An injury from a pick-up football game forced Derek Tatsuno to miss baseball's postseason his sophomore year at 'Aiea High School. It might have been the turning point of what turned into a brilliant career at the University of Hawai'i.

The school's most decorated player is among six players, five coaches and four pre-1947 era players who make up the second induction class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas. Three days of festivities start tomorrow.

"He was the best pitcher I ever had," said former UH coach Les Murakami, himself inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2000.

Tatsuno still holds NCAA Division I records he set in 1979 for most strikeouts in a season (234) and most wins (20, since tied by Florida State's Mike Loynd in 1986). He still owns six UH career marks. He led the nation in strikeouts in each of his three seasons, was named All-America twice and was picked for Team USA twice. Validating his greatness was when Baseball America newspaper picked him as part of its All-Century Team in 1999 and when he was named one of three Players of the Century by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

But who knows what might have been had he not suffered three hairline fractures of his ankle "horsing around before (baseball) practice" his sophomore year at 'Aiea.

"That's when the light went on in my head," Tatsuno said. "I knew I had no future in football. My future was in baseball."

Everyone knows what Tatsuno did on the diamond. He went 27-1 in his four seasons in baseball at 'Aiea. His only loss came his senior year — after 26 consecutive winning decisions — in the 1976 O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship in a 1-0 loss to McKinley in 11 innings. He won five state tournament games over three years; remember, he missed the 1974 tournament because of the injury.

GRIDIRON GREAT?

What isn't widely known was his prowess on the gridiron.

He played JV football at 'Aiea his freshman year. After a strong showing in baseball as a freshman — he beat Punahou in relief for the championship in 1973 — it seems he drew attention of the private schools.

"Punahou had offered me to go there after beating them my freshman year," Tatsuno said. "I tried going there, but didn't get in. Damien had mentioned I could go there without taking the test, so I wanted to go there and I went there."

Enrolled for the fall semester at Damien, Tatsuno played JV football. He never left the field, as he played cornerback, defensive end and wide receiver, as well as returner and kicker/punter on the special teams. When the JV season ended, he was promoted to varsity. He booted five PATs in a late-season game against HUMMERS (which became Pac-Five the next season).

"He would've been a great one, but baseball was his game," recalled Don Botelho, who coached Damien football that season. "He was a versatile athlete. He could play a lot of skill positions."

But Tatsuno returned to 'Aiea after the first semester.

"I didn't like it there, so I went back," he said.

Baseball coach George Anzai was obviously happy to have the left-hander back. Tatsuno went 6-0 with 0.19 ERA before the injury. What also sealed his decision to drop football was when he heard the football coaches were thinking of converting him to quarterback.

"I didn't like that," he said.

Ironically, as great a prep career he had in baseball, not many colleges called. Tatsuno said Oregon State offered a partial scholarship. Arizona's Jerry Kindall — one of the coaches who will be inducted with Tatsuno — wanted him to attend Pima JC, which is in Tucson, where UA is located.

"He did mention that he did see me pitch in the state tournament," Tatsuno said of Kindall.

But there was Hawai'i. Tatsuno also liked the schedule of teams the Rainbows were going to be playing.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It didn't take Tatsuno long to adjust to college ball. He won his first start, going the distance in a scheduled seven-inning game in a 7-5 win against Vanderbilt, which started future big leaguer Scott Sanderson. He tossed a nine-inning shutout, 4-0, against Brigham Young in his second start. By his fourth start, he threw a one-hitter in a 13-0 win against Gonzaga.

"After the first or second series that he pitched (as a freshman), I knew I had something special," Murakami said.

Tatsuno continued to impress with a 3-0 win against Arizona State and 3-2 and 8-7 wins against Southern California, both nationally ranked opponents. In the 8-7 win, Tatsuno pitched all 14 innings of that game, striking out 14.

"There weren't very many games he came out," former batterymate Ron Nomura said of Tatsuno's endurance. "It takes a special breed."

Tatsuno completed 11 of his 14 starts as a freshman. He went 11-2 with a 2.87 ERA. He even had a save.

There was no sophomore jinx, as he went 9-3 with 12 complete games from 13 starts with a 1.46 ERA. He had a career-high 20 strikeouts against Oregon. But the Rainbows (38-14-1), then an independent, failed to get a regional bid.

