Tim Flannery,
San Diego Padres,
ex-Hawaii Islanders
"We're coming in from Pittsburgh, so I know how long that flight is," he said. "But I'm not going to sleep when I get there. I have a guy picking me up and we're heading to the North Shore to catch some waves."
San Diego will play the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series at Aloha Stadium April 19-20 in the first regular-season, major-league games ever played in Hawaii.
Flannery played second base for the Hawaii Islanders during the 1980 and 1981 seasons before going to San Diego for eight consecutive seasons.
He is starting his second season as the team's third-base coach.
"I spent two seasons in Hawaii playing at Aloha Stadium and it was one of the best times of my whole career," he said in telephone interview last night. "Doug Rader was the manager and he was perfect for me at that time. We played hard in the games -- and when they were over, we enjoyed the islands."
Flannery hit .346 in 47 games for the Islanders in 1980 and .282 in 21 games in 1981.
"In fact, when he called me in to tell me that I was going up to the big leagues, Doug said 'I have some bad news for you.'," Flannery said with a laugh. "The Padres weren't very good then -- and there was a swell going off on the South Shore.
"I was single then and we stayed at an Outrigger on Kuhio Avenue that was $10 a night. But I didn't know much about the night life because after surfing all morning and playing at night I was in bed."
Flannery was drafted in the sixth round in 1978 by the Padres out of Chapman College in Orange County. He ended his major-league career with a .255 average and only Tony Gwynn, Garry Templeton and Dave Winfield have played more games as a Padre.
The 39-year-old, who is now married and has three children, said he returned to surf in Hawaii in the off-season for several years after playing here, but hasn't been back since 1988.
"I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "It's been a while."
His thoughts on the "home" series away from Jack Murphy Stadium:
"I'm a traditionalist, but I'm also a realist. If baseball is to continue to grow and pay these salaries it will have to expand, especially internationally.
"And our ownership with Larry Luchino is on the cutting edge of these new ideas. I was against interleague play at first, but you have to keep the game up and running for the fans and make some adjustments."
Flannery will also be packing his guitar for the trip. The "Tim Flannery Band" released its second CD in January and he said the group opened for several big names in the off-season, including Judy Collins and Jimmy Buffet.
"I've always carried a guitar on the road my whole career and have always written music," he said. "We've made two CDs and they're doing well. I just do it for fun. Hey, I'm breaking even, which is good for a musician."
Flannery and his band contribute $4 from each CD sold to provide Padres tickets for kids in the San Diego area. And he said one of the songs is called "The Leeward Side of the Island", which is about the Kihei area of Maui.
"I'm still a Cecilio & Kapono freak," he said. "And I listen to Henry Kapono music all the time."
Flannery is excited about this season's Padres team, which is off to a 4-2 start after winning the National League West title last year.
"We're off to a good start, although we let one get away today (Sunday)," he said. "Our club is strong and healthy.
"We won last year and with that comes a responsibility to win again and get better."
Flannery also said that San Diego should have some extra incentive playing the Cardinals here.
"That's the team that eliminated us from the playoffs -- and it's the first time we'll be facing them this season," he said. "We were proud to win the West last year, but we were also disappointed that we didn't play better in the playoffs."