"It's pretty valuable to come back to the Island and play in front of home friends," said Texeira, a right-handed pitcher. "Without (Takaki), I wouldn't be able to play summer ball. The Cape Cod League is only Division I, and I play in junior college."

Long regarded as a wise businessman and sports philanthropist, Takaki — honored by the Aloha Bowl in 1988 as Sportsman of the Year — has shaped Hawai'i's athletic landscape and continues to be one of the state's most generous sports contributors, while keeping his aura as a progressive thinker, according to friends.

For the past decade, Takaki has been a key sponsor for the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association, donating in excess of $100,000 to the state track and field championships, and has also contributed to the fund-raising golf tournament of the HHSAA, the Division II state football playoffs and the recent HHSAA Foundation fund-raising dinner.

"Don is a very special person because he's so generous to so many causes, yet he's very low key about it, and in fact shuns the publicity most of the time," HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya said. "Without the support of Don and our other major sponsors, there's no way that the HHSAA would be able to nearly double the amount of state championships we've put on in the last seven years. We've gone from 20 state championships to 36 in the last seven years."

Takaki said he's working with Amemiya with the idea of Hawai'i hosting an international high school track meet with guest teams from Japan and Korea.

"That's one of the projects I'm looking at," said Takaki, who operates Island Movers Inc., a trucking, moving and storage company. "Some people will say, Japan guys can't (compete), but a few years ago, they had a high school guy, and he was high jumping 7-6."

For now, Takaki is focused on the Hawai'i Island Movers, a team that formed in 1985 to develop players during the summer for the University of Hawai'i baseball team.

The Movers' season spans three months and ends Aug. 7. The season features 33 games, including a 15-game, 21-day trip to Japan with games against university and regional all-star teams. Players pay just $750 for the experience.

"I think it's a good opportunity to play during the summer or else we wouldn't have any where else to play," said Movers player Shaun Kiriu, a 2004 Punahou graduate who plays shortstop for the University of Puget Sound in Washington. "I went to Japan last year. The competition is pretty good."

The Movers originally competed in the Alaska Summer Baseball League before opting out and becoming an independent.

Entering the 1992 season, the NCAA limited the number of players a school could place on a summer league team (a school was allowed no more than four players on the same summer league team), and also prevented the "home team" coach from coaching that summer league entry. The ruling was meant to provide more parity among powerhouse teams. As a result, UH players were placed on other summer league teams, and the Movers no longer had the lion's share of UH players.

The ruling could have made it easy for Takaki to fold the Movers, but he said he didn't want to quit a program that provided opportunities for players.

"It's hard for me to quit," said Takaki, who is from Pa'ia, Maui, and graduated from Maui High in 1959 and the University of Hawai'i. "Every time, teams would say, 'We've enjoyed this wonderful relationship and our quality of play has become much better because of the exposure to your team and experiences you allow us in tournaments.' It's hard for me to say, 'this has all been wonderful, but I quit.' So this thing keeps going and going."

Those close to Takaki, such as Les Murakami Stadium manager Glenn Nakaya, said Takaki has never been one to throw in the towel.

"Knowing him personally, once he starts something, he hates to see it end," Nakaya said. "Especially if there's no reason to stop it. He can't find a reason to stop (the Hawai'i Island Movers), so he keeps it going."

Nakaya said Takaki enjoys building international relations, and encourages his players and coaches to talk about other topics besides baseball when they are in foreign company.

In conversations, Takaki — who is currently in his second term as chairman of the board of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and recently was appointed to the board of Parks and Recreation by Mayor Mufi Hannemann — can speak with authority on a variety of subjects ranging from music and international subjects, to the running style of Seattle Mariners' star right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.

"He's a pretty interesting and complex guy," Nakaya said.

In addition to baseball, Takaki wants his players to become well-rounded and respectful citizens, and instructs his players to learn the culture and language of the countries they visit.

"His thing is trying to take the team, and educate the young men so it helps them prepare for life," Movers coach Rich Olsen said. "That's his main goal — educating — not only from the baseball standpoint but in life."

In turn, Takaki uses the international trips as a valuable networking tool, an avenue to strengthen relations between the countries, and a way to promote Hawai'i.

"Even if you're going to be a major league player, you need to have more dimension in your life, you need to know a little more about cultures, language, how to assimilate, how to work with different people, not just from the U.S. but from all over the world," Takaki said. "This is a global community in sports, education and business."