WAIPAHU — Hawaii Winter Baseball made such an impact on Michael Barrett, he had to do something about it.

The Chicago Cubs catcher said he enjoyed and learned so much during his stints in the league during 1996 with the Honolulu Sharks and 1997 with the West Oahu CaneFires, he returned the favor to the Kurisu family — league chairman Duane and HWB president Hervy — by conducting a free baseball clinic for youths over the weekend at Hans L'Orange Park. More than 150 attended the two-day event.

"It's something I've always wanted to do," said Barrett, who was assigned to HWB when he was in the Montreal Expos organization.

Actually, Barrett said he helped with a camp about five years ago with Cal Ripken and Hideo Nomo. When he learned that the Kurisus were going to start up the league again, he offered to do the clinic.

Barrett said his experience in HWB helped him on and off the field. And although there were distractions of being in paradise, watching how the Japanese players separate work and play helped in his own work ethic.

"You come here as an American player, you come to this beautiful state of Hawai'i and there's so much to do, fun things, surfing, going to the beach," Barrett said. "But you still have a job to do when you come to the field. It was nice to play with a lot of great Japanese players ... To come to the field and watch those guys and how they go about their business and how they work, (you discover) they're extremely dedicated to working and practicing. So off the field, you go and have fun, but when you come to the field, you get your work in."

One of his teammates with the CaneFires in 1997 was Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who then belonged to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. When Iguchi joined the American League club in 2005, they crossed paths.

"He remembered me from Hawai'i," Barrett said. "I knew of all the guys that I played with, he would be the one guy who would make it over (to the U.S. major leagues) soon. He had such a great personality and a great relationship with the American players. Out of all the guys that came off of that team, I knew he'd make it for sure."

Off the field, Barrett took in as much as he could. With HWB teams on the Neighbor Islands then, he took advantage of visiting popular tourist sites. He said he bicycled down Haleakala when his team played the Maui Stingrays and viewed the lava flow on the Big Island when he played against the Hilo Stars. He also surfed and got into deep-sea fishing.

But mostly, Barrett enjoyed meeting people. He liked making appearances at schools to talk with students. All the while, he was being accepted. He said people here were as hospitable as they were from his home state of Georgia.

"I know that this sounds kind of crazy, but the locals really embraced me," he said. "Once I got to know the people here, even though Hawai'i and Georgia are two opposite places on the United States map, I felt everybody here was down to earth, just like the people back home where I come from. Once you get to know the locals on the Island, it's like a real close-knit group of friends and families. I got to meet so many great people. It reminded me of home. They just embraced me and took me in."

As for future clinics, Barrett said he is unsure. He has one child and is planning on another, so travel during the offseason would make it difficult.

"I wish it could be (more often)," he said of future clinics. "But we'll see."

Meanwhile, the Cubs recently hired Lou Piniella as their new manager to succeed Dusty Baker, who also has ties to HWB when he put on clinics with his staff as manager of the San Francisco Giants.

"It's going to be a transition for me," Barrett said. "I loved playing for Dusty. He's a good friend of mine and I hate to see him go. I really enjoy playing for this organization and this organization feels like it's time to move forward, move on to another manager. As a player of that organization, you have to respect the front office and what they're trying to do. I'm excited to play for another legendary manager. Dusty's a great manager; he's a (potential) Hall of Fame manager and I'm getting a chance to play for another potential Hall of Fame manager."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.