Hawaii Winter Baseball — the league that featured several rising professional players — is planning a comeback in October after an eight-year absence.

The league will feature four teams — all on O'ahu — including the Honolulu Sharks and West Oahu CaneFires from the original league. Each team will play 40 games in October and November.

"We're back with strong sponsorship and a lot of excitement," said league spokesman Dave Rolf.

Rolf said the league will receive sponsorship support from Japan, which will send players for the league, and also is working with Major League Baseball. Players also would come from South Korea and Taiwan.

More details of the league are scheduled to be announced May 31, including players, the names of the other two teams and schedules.

Hawaii Winter Baseball owner Duane Kurisu is part-owner of the San Francisco Giants. Kurisu, a commercial real estate developer, also owns several publications and radio station KKEA. His brother, Hervy, is the league president.

According to the Hawaii Winter Baseball site, more than 70 former players have played in the major leagues and more than 150 have played in professional leagues in Asia.

Former Hawai'i Winter Baseball players include Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees and Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies.

Former New York Met Benny Agbayani also played in the league. Agbayani, a Saint Louis School and HPU alum, won the Japan League championship with the Chiba Lotte Marines last year.

"There's an enormous legacy of players who have now made it into the show," Rolf said. "It just shows how Hawai'i has helped form the stage for a lot of the world's leagues.

"The (Hawai'i) league meant a lot to (the players) as they have said later."

A disagreement between Major League Baseball and Hawaii Winter Baseball over expenses forced the Islands' only professional baseball league to shut down in 1998.

Hawaii Winter Baseball said at the time it was the only minor league in the United States that had to pay salaries and baseball expenses.

Hawaii Winter Baseball had four teams — the Honolulu Sharks, Maui Stingrays, Hilo Stars and West Oahu CaneFires — with players from pro baseball's single- and double-A classifications as well as Japan league prospects. The season ran from October to December.

League attendance grew from a total of 53,383 in its first year in 1993 to 136,270 in 1997. The Stingrays led the league in attendance.

Since the league shut down, HWB has remained active, putting on baseball clinics — including a camp with Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker — in Hawai'i.