Hawaii Islanders
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Hawaii Islanders 1961–1987 Honolulu, Hawaii |
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| Previous | Triple-A (1961–1987) | ||
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| League | Pacific Coast League (1961–1987) | ||
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| Minor league titles | |||
| League titles | 1975, 1976 | ||
| Division titles | 1970, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1984 | ||
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Previous names
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Hawaii Islanders (1961–1987) | ||
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Previous parks
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The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons, from 1961 through 1987.
Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played their home games at Honolulu Stadium, Aloha Stadium, and Les Murakami Stadium. After being one of the most successful minor league teams, the Islanders faltered and ultimately moved to the mainland as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 1988.
The Islanders were originally an amateur team, but on December 17, 1960, the Sacramento Solons, a longtime PCL stalwart, moved to Honolulu. Minor league baseball was then in free fall, as sparse attendance, 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. Ironically, the Islanders came to Hawaii in part due to these trends. The Solons had been suffering from attendance problems since the arrival of the San Francisco Giants from New York City in 1958. Salt Lake City businessman Nick Morgan bought the Solons and moved them to the Aloha State. Two years later, Morgan sold the Islanders to a locally based group.
By the end of the 1960s, the Islanders were reckoned as the strongest franchise in 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 minors as a whole. Although it lost the PCL pennant to the Spokane Indians, the 1970 team was named the 38th greatest team in minor league history by MiLB.com.
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