Baseball in Paradise

Hello everyone, Sorry i missed blogging the last couple of weeks, its been hectic since I’ve been back home.  It was definitely bittersweet leaving Hawaii.  It was one of the most unbelievable and memorable experiences in my life so far.  It is good to be back in Duxbury however, I’ve missed my friends and family and I also cannot wait to get back up to Saint Joe’s. 

I just wanted to thank everyone who read my blog while I was out here, it means a lot to me.  I also want to thank the coaching staff, especially Coach Sanborn, for giving me the opportunity to play out in Hawaii this summer.  I also want to thank my Waikiki Surfers coaches; Coach Stu and Coach Gavin, I appreciate all you’ve done for me this summer.  Lastly I would like to thank my parents for allowing me to play out there all summer.

I cant wait to be back at school and I’m looking forward to another good year as well as another season of Saint Joseph’s baseball.

Thanks again,

Joe Coyne

Baseball in Paradise

Hello everybody, I am approximately one week away from heading  back home and I know it’s going to be bittersweet leaving the island.  I can’t wait to be back and see my friends but obviously it is going to be sad leaving paradise.  I could not have asked for a more memorable 7 weeks.   We have our last game of the regular season today, then we have Friday and Saturday off, then playoffs start Sunday.

My parents arrived a couple of days ago so it’s nice to spend some time with them, and my sister is flying out here tomorrow,  it’s been a while since I’ve seen her so I am excited.   I am hoping to go back to Hanauma Bay with my family and maybe get over to the North Shore on my off days.  On our off days this week 2 of the local players on my team took a few of us to the North Shore.  We went over to Waimea Beach and spent the day there.  We also stopped at Ted’s Bakery, which according to the locals is famous, and I can see why.  On our way to Waimea we drove past Turtle Bay, one of the nicest private resorts imaginable.   The locals told us that this was where they filmed Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  They also knew of a few other smaller beaches that we stopped at.  We were also able to catch a sunset on one of these smaller beaches on the way home.

The next night we climbed up a mountain near Kailua.  At the top were Pill Boxes, which are old Coast guard look outs.   At the top was an unbelievable view of basically the whole island.  Next week will be my last blog! Hopefully I’ll have taken some cool trips with my family and I’ll have some stories for you. 

I’m about to head out to my last regular season game right now against the Oahu Paddlers.  Have a nice day! Thanks for reading.

Joe Coyne

Baseball in Paradise

 

Hey there, ever since my last blog I haven’t been able to play much baseball because of my toe.  I was fortunate enough to make All Star team but my injury would not allow me to play in the All Star game.  On the bright side I’ve gotten plenty of rest and I’m going to be able to play today.  With the All Star break we have been able to take a lot of time to do the things we’ve hoped to do out here. 

One of my roommates who has been dealing with an arm injury had to go back home this week, so on his last day we figured we would make the most of it.  We woke up early and rented mopeds for the day.  Without a plan or a real destination we began to just ride and see where it took us.  This didn’t happen to be the brightest idea at first when our curiosity brought us on the Pali highway, one of the busiest highways in the busiest city for traffic.  Especially considering the highway was uphill and our mopeds could barely go 45 downhill… After realizing our potentially devastating mistake we took the first exit back toward Pearl Harbor. 

Since we had already done the Pearl Harbor tour we decided to see what else was around the area.  This brought us to a lagoon right next to the airport.  Here we were able to watch planes take off basically right over our heads.  We were also able to see some small planes landing right on the water.  However, despite our intimidating mopeds, the owners of the wedding chapel right on the lagoon had no problem asking us to move them out of the parking lot because they had a wedding coming in.  So we rode on. 

Another interesting thing we discovered in our travels was that cats run free like squirrels out here.  People come out and feed these wild cats daily too.  We decided to ride directly down the coastline to see what we could find.  We end up finding a few new beaches, and one of the nicest neighborhoods I have ever seen in my life.  So nice that they had a security guard there to tell us we had to turn around… So we headed back the way we came and found a few scenic points (typical tourist stuff).  At one of these points we saw Diamond Head mountain in the distance.  My roommate and I decided we’d climb it.  In our casual, spur of the moment decision to climb it we were pumped!  Then we got to the bottom and realized “wow, this is a lot steeper than we thought”.  But we realized that you only live once so we got after it.  About half way we realized that the decision to climb this isn’t one you make after a long 7 hour day of mopeding, but we trudged along.  Upon arriving at the top we immediately knew the hike up was worth it.  The hike back down was a different story…  Exhausting.

That’s what I did during my full day off, it was a great experience, heres a picture of the view from the top of Diamond Head.

Thanks!

Joe Coyne

Baseball in Paradise

 

Hello! Ever since my last blog a few things have happened.  A few nights ago I ended up cutting my foot when a glass fell on it so I’ve been hobbling around a little bit.  However, it was a great opportunity for me to visit the lovely hospital in Hawaii!  Hopefully my foot will be healed up in no time and I’ll be back on the field. 

