lost League Finals
1981	72-65	3rd (t)	Doug Rader	Lost in 1st round
1982	73-71	5th	Doug Rader
1983	72-71	5th	Tom Trebelhorn
1984	87-53	1st	Tommy Sandt	Lost League Finals
1985	84-59	1st	Tommy Sandt	Lost in 1st round
1986	65-79	9th	Tommy Sandt
1987	65-75	9th	Bob Bailey