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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION
  RECOGNIZING AND CONGRATULATING LES MURAKAMI ON HIS INDUCTION
    INTO THE AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION'S HALL OF
    FAME.



 1        WHEREAS, Coach Les Murakami, long time player and coach of
 2   the Americans of Japanese Ancestry Baseball League and a
 3   protege of baseball legend Francis Funai, began his career as
 4   Head Coach of the University of Hawaii Baseball Rainbows in
 5   earnest in 1971; and
 6   
 7        WHEREAS, little did he know that his original one-year
 8   contract with the University would span three decades and
 9   accumulate 14 seasons with 40 or more wins, including six 50-
10   and two 60-win seasons; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, under Coach Murakami's leadership, the Rainbows
13   captured six Western Athletic Conference championships in 1980,
14   1984, 1987, 1991, and 1992; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the Coach mentions with pride that, "the number
17   one highlight of my career has been the building of Rainbow
18   Stadium in 1984" which was instrumental in attracting an
19   average of 134,808 fans annually, including 223 sellouts and
20   its two millionth fan in 1998; and
21   
22        WHEREAS, the Coach has also been named the Hawaii
23   Sportsman-of-the-Year in both 1977 and 1980, the recipient of
24   the Lefty Gomez Award for his contributions to amateur
25   baseball, the National Collegiate Athletic Association's
26   District Coach of the Year in 1986 and Western Athletic
27   Conference Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1991; and
28   
29        WHEREAS, under Coach Murakami's tutelage, 67 Rainbows were
30   drafted by major league teams including Richard Olsen, Jon
31   Hansen, Scott Roberts, Collin Tanabe, Derek Tatsuno, Bryan
32   Duquette, Glenn Braggs, Joey Meyer, Mike Campbell, Todd Crosby,
33   Paul Brown, Levon Largusa, Mark Johnson, and Darren Blakely,
34   all selected within the first five rounds; and
35   
36        WHEREAS, in January 2000, Coach Murakami was recognized by
37   his peers and inducted into the prestigious American Baseball
38   Coaches Association's Hall of Fame; and
39   

 
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 1        WHEREAS, in his typical humble fashion, the Coach chose to
 2   down play his accomplishment and instead emphasized, "the best
 3   part of this job, to me, is when the first pitch is thrown all
 4   the way until the final out is recorded"; now, therefore,
 5   
 6          BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 7   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 8   of 2000, that this body congratulates Coach Les Murakami on his
 9   induction into the American Baseball Coaches Association's Hall
10   of Fame and recognizes his many contributions to the University
11   of Hawaii's Baseball Program, his lifelong commitment to the
12   game of amateur baseball and the inspiration he has provided to
13   Hawaii's youth and organized sports.
14   
15 
16 
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18                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________