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Hawaii Where the World Comes to PlayBall

Watermark Publishing announces the release of Catch the Dream: The Story of Hawaii Winter Baseball, a history of the newly returned Hawaii Winter Baseball League, a groundbreaking organization that unites Major League Baseball'ss top prospects with name players from the Japanese and Korean professional big leagues.



In an MLB club, a player has about a one-in-ten chance of even being considered a prospect. MLB organizations spend an estimated average of $2 million per prospect in player development costs. Every opportunity to improve must be taken. Thirteen years ago, these elite individuals were sent to Hawaii to hone their skills against the top talent from Japan and Korea. Today, the best young players from East and West are once again arriving in the Hawaiian Islands to pursue their big league dreams and play America'ss game in a truly international arena.



Hawaii Winter Baseball was where the world was introduced to future superstars Ichiro Suzuki, Jason Giambi, Michael Barrett and hometown Big Leaguer Benny Agbayani. Here is the inside story of the league'ss stop-and-start beginnings in 1993; the successes and challenges culminating in its demise in 1997; and its long-awaited return in 2006.



Catch the Dream includes personal accounts from past players and the officials who struggled to bring professional baseball to Hawaii, not just once, but twice, as well as an overview of baseball'ss history in the Islands, from the father of modern baseball, Alexander Joy Cartwright, to Hawaii'ss 1995 Little League World Series championship team. Full-color photography, statistics and records charts, and team rosters capture all the minutiae of the league'ss first five seasons.



Author Lance Tominaga has nurtured a life-long love of sports; he is currently an editor at TransOceanic Media, which is part of the aio Group, a Honolulu-based holding company with assets in communications, sports, technology, marketing and food, including Watermark Publishing. The company is owned by Duane Kurisu, founder and owner of the Hawaii Baseball League.



Published in softcover, Catch the Dream: The Story of Hawaii Winter Baseball (ISBN 0-9779143-4-3-8) is available for $19.95 at bookstores and at HWB home stadiums (Les Murakami Stadium in Manoa and Hans L'sOrange Field in Waipahu), or direct from the publisher at www.bookshawaii.net. Contact Watermark Publishing, 1088 Bishop St., Suite 310, Honolulu, HI 96813; telephone 1-808-587-7766; toll-free 1-866-900-BOOK; fax 1-808-521-3461.

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