Letters for Tuesday, January 13, 2009

• Stop AJA baseball discrimination

• Visitors need greeters’ smiles, not just signs

• Respect for Jimmy Pflueger validated

Stop AJA baseball discrimination

I salute and compliment Tom Shigemoto and all the other Kaua‘i officers, coaches and players for their hard work and efforts at keeping Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball alive and well (“Kaua‘i AJA celebrates 80 years of baseball,” Sports, Dec. 30).

However, as I said over 10 years ago, wouldn’t it be great if AJA baseball elevated itself to a much higher level and let any player with the ability to compete in this league participate?

Yes, I heard all the arguments about the Japanese keeping baseball going on Kaua‘i and the “others” stopped participating. Again, a huge mahalo to the AJA people for doing this.

But whether is it a “cultural” or “traditional” reason for perpetrating this type of organization, in my opinion it is discriminatory to keep any kid from playing baseball if he has the ability. Baseball is about the player and not his color or race!

I have played and coached baseball all my life and there is no other sport like it. It was once America’s favorite sports pastime but it has escalated to the international level and is now played all over the world.

I had the pleasure of playing on a Canadian team, a Cuban team, a Venezuelan team and a Japanese team. Outside of the Canadian team (Montreal), all the other clubs restricted the number of foreign players on their teams, but none of them kept players without local blood from playing in their leagues.

Look at our big league teams today — Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, Dominicans, Australians, Japanese, Koreans and many others all teammates and playing as a family unit.

I have been part of youth league and KIF baseball since coming to Kaua‘i 20 years ago and love every minute of it. If any player had the ability, I did all I could to help him get to the next level — junior college, four-year college or pro baseball.

His ability, attitude, desire and scholastic aptitude were my only reasons for helping him further his dreams if baseball were his dream, never his color, ethnicity or race.

Such outstanding Kaua‘i baseball players as John Ruiz, Tyler and Kirby Yates, Bradford Vidinha, Kaleo Lopez and many others were never allowed to play AJA baseball and, for me, that hurt the player and it hurt the AJA League because it kept some of the stronger athletes from competing and making the competition better.

I personally know of players with no Japanese blood who have played and are playing AJA baseball.

So, again, I ask that those who run this fine organization open participation to all those who have the ability to compete.

• Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a

Visitors need greeters’ smiles, not just signs

The comments made by Mr. Bob Crowell and Mr. Mike Formby about the greeters at the ships are not true (“Aloha also means goodbye: Greeters barred from Nawiliwili,” The Garden Island, Jan. 2).

They said the greeters yell, shout and hustle at the pier. If you ask any of our greeters if we do that, they will say “no.”

What greeters do at the pier is answer visitors’ questions, direct them where they want to go and put them on our shuttles. We answer these questions because we just cannot ignore them. We show them Kaua‘i’s aloha spirit.

Our friendly smiles make them feel comfortable. We even have our pictures taken with them so they can show their family and friends our aloha spirit.

We accommodate the passengers with wheelchairs and the other handicapped passengers. I always put them on my shuttles first.

Many passengers say to us that if we weren’t there, they wouldn’t know what to do. Our island is the only island that shows the aloha spirit when they disembark off the ship.

Now that has been taken away by Mr. Formby and Mr. Crowell.

Mr. Crowell and Mr. Formby, you still have greeters down at the ship with Polynesian Adventure Tours. Why can’t their drivers come out and get their people like our shuttles do? It’s the same thing that we do down there. What’s good for one group should be good for everybody.

Is this favoritism? You can’t say they go in now as dispatchers because they still are doing the same thing. The only thing different is they are paying passengers when we are free. They have signs on their buses so the passengers know where to go, so they don’t need greeters then.

No matter what you say, Mr. Crowell and Mr. Formby, the aloha spirit will still be with us greeters because we are from this beautiful island of Kaua‘i and it was instilled in us by our ‘ohana. The only sad part about this is it isn’t shown anymore down at the pier as passengers disembark from the ship because you both have stopped it.

No more friendly smiles, leis of aloha, and the courtesy we show to the passengers of the ships that come in.

It’s like everything else that was taken from us — the ceded lands, the overthrow of our queen, and now you want the aloha spirit to be gone.

Shame on you both, Mr. Crowell and Mr. Formby, you want passengers to use signs instead of smiles and friendly people to help them.

• Paulette Rosa

• Heather Marugame, Lihu‘e

Respect for Jimmy Pflueger validated

My friendship with Jimmy Pflueger exceeds 50 years. The Hawaiian word keiki o ka ‘aina comes to mind when I think of Jimmy.

From canoe paddling with Duke Kahanamoku, to surfing, surfboard racing, and body surfing, this man met the test of time.

In addition, his impeccable reputation enabled him to build a successful business employing (over the years) thousands of people, some of whom are friends and neighbors.

My respect for him was once again validated when he took responsibility for moving the dirt that created the mud slide at Pila‘a.

Now it is alleged that he filled the overgrown and invisible spillway at Ka Loko Dam.

The Jimmy I know for all of these years would step up if he had any involvement with that spillway.

Let’s hope the public recognizes his character and achievements that benefited many and not allow him to be the scapegoat.

• George Downing, Honolulu