Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 5, 1 May 2010 — TEXEIRA PAYS EARLY DIVIDENDS IN SEATTLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TEXEIRA PAYS EARLY DIVIDENDS IN SEATTLE

By Howard Dashefsky When the Seattle Mariners set their 25-man opening day roster on April 5, it included a taste of Hawai'i. After six years of ups and downs in the minors, Maui native and Kamehameha Schools all-star Kanekoa Texeira finally landed in "The Show." "It means a lot to make the big league opening-day roster," said Texeira from the Mariners locker room. "It's been a long road, and a dream of mine since I was a little kid. So now that I'm here it's time to do whatever I ean to stay here and make Hawai'i proud." Texeira's former eoaeh at the Kapālama campus, Vern Ramie, is one of the many who shares that sense of pride. "He always had a great work ethic and was always a good person," said Ramie. "There's a lot of guys with the talent to make it, but it takes something special. You need some breaks along the way, but he always made the best of his situation and worked hard. He deserves to be there."

A cousin of Philadelphia

Shane Victo-

Phillies all-star l rino, Kanekoa I wound up

in Seattle as a Rule 5 draft selection from the New York Yankees. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor league teams, when other teams would be willing to give them a shot at playing in the majors. So Seattle took a ehanee. And because the Yankees left Texeira unprotected, he was available for a mere $50,000, pocket change by Major League Baseball standards. "I'U work as hard as I ean," said Texeira. "Obviously we all work hard at this level. For me I don't want to get sent down to the minors or get sent back to New York especially with the Rule 5 draft. I just need to do what I've done my entire career and focus on all the things that got me here. If I do that I'll be OK." As a Rule 5 draftee, Texeira is also the closest thing to a no-lose proposition for Seattle. If he doesn't work out, the Mariners ean not only ship him back to New York, they ean recoup half of their $50,000 investment. But that's the business side of baseball. Something the big right-hander simply can't waste his time thinking about. "For me it's just a matter of working hard and staying focused," said Texeira. "If I do that, I should keep myself here in the big leagues, and keep Hawai'i in the limelight." According to his former eoaeh, Texeira also has a following in Seattle, and is an early season favorite among autograph seekers. Ramie says it doesn't surprise him one bit. "He always wanted to play pro ball and he was always personable and the type of guy to stay close to his roots," said Ramie. "It's always great to see someone from Hawai'i make it into the big leagues. But to have somebody representing the Hawaiian community, that's really special." ■ Howard Dashefsky is a contributing writer for Ka Wai Ola. A 25-year veteran in broadcastnews, he teaches journaīism at the University of Hawai'i-Mānoa and produces showsfor OC 16.

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