On a more positive note yesterday we got the chance to head over to Pearl Harbor, the site of one of the most famous attacks on the United States in history.  At Pearl Harbor there were about 40 of us baseball players, all between the ages of 18 and 22.  The tour guide really stressed to us the fact most of the men fighting for our country that day were our age, making it extremely difficult to fathom what these young men must have went through. 

The other catcher on my team had stayed on the base for a few weeks before the league started as part of his ROTC program and he was nice enough to give us a small tour.  In the museums there were stories from that day and interesting facts surrounding what led to the attack that day in 1941.  After walking around the museums for a while they had us watch a film on the events that led up to that day, the events that occurred on that day, and the impact that resulted from the attack.

After the film they had us take a small ferry to the site where the USS Arizona was sunk.  At the site you could see the sunken ship still under water, still leaking oil since the day it went down.  It was definitely quite the site and it really puts the events we learned in history class into perspective. 

After visiting Pearl Harbor we went to an International Marketplace set up outside of the Aloha Stadium, home of the University of Hawaii football team.  At the market place they were selling all sorts of Hawaiian items and shirts for barely any money at all.  All in all it was a day that will not be forgotten.

Here is a picture of one of the ships at Pearl Harbor…

Talk to you all next week!

-Joe Coyne

Baseball in Paradise

 

Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed your 4^th of July.  Sorry this blog is a little late, I’ve been having difficulty getting on the internet out here.  Lucky for us, our 4^th of July happened to fall on our off day, Wednesday.  We made it our goal to go to the beach all day and it just so happened that the whole Hawaiian Baseball League and the whole rest of the island decided to have the same goal.  So we left pretty much as soon as we woke up.  Little did we know it was also national float on a raft day out on Waikiki Beach.  So we immediately purchased floats when we found out.

Being rookies to national float day we thought we would be able to blow up our own floats…False…We needed help.  Luckily every store down at Waikiki came prepared with pumps for the floats.  So we had our floats, we had our spot on the beach, and we had a perfect day.  Sorry to those of you who had to deal with the rain back in New England…  We ended up staying at the beach from about noon until sundown when the fireworks started on the beach.  There were literally 100 different sets of fireworks on the beach it felt like.  No matter where you went you were bound to find some.

After the fireworks pretty much the whole island stayed on the Waikiki strip.  People were walking around with crazy American pride outfits and setting off their own fireworks on the beach.  There was never a dull moment.   All In all it was a very eventful 4^th of July and I couldn’t have asked for a better location to enjoy it in.

 

Thanks for reading!!

Joe Coyne

Baseball In Paradise

Hello!  Not too much has changed since last week.  My schedule has pretty much remained the same: Wake up, play baseball, then go to the beach all day…Trust me I’m not complaining.  The one thing out of the ordinary that I experienced however happened yesterday.  After realizing that we were way too inexperienced and way too “not from Hawaii” to surf on the treacherous North Shore beach on our day off, my roommates and I, and a couple of guys from Northwestern decided we wanted to go on a hike and then jump off a waterfall.  We debated between Manoa Falls, Alapena Falls, and Maunawili Falls and eventually decided on Maunawili..Definitely a good choice.

Unfortunately for us, even the locals do not know where Maunawili Falls is.  So trying to figure it out with the cab driver turned out to be a project.  As the cab fare went up more and more we decided to get out and walk the rest of the way..definitely a bold decision considering we had no idea where we were and niether did the locals..But after about 35 minutes of walking we stumbled upon the entrance to the Maunawili trails.

We began the hike oblivious to the fact that it absolutely poured the night before, meaning the whole hike would be in mud…also meaning that wearing our favorite shoes was definitely poor decision.  After 45 minutes of hiking we eventually made it to the waterfall, which supposedly used to be a royal Hawaiian bathing area.  At the falls there was a 50 foot cliff and a few smaller cliffs that we could jump off of.  The area we hiked through literally seemed like a scene out of Jurassic Park.  There were vines and crazy plants and trees and I’m pretty sure I saw a Pterodactyl?…But im not 100% sure…

Today we start a 4 game series against the Oahu Paddlers, I’ll talk to you guys next Thursday!

Thanks,

Joe Coyne

p.s  Aidan, Pat, and Brayden I’ll pick you guys up in a few..On my time.  Miss you guys

Baseball in Paradise

Hello, its been a little over a week since I got here and I’ve already been fortunate enough to explore a good portion of the island, become acquainted with my team, and play some baseball.  On Friday we had our first practice and then on Saturday we dove right into our first games.  We play a game every day except Wednesdays.  Wednesdays are our off days in which we are free to do whatever we want on the island.  Usually we play our games at 11am and have the rest of the day to ourselves.  We usually take this time to go to the beach.  Occasionally the NBA playoffs will be on right after our games due to the time difference and we will watch that before we head out.

