By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

When University of Hawai'i baseball was in its heyday in the 1980s, its championships were often won by teams stocked with players coach Les Murakami proudly referred to as "my midgets."

Some of UH's best teams came complete with a 5-foot-5 hitter in a power slot in the batting order or a 5-7 double play combination up the middle. At the College World Series in 1980, the Rainbows gave up as much as six inches to Miami and Florida State at some positions — and beat both teams.

Even through the 1990s, while the rest of college baseball was evolving into a power game, UH often found itself staring up at significantly bigger, stronger Western Athletic Conference and non-conference opponents.

In a game defined by aluminum bats and pinball-like scores, the Rainbows have found out the hard way that there is a limit to what even a premium on scrappiness and fundamentals alone can do against bigger, stronger foes. Lessons were learned against physically imposing Rice, Fresno State, San Jose State and Pac-10 teams that have mandated overdue change at UH.

The team the Rainbows put on the field tonight in the season opener against UCLA at Murakami Stadium mirrors a dramatic and ongoing change in philosophy and construction.

While the Rainbows still won't dwarf many of the teams they play this season — Robo 'Bows aren't built in a day — the plan is for them to at least field a team capable of reaching the warning track regularly. Certainly no mean task last year when UH was out-homered, 49-18.

The hope is that a team that ranked last in the WAC in nearly every batting category last season can flex enough muscle to turn around the 16-40 struggles of the worst season in school history.

You see glimpses of this change reflected in the 20 new faces coach Mike Trapasso brought in, most of them apparently delivered at the bulk rate. You see it in the attention to weight training.

"This should be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, strongest, Rainbows' team we've seen," said KKEA's Don Robbs, who has been doing the radio play-by-play of UH baseball for a quarter-century.

One look at tomorrow's scheduled starting pitcher, 6-8 junior Colby Summer, on the mound should suggest that, size-wise at least, these aren't your dad's Rainbows. With five pitchers 6-3, or better, these aren't your older brother's 'Bows, either.

Of course, standing tall on weigh-in day is one thing. Doing it in the heat of a pennant race and the standings can be another. If size and might were everything, Haim Shimonovich would be wearing a glove in his free time and the Rainbows would be begging the defensive line to pick up Louisville Sluggers.

As the season opens, it will be a more imposing-looking Rainbow team that takes the field. What remains to be seen is how much better the bottom line will look as a result.