The University of Hawaii baseball team has 38 stolen bases in 19 games. The players should have run-up instead of walk-up songs.
Here are a few suggestions that at least coach Rich Hill might remember. They come courtesy of Van Halen, The Steve Miller Band, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen: “Running with the Devil,” “Take the Money and Run,” “It Keeps You Runnin’,” “Runaway,” “Running on Empty” and, of course, “Born to Run.”
Sorry for breaking the rule of three there, but I ignore hold-up signs when the topics are classic rock or base stealing.
If Itsuki Takemoto starts running, his song might be something from the band X Japan.
Takemoto displayed his drumming skills in a story by KHON’s Rob DeMello a couple of weeks ago. What I heard had a definite hard rock influence; it sounded like stuff from the 1990s, or even earlier. When I got to ask Takemoto about it Tuesday, UH’s pitcher-designated hitter said he hadn’t heard of John Bonham or Keith Moon, but his favorite drummer is named Yoshiki.
“Just Yoshiki,” Takemoto said. “He’s a one-name guy.”
Like Tiger or LeBron?
Or Shohei?
“Yeah,” Takemoto said with a laugh, knowing exactly where the conversation would go, eventually.
You say those names, everyone knows who you are talking about. And Yoshiki — like Shohei Ohtani and Takemoto — was a two-way player.
In addition to drumming, Yoshiki (who, actually does have a last name, Hayashi) was a pianist when he co-founded X Japan in 1982. Takemoto’s mom, Rie, turned her son on to drumming, Yoshiki and X Japan when he was about 5, the UH sophomore said.
Around the same time, his dad, Hidehito, who was a rugby player, got his son started on a workout regimen of basic strength and flexibility exercises. Takemoto said he hated it.
“A hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, it was very hard,” he said in the UH dugout before practice Tuesday. “But I kept doing it because he told me that’s what it takes to be great.”
Now, the Rainbows coaches have to sometimes chase Takemoto out of the weight room so he doesn’t overwork himself.
Back to those stolen bases for a minute. The ’Bows are way ahead of the pace of last year’s team that stole 53 in 53 games. They’re also getting caught less, stealing safely 75% of the time so far in 2025 compared to 69% last year.
Xaige Lancaster (7-for-7) and Matthew Miura (7-for-9) are the most larcenous, and almost everyone in UH’s regular lineup has stolen at least one base.
Hill proudly displays small ball — including a lot of base stealing — as a prominent part of the ’Bows’ identity. It’s always been that way at Manoa, partly because Les Murakami Stadium is a pitcher-friendly park, and one run, produced one base at a time, is often the difference between winning and losing.
It’s helped a lot so far, and UH’s 14-5 record includes 13-3 at home. Six of those victories at The Les are by one run, the most recent a shutout of UC Santa Barbara on Sunday that gave Hawaii a 2-1 series win over the 15th-ranked team in the country.
The ’Bows are 3-3 in the Big West heading into a three-game series against UC Davis that starts Saturday and concludes Monday.
Takemoto has been a huge part of the success, but his SB-CS stats are the same as last year: 0-0.
Don’t get the wrong impression. In addition to pitching and hitting, this dude can run.
Takemoto, a left-handed batter, has been timed from home to first at 4.0 seconds, Hill said. The average for all Major League Baseball lefties is 4.31, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
There are, however, no stats available for the speed of the average home run trot, which is how Takemoto circled the bases for the first time in college during UH’s 15-7 victory over UCSB on Saturday. Takemoto went 3-for-5 with four RBIs after another good pitching start Friday, when he struck out six, walked none and yielded four hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 2-1 loss.
Right now, though, the ‘Bows are more excited about his speed from the mound to the plate — Takemoto’s fastball sometimes touches 95 mph, and more importantly, “It goes where he wants it to go,” Hill said.
Pitching coach Keith Zuniga, who guided UH to the nation’s best staff ERA of 307 Division I schools last year (3.74), said Takemoto is showing why he earned the Most Outstanding Pitcher award at the 2024 Cape Cod summer league.
The righty pitcher doesn’t get rattled. And he can throw four different pitches for strikes.
“I think his changeup has improved a lot,” Zuniga said. “And, no matter what, he follows the plan. … He keeps attacking.”
One very simple and rough measure of a two-way player’s effectiveness and value is if his batting average and ERA are both in the 3s; Takemoto is hitting .364 and his ERA is 3.21 this season. Someday he may have to choose a lane, or one will be chosen for him. But that day is not today.
After his home run Saturday, Hill teased Takemoto, comparing him to his favorite player, the two-way Dodgers superstar from Japan who wears the same number, 17.
“I told him, ‘Shohei steals bases. Can you run?’” Hill said. “His answer was, ’Yes,’.”
Does that mean he will get the green light? Or maybe it is red, since losing Takemoto to injury would be like losing two very good players, not just one.
That might be classified information at this point. And there’s enough to talk about with Takemoto’s improvement and potential at the plate and on the mound.
But don’t be surprised if, someday, when UH really needs one, Takemoto does swipe a bag.
