The locals don't care to hear your talk of baseball, friend. Here in Kauai, we are still coming to grips with the local nine's 2-1 loss to Kaiser in the state baseball tournament. (Punahou goes for its fourth consecutive title tonight in the finals against Pearl City, for those of you following along back on the mainland.)

Regrettably, the state tournament is taking place over on Oahu, so I've been unable to fulfill my dream of watching an honest-to-goodness baseball game while in Hawaii. I did, however, come across what I can only assume is the baseball field where the high school team plays when my wife and I went to the farmers' market in the Vidinha Stadium parking lot to load up on papaya and mango. Vidinha Stadium hosts football, track, and soccer, but right next door, there's a very nice baseball field -- 330 down the lines, 400 to straightaway center, 365 to the power alley in left, 385 to the power alley in right. (Left-handed power-hitting free agents -- do not sign with Kauai!) Just beyond the outfield fence, you get a scenic view of the mountains behind Lihue -- not unlike the view of the Oakland hills you used to get at the Coliseum before Mt. Davis came along. No, I did not bring my camera to take a picture. Yes, I am a dummy.

Meanwhile, back on the mainland, the A's beat Cleveland 8-2 on homers by Bobby Crosby and Jack Cust and another strong outing by Joe Blanton. I listened to the game on MLB Gameday while I was cooking dinner for my wife and her assorted relatives. I have decided that the $15 outlay for getting audio of baseball games, even when I'm halfway across the Pacific, may be my wisest purchase ever. That includes my house, my college tuition and any money spent on medicines I need to live.

I am pretty sure that the fact the A's have started hitting the ball well the moment I landed in Kauai is unrelated to my presence on the island. But I'm willing to spend more time on the beach in the name of research.