Murakami named to UH's Circle of Honor

Advertiser Staff

It is turning out to be quite a week for former University of Hawai'i baseball coach Les Murakami.

Today he was named to the school's Circle of Honor, only the second time in the 20-year existence of the shrine that a yearly class has consisted of a single individual.

This follows the naming of the former Rainbow Stadium "Les Murakami Stadium" Wednesday night.

Murakami and his family were on hand today at the sponsoring Bank of Hawai'i main branch where the announcement of his Circle of Honor induction was made.

For 30 years Murakami was the only full-time baseball coach in the Division I history of the school, his reign cut short by a severe stroke suffered in November of 2000.

Along the way, through hard work, the ability to bring people together and an enduring vision of what the program could be, Murakami took the Rainbows from a hand-me-down club program in 1971 to the championship game of the College World Series in 1980.

Under Murakami, the Rainbows become the most decorated men's sport at UH, winning six Western Athletic Conference titles and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.

In his American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame career, Murakami went 1,079-570-4. He was named the Hawai'i Sportsman of the Year in 1977 and '80. In 1981, Murakami received the Lefty Gomez Award, which recognizes the outstanding contributor to amateur baseball nationally.