Hi-A Season Recap

The same core group who played the longest season for Honolulu in S7 is the first to close out S8. With a 77-67 3rd place finish in the AL West, the Hi-A Hula Dolls hung up the cleats after finishing just 2 games out of the final Wild Card spot.

Despite the disappointing finish several key players emerged from the Hi-A ranks as legitimate prospects.

Offensively, the Hi-A club was led by C Ben Fontenot and his .353 average. Fontenot is expected to challenge for a big league roster spot in the future in large part because of the potential for a rocket arm behind the plate and big-leauge-ready splits.

OF/1B Trent Martin led the club in homers and RBI (35 and 142 respectively). The former 9th round pick from Oklahoma hadn't been more than a blip on the DHD prospect radar, but this season's performance certainly turned heads.

Power hitting prospects OF Julian Balboa (.320, 14, 37 in 57 games), who split time between Lo-A and Hi-A, and 3B/OF Julio Montanez (.316, 22, 85) put together solid seasons and will be expected to contribute regularly at the AA level in s9.

Pitching proved the downfall for this squad, however one bright spot was CL Archie Levis who converted 14 of 18 save opportunities and finished 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA.

Keep checking up on The Big Island for more updates and news on your Dashboard Hula Dolls.

Season 8 Draft Review

The Big Island knows we’re a little behind on blogging on important aspects of this season. However, this seems to be the perfect time to dissect the Hula Dolls Season 8 amateur draft.

Rnd 1 (15) – Eddie Henderson, CF, Cross Rds HS (TX)
- Henderson has great potential as your prototypical centerfielder – he puts the bat on the ball, good batting eye, great range/fielding and decent speed and baserunning. Injuries are a big worry and it would be nice to get a little pop from the bat of the 15th overall pick. Held out briefly before signing on and being assigned to LoA…where he’s just coming off an injury. Ugh.

Rnd 2 (60) – Hub McNamara, DH, Marist College
- A monster at the plate, McNamara was ranking 9th by the DHD scouts heading into the draft. Biggest concern heading into the draft was signability, and after a short holdout, Hub signed and is currently raking rookie league pitching. This will be seen as a big-time value pick in three seasons when Hub is crushing ML pitching.

Rnd 3 (92) – John Jones, CF, Nathan Hale-Ray HS (CT)
- Although Jones is a decent CF prospect, the Honolulu scouting department gets a big punch in the nuts on this one as Jones was drafted as a 2B on draft day…despite being left-handed! That prompted 1st round pick Henderson’s assignment to A-ball so both could get playing time. Jones has potential as an incredible defensive player who will hit well versus right-handers. He should make The Show with some team based on fielding ability alone.

Rnd 4 (124) – Paul Chen, 1B, Oklahoma St.
- If the scouts missed on Jones in the 3rd, they made up for it with Chen in the 4th. Paul brings a good current and potential bat to the mix and already is making the most of a quick promotion to A-ball. Definitely should find his way onto an ML roster and possibly a starting role someday.

Rnd 5 (156) – Sal Gibbs, RF, Valparaiso
- Another college hitter with a big bat, Gibbs has torn up rookie league pitching to date. If he meets his potential Gibbs could easily be a starting rightfielder in the league and mash for some big numbers. Another good value pick in the 5th despite being born in a fictional town.

Overall, Honolulu signed 19 of their total 25 draft picks, many of whom are playing well at the rookie level but the rest will be longshots to get past AA and AAA.

DHD management is split on the success of this season’s draft results. Some solid position prospects were nabbed but the organization whiffed on pitching in what turned out to be probably the deepest draft for it. Even landing one future ML pitcher would’ve made this one a success. Four future major leaguers and another borderline player (Jones) isn’t bad, but this organization’s depth is in the field and some pitching would’ve really addressed a need. Weighing the good and the bad, we have to give the Season 8 amateur draft a C.

Crazy like a Hull?

Reports have questioned a recent trade between your DHD and the Vancouver Tuques. The scrutiny doesn’t involve money changing hands or uneven talent, but the identities of two players involved.

Pitcher Dmitri Hull and OF Gene Fox, both acquired by Honolulu in the deal, just happen to look very, very similar. In fact, the two have been mistaken for brothers on numerous occasions, and have even battled rumors that they are THE SAME PLAYER! Visually, the only real difference between the two (aside from six years of age) is Fox’s diabolical goatee, which is also rumored to be a paste-job.

After extensive research and information from numerous sources The Big Island has the answer. Fox and Hull are not the same person, but amid the recent accusations have discovered that they are brothers. They share a mother, a jock-sniffer from East St. Louis named Phyllis, but each received chromosomes from a different famous father.

Dmitri Hull, the elder of the two, is the spawn of NHL great Brett Hull. Reportedly, Phyllis “pulled the goalie” back in 1980, when Brett Hull was only 16 years old. Nice work, Brett!

Meanwhile, Gene Fox is discovered to be the son of late comedian Redd Foxx of Sanford & Son fame. Apparently Redd was still getting the job done as late as 1986 when he fathered his youngest “big dummy.”