Ironically, that set the stage for Tatsuno to become Division I's first 20-game winner the next season. Upset at the snub, Murakami vowed his team would not be overlooked in 1979. He scheduled 82 games.

"I didn't even think about 20 wins," Murakami said. "I was just burned up at the NCAA because ... they didn't pick us for a regional. From what I can gather, the magic number was 41 wins. So I was going to make sure we were going to reach the 41 wins and that's why I scheduled 85 games (for 1979). That '78 team, I felt, was one of the best teams I ever had and we didn't go anywhere."

Tatsuno won his first 17 consecutive decisions — 20 in a row counting the end of the previous season — before losing 12-4 at Cal State Fullerton. He was 19-1 after 21 starts by the end of the regular season that saw UH go 67-13. The Rainbows did get their regional berth at Arizona. Tatsuno beat Indiana State, 4-3. Freshman Howard Dashefsky homered in the top of the eighth to snap a 3-all game.

"He always throws credit back to me," Dashefsky said of Tatsuno. "I'm just the dumb-luck kid who happened to hit the home run at the right time."

THE LEGACY

When it was over, Tatsuno posted a 40-6 career record with a 2.04 ERA, 541 strikeouts, 34 complete games and 10 shutouts.

"Catching for Derek? That was a one-of-a-kind experience," Nomura said. "He's got all the pitches. He's got composure. He's got the 90-mile-per-hour fastball. He has a curveball that breaks off the table. The mental part of the game, he was in total command."

But he did more than win games for the Rainbows. Fans came out in droves to the old Rainbow Stadium, which was made of aluminum bleachers that seated a modest 2,500.

"People were standing in line to buy tickets from 12 o'clock until the game started (usually about 5 p.m.) and (the lines) went out the side gate," Murakami said. "It was fantastic. It was just like a pied piper."

With Nomura entrenched as the starting catcher, Dashefsky, recruited as a catcher, was relegated to DH his freshman year. But he got to warm up Tatsuno before games. That turned out to be an event in itself. Back then, UH's bullpen was where the batting cage is now and it was pretty open for spectators.

"There used to be, 50, 60, 70 people just crowding around," Dashefsky said. "It was unbelievable, just the interest in watching him warm up."

Those bullpen sessions gave Dashefsky a glimpse at greatness.

"At first, it's just getting the arm loose and once he's warmed up, he'd kind of give me the signal and go, 'OK,' " Dashefsky said. "He's start giving me targets to move the glove around. Low inside, low outside, high outside. Wherever. His ability to hit spots was uncanny. I used to joke that I would take my cup off, my mask off and put my glove out there and I'd be confident he could hit it. You had that much confidence in the guy that he could hit his spot."

THE END

Tatsuno would skip his senior season to play semi-pro in Japan's industrial league for the Prince Hotel. The deal was much more lucrative than if he signed with any of the major league teams that drafted him. He had been drafted out of 'Aiea in 1976 by Cincinnati (12th round, summer phase) and out of UH in 1979 by San Diego (second round, summer). Even after signing with Prince, he continued to get drafted. The Chicago White Sox picked him in 1980 (second round, winter) and the Reds again in 1981 (second round, winter).

"I felt he had to leave, no question," Murakami said. "He got such a great offer that I don't think any coach would've stopped him from going."

Tatsuno played 2 1/2 seasons before returning home. He said the coaches changed his delivery because the catchers had trouble handling his pitches, which were tough to hit because of the movement he had on the ball.

"From that time on, it wasn't going to do me any good so I decided to leave," Tatsuno said.

He talked to then-Milwaukee Brewer Lenn Sakata, who talked to scout Ray Poitevint. The Brewers drafted Tatsuno in the first round of the 1982 winter phase. Tatsuno would play for various minor league clubs, the last with the Hawaii Islanders in 1987.

His No. 16 jersey at UH was retired in 1997.

These days, Tatsuno still has his hand in the game. He is helping coach Punahou's American Legion team this summer.

"It's one way of giving back and helping kids develop," Tatsuno said.

Maybe develop the next Derek Tatsuno.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.