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Golden Baseball League Expands to Hawaii

September 30, 2009 - Golden Baseball League (GBL) News Release


(San Ramon, CA. September 30, 2009) The Golden Baseball League (GBL) announced today that an agreement has been reached with XnE, Inc to bring professional baseball back to the Hawaiian Islands with an initial team on the Island of Maui to play as a member of the GBL at the War Memorial complex in Wailuki, Maui for the 2010 season. Hawaii has a rich history of professional baseball from the earliest years of the sport, to the AAA Pacific Coast League and the Hawaiian Winter League but has been without pro baseball for the last two years.

"We're very excited to add Maui as a member of the GBL for this coming season," said David Kaval, CEO of the Golden Baseball League. "Hawaii has a fine tradition of baseball, and Maui is a wonderful location with a passionate fan base, strong support from the businesses and community officials, and an excellent tourism industry that draws lots of baseball fans from all over the world. We are thrilled to have XnE and their local partners as part of the league and look forward to a successfull franchise in Hawaii.

The GBL has concluded a Territory Operating Rights agreement with XnE, Inc. that includes the ability for four teams to be added in the state of Hawaii. The initial team will be based on Maui and has been approved for league play this coming season by the GBL. XnE has signed the lease for the stadium and is finishing the approval process with the city council. Team name and manager will be announced in the near future, the full schedule for the team will be announced when the 2010 GBL Championship Season Schedule in released in early December.

The Maui team will be part of an at least 10-team Golden League in 2010 that will include an 88 - 96 game schedule running from late May to early September. Maui will host at least 44 home games and the home schedule will include teams from Canada, California, Arizona, and Utah. Additional teams will be announced over the coming months as the GBL will be undertaking more expansion prior to the start of the 2010 season. The 2010 GBL will be comprised of a North and South Division with at least four teams qualifying for the playoffs.

XnE, Inc. Chief Operating Officer, Rick Berry, stated, "We have been developing a plan to bring pro baseball to Hawaii for over a year now. I am thrilled to be able to launch our initial team on the island that was our top choice. Maui is an ideal location for us with strong partnerships in place or possible with the City, County, local investor/owners, businesses, the media, and the fans. We will be opening our offices in the coming weeks, hiring locally, rolling out fundraising partnerships with the schools to name the team and mascot, joining the local business organizations, and launching a non-profit to help provide resources to local charities. Plus we will be builiding a first class pro baseball club with a major league experienced manager stocked with professionals with a high level of experience including the best available players from Hawaii."

Along with high-caliber players, many of whom are very recognizable as over 80 ex-major league players have played in the GBL in the past three seasons (including Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco and other major league all-stars such as Jose Lima, Junior Spivey, Felix Jose, Robert Fick, and Hawaiian Jerome Williams), Maui fans will also enjoy the presence of the GBL managers and coaching staffs of which many had impressive major league careers. Long Beach Armada Manager Garry Templeton is a 3-time NL All-Star shortstop, Orange County Flyers Manager Phil Nevin just finished a 12-year MLB career including All-Star and MVP voting seasons, Yuma Scorpions Manager Mike Marshall is a National League All-Star and 1988 World Series Champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Victoria Seals Manager Darrell Evans is a two-time All-Star and 1985 American League home run champion, and St. George Roadrunners Manager Cory Snyder was a star of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and slugging sensation in the American League.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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