It was the time spent following baseball from afar, through radio and books while growing up without TV in the small sugar plantation town of Hakalau on Hawaii Island in the 1960s, that allowed the senses to take flight.

It was using that “imagination to see moving pictures of baseball players and exotic places that helped me see and dream of a world that was bigger than Hakalau and bigger than me,” businessman Duane Kurisu recalls.

That’s why, despite the demands of the 18 companies he runs under the umbrella of Aio group LLC, Kurisu often comes back to baseball, the sport of his youth and heart.

For eight years he underwrote Hawaii Winter Baseball, a before-its-time developmental league based here that, for the first time, brought together emerging players from the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, such as Ichiro Suzuki and Jason Giambi. He has sponsored clinics and youth team travel and is a principal owner of the San Francisco Giants.

Now, he is the driving force behind bringing a group of Major League Baseball All-Stars to Les Murakami Stadium for public workouts Nov. 3 and 4, and a youth clinic.

A press conference outlining the events is scheduled for Thursday.

The MLB All-Stars, coached by Don Mattingly, will be making a stopover en route to Japan, where they are scheduled to play a seven-game exhibition series against the Yomiuri Giants.

Once upon a time in a goodwill series that dates to 1908, MLB All-Stars traveled by ship and Hawaii was a regular and convenient stop. But these days it is a whole lot easier and cheaper just to fly direct to Tokyo.

And that is likely what would have happened this time had Kurisu, through his contacts, and Island Holdings senior vice president Keith Amemiya, not stepped in with a proposal to MLB’s Asia Pacific officials to make Hawaii a dedicated stop on this trip.

The initial hope was there might be an actual game here, but the press of time and some of the logistics with Murakami Stadium apparently made that a goal for another year.

Instead fans will get to see a roster of 28 all-stars. Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves), Rhys Hoskins (Phillies), Yadier Molina (Cardinals), Carlos Santana (Phillies), Eugenio Suarez (Reds), Chris Taylor (Dodgers) and Christian Yelich (Brewers) are the first batch of commitments to be announced by MLB.

Kurisu, whose business investments include Oahu Publications, parent company of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, recalls his own first youthful encounter with professional ballplayers.

“When the Hawaii Islanders came to Hilo for the first time, I thought ballplayers like Jay Jablonski were larger than life. I can still hear the jabbering and the distinct sounds of the ball hitting the glove and the bat striking the ball in ways that I never heard before. It was powerful and inspiring,” Kurisu recounted in an email.

“As someone who is involved with the game, I feel that bringing professional baseball to Hawaii, whether it was Hawaii Winter Baseball, Dusty Baker camps and, in this case, the MLB All-Stars, is a matter of public trust,” Kurisu said.

He has underwritten the Kahauiki Village initiative to create long-term housing for the homeless and, with Amemiya, has pledged funds for the ILH-OIA football alliance, but baseball brings him full circle.

“Through those experiences, it is my hope that Hawaii’s children, like myself back then, would gain the same kind of inspiration and hope for a greater and brighter future.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.