Coming off two of the winningest seasons in team history, the Pacific Coast League’s Hawaii Islanders had big hopes heading into the 1986 season.

After winning 87 games in 1984 and making it to the PCL finals, Hawaii followed it up with an 84-win campaign the next year and another trip to the playoffs. Even though both postseason bids ended in disappointing losses for Hawaii, the Islanders looked to continue their winning ways for another year, and maybe finally re-claim the PCL title by year’s end.

That mission, however, would start in a new ballpark. In the offseason preceding the 1986 season, the Islanders moved from Aloha Stadium across town to Rainbow Stadium, which opened back in 1984 to service the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s baseball team.

The smaller ballpark, built impressively in just nine months, provided the Islanders with an upgraded park to play. And the stadium’s capacity, which sat around 4,300 for games, probably better suited the kinds of crowds the Islanders were drawing by that point.

To christen professional play at Rainbow Stadium, manager Tommy Sandt and the Hawaiians would get the strength of one of the franchise’s most exciting prospects making his way to the island.

The big event on Oahu became a 21-year-old slugger by the name of Barry Bonds. The future seven-time MVP, 14-time All Star, 12-time Silver Slugger, and two-time batting champ began his 1986 season in Hawaii with the Islanders.

A sixth overall pick by the Pirates out of Arizona State University in 1985, Bonds spent his first few months post-draft playing for the Prince William Pirates, where he royally dazzled the masses with a .299/.383/.547 (.930 OPS) with 13 home runs and 37 RBI in 71 games in the Carolina League.

For 1986, he was bumped all the way up to Triple-A Hawaii, where he brought his bat to Honolulu and provided the Islanders with one of the best hitters the team ever had.

Oahu hosted the Barry Bonds show, and Hawaii’