Following two years of WAC championships, University of Hawaii baseball heads into what could be a transition season … just as its head coach, Mike Trapasso, has completed a transition decade.
Ten years on the job. Ten years adjusting to the island culture. Ten years of mostly ups with some downs.
The vibe has been steadily improving since 2010 and the trend remains positive — even with the Rainbows opening against Oregon with a team that will have the most ardent fans checking and double-checking the home-team roster.
“Probably our biggest turnover,” the coach said.
The most notable fixture, the one familiar number is 35 — that of Trapasso.
Some are surprised he’s still here. It wasn’t necessarily his plan to stay more than a few years at his first head-coaching job.
“I never thought of (10 years in Hawaii),” said Trapasso, who was considered one of the nation’s top assistant coaches when he arrived in 2001 from Georgia Tech. “When I got here and saw what needed to be done I knew it’d be 10 years of work in the first couple of years.”
He signed a contract extension last fall that takes him through the 2014 season.
Just a few years ago, his name would regularly come up as an applicant for other jobs.
In 2009, many wondered if it was time for UH to make a change after one regional appearance in eight seasons under Trapasso. I advocated such a change in print. But the last two seasons proved athletic director Jim Donovan made the right move by keeping him.
The team is winning titles. The stands are full. The program is making money.
The AD is happy, as are most fans, alumni and boosters.
And Trapasso, 48, says he’s in for the long haul. He used to say his dream job was at his alma mater, Oklahoma State, the school for which he pitched in the College World Series.
I asked him Thursday if that had changed.
“I’ve found myself the last few years realizing how fortunate I am to be here,” Trapasso said.
“This is home.”
This year — especially with Kolten Wong and Lenny Linsky off to the pros — the coach is a bigger part of the story. Almost as big as during his first season in 2002, following the legendary Les Murakami.
Don Robbs, who has been the voice of UH baseball on the radio for 36 years, has worked with Trapasso on a regular basis since his arrival in Manoa.
“He seems much more comfortable in Hawaii than he might have been at the time,” Robbs said. “And he has shown signs of growth as a coach. Remember, this was his first head-coaching job. He’s a better coach than he was when he got here.”
Local recruiting is Trapasso’s most apparent improvement. Convincing Wong to make the pros wait was his biggest coup, and is already paying dividends in future classes.
He has gradually won over more alumni from the Murakami era, and booster support remains strong.
Trapasso and his parents and Murakami and his wife, Dot, shared a table at the Grand Slam Club’s preseason event this week.
The booster club’s fundraiser brought in nearly $100,000 that will help with summer school, travel expenses, visiting team guarantees and equipment. “I’m humbled more every year,” Trapasso said. “Every year I think it will hit a plateau. But it gets better. It’s a tribute to our players.”
Sam Kakazu pitched for UH in the late 1970s and early ’80s and serves as alumni liaison.
“(Trapasso) definitely has developed the support that is necessary to have the program move forward. And he’s winning championships and attendance has improved. It was tough to follow Coach Les, who had such strong loyalty there. Because of the history, the man.”
Murakami built a program from nothing to runner-up in the College World Series and his teams won 1,079 games. For a few, it will never matter how many games and titles his successor wins, or that he is a three-time WAC coach of the year.
But it’s now obvious that Mike Trapasso has the program headed in the right direction, and with the unified support of most in the Hawaii baseball community.
His community.
