When Hawai'i Winter Baseball returns Sunday after a nine-year hiatus, it will be deja vu for Kala and Rose Ka'aihue of Kailua.

In 1993, the Ka'aihues watched their sons, Kila and Kala, take the field with the Honolulu Sharks, one of the teams in the league. The boys were members of a youth team that was being honored for winning a World Series. Since then, the boys have grown. And improved. Now, the Ka'aihues will get to see Kala take the field as a Shark.

"The two boys went out to their positions with the players," recalled the elder Ka'aihue, who also played professionally with the Hawaii Islanders, a minor-league team that operated here from 1961 to 1987. "And now Kala's doing it for real. He's one of the players, so it's kind of neat."

Kala and Kila will be two of more than 110 minor-league professionals assigned from Major League Baseball franchises and Japan to play in the league, which features four teams playing games at Les Murakami Stadium and Hans L'Orange Park. The players have been identified as those with potential to make the major leagues in a few years.

Unfortunately, Kila, a 2002 'Iolani graduate assigned to the West O'ahu CaneFires, might not be able to play because he injured his leg while playing for the Kansas City Royals' Double-A team, his father said. But Kala, who played for Single-A teams in the Atlanta Braves' system, is expected to go.

"I've never played winter league baseball so I'm definitely looking forward to it," said Kala, a 2003 graduate of 'Iolani who just finished his second pro season.

KNOWING THE GAME

League chairman and chief executive officer Duane Kurisu is looking for a smoother tenure this time around.

"The cost structures are different," he said. "We have a lot of more experience in doing things. And we have a lot more cooperation from Japan and Major League Baseball. A lot of front office (personnel) and people from the commissioner's office are here in town. They never used to do that before but they're all here because they're really interested in making this thing work."

But the biggest difference this time is that Major League Baseball will be paying the salaries of players. Previously, HWB paid the salaries, and that was one of the reasons HWB, which started in 1993, stopped on-field operations after 1997.

This season, 21 of North America's 30 big-league clubs provided players, while 10 of Japan's 12 big-league teams contributed players.

40-GAME SEASON

The players will fill rosters of four teams: The Honolulu Sharks, Waikiki BeachBoys, West O'ahu CaneFires and the North Shore Honu. Each team will play 40 games with the season concluding Nov. 22.

Although some were high draft picks or college All-Americans, they are not as well-known as their counterparts from football and basketball, sports in which players can become instant stars.

But the HWB player need not look far for motivation. Some of today's big-league stars sharpened their skills in HWB. Among them were Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Jojima of the Seattle Mariners, Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies and Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees. Jorge Fabregas, now retired, was the first HWB alumnus to reach the bigs, playing for the Sharks in 1993 and making his debut with the California Angels in 1994.

Kala is a prototypical HWB player. He split his summer between Rome (Ga.) and Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Single-A clubs of the Braves. He hit 28 home runs between the two clubs before a hand injury ended his season.

"I want to get more at-bats before I go to spring training," he said. "There will be a lot of good players (in HWB), so the experience will be good."

That's exactly what the parent teams want.

"Players get better with innings pitched and at-bats, so these games are very valuable to us any time you can get them in a situation where they're playing against good competition," said Bill Geivett, assistant general manager of the Colorado Rockies, who is among the front office personnel in town. "We feel when they're playing against the best of their group, hopefully, the best ones will show up and play well, and gain a lot more valuable experience."

ALL BASED ON O'AHU

There are several changes from the original HWB. All of the teams are based on O'ahu. Previously, there were teams on Kaua'i (1993 and 1994), Maui and the Big Island. Kurisu said part of the agreement with Major League Baseball was to keep all the players on one island for at least two years so it would be easier for teams' player development officials to monitor their players. Also, Kurisu cited logistical issues, such as paying for interisland flights. (This issue was decided before the current airfare war began).

When HWB ended in 1997, similar leagues were started in California and Virginia, but both lasted only one year. While there is the Arizona Fall League for Double A and Triple A prospects, there is nothing for the lower-level minor leaguers. Geivett said based on conversations with scouts, he said HWB might "have better talent in terms of potential" than the Arizona league. The difference, he said, is that Arizona players have more professional experience than those in HWB.

"For all of us in Major League Baseball, we're all very fortunate to have the Kurisu family be involved in wanting to bring professional baseball to the Islands," Geivett said. "It puts our players in a situation to develop their skills that normally wouldn't have been there."

Of course, scouts and front office personnel find it a bonus to have the league here.

"Who would want to be anywhere else?" Geivett said. "For a lot of us, there's great fondness for the Islands. ... We think it's great place for the players to come, to be away from home, concentrate on baseball, and, at the same time, be in one of the most beautiful places in the world."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.