So far our team has played against the Kamuela Paniolos, the Oahu Paddlers, and the Hawaii Ali’is.  We have been playing well but we keep losing  by one run late in the game.  Usually after our games we go to a beach in Honolulu right by our hotel.  However when we get the opportunity we like to get out to Waikiki Beach, which is about a 10 minute bike ride away.  We have not yet had the chance to go surfing but on our next off day we are hoping to rent some boards and surf on the north shore.

Yesterday we decided we wanted to do a little sight seeing so we ventured on over to Hanauma Bay, a preserved beach that formed long ago from a volcano eruption (Photo).  Here we saw a variety of different animals from a mongoose to roosters, and even turtles.  In order to preserve the land they have all the Hanauma Bay visitors watch a documentary on what they can and cant do at the bay.  All in all it was a very fun experience and I even learned a few things I didnt know before.   

I have to get ready for a game right now against the Paniolos.  Thanks for reading, I’ll keep you guys posted!

Thanks again,

Joe Coyne

Baseball In Paradise

Hello everyone, this is my first blog actually on the island.  I left from Logan Airport in Boston at 6 am and flew down to Atlanta where I then flew directly to Honolulu.  When I Arrived in Honolulu it was 1:30 in the afternoon, meaning it was 7:30 at night back home…also meaning I was ready for bed by 6:30, but i toughed it out.  When I arrived I was picked up along with 2 other players from the airport by Mark, the manager of the league.  The 2 other players, one from Wesleyan and one from Indiana University are my roommates now.  We were driven to a hotel called The Pagoda where we will be staying until August.

So with the next 36 hours or so to do whatever we wanted we decided to go exploring, naturally that led us to the beach.  The only time I have ever seen water this blue is in a pool.  Around 3:30 we went to get lunch at a local hotspot called “Fatboys”,  Weirdly enough, the NBA playoffs were on…and it was completely light outside…definitely a different experience.  After lunch we watched the rest of the game back at the hotel and then went out to the beach.  Due to jet lag coming from the east coast, we called it a night at about 8:30. 

The good thing about going to bed that early is that we all woke up at about 7 the next morning and had the whole day to do whatever we wanted.  We went to Walmart early and bought bikes, knowing that there is 90 day return policy.  So our job is to not destroy the bikes, or else we’re going to be out quite a bit of money… We wanted to explore more so we biked out to Waikki Beach.  For miles all you could see was the bluest water I’ve ever seen and surfers.  Speaking of surfers in Waikiki, the team I’m playing on out here is actually called the Waikiki Surfers.  My roommate from Wesleyan is on the Surfers with me.  When we arrived back at the hotel a fourth roommate was waiting in the room.  He goes to Florida Tech, and happens to be from the same area where Jarrod Saltalamacchia grew up…some of you may know that Salty happens to be my favorite player. 

After we met up with him we decided to go back down to the beach the rest of the day.  We met up with some other baseball players from some California schools when we got to the beach and some players from Georgia.  College Baseball players are not exactly diffcult to recognize out here.  So basically we’ve spent alot of time exploring, biking, and hanging out so far.  We have a baseball practice today (Thursday) in a couple of hours and then our first games are tomorrow.  I’ll let you know next week about how the start of the season goes and my first full week here!

Thanks,

Joe Coyne

 

Baseball in Paradise

My name is Joe Coyne.  I am preparing for what has the potential to be one of the best summers of my life right now.  I was given the opportunity to play in the Hawaiian Collegiate Baseball League this summer and I am currently getting ready for my trip out there.  Back in the fall, Coach Sanborn asked me if I would be interested in playing in Hawaii this summer,  I could not pass up that opportunity.  All year I’ve done my best to focus primarily on our college season at St. Joe’s and with the conclusion of that season its really hitting me that I’m actually going out to Hawaii to do one of my favorite things, play baseball.

I’ve talked to Mike Pratt, Chad Rafferty, and Sam Murray, who were fortunate enough to play out in Hawaii last year, and they have all generally told me the same thing, “it’s gonna be the time of your life”.  I dont think that it will actually hit me until I’m on the plane that I’m really going out there but I’m doing my best right now to prepare for my trip.  I’m making sure I have plenty of bathing suits, a healthy amount of sunscreen, and of course some bats.  Also, I’m getting mentally ready for a 13 hour flight.   It’s a good thing I’m not scared of flying…Oh wait, I am…but thats beside the point.  On June 12th I will fly out of Logan Airport in Boston early in the morning.  There will be one stop over in Atlanta and from there I will fly directly out to Hawaii.

Once I’m out there we will play 6 games a week for 2 months.  It should be interesting to see what we’ll do while we’re not playing baseball.  I’m looking forward to exploring the island and making new friends out there.  It’s also going to be interesting communicating with people back home considering the 6 hour time difference.  I’m beyond excited to experience all that Hawaii has to offer and can’t wait to get out there!

So thats it for this week, I’ll keep writing weekly about my experiences out there.  Thanks for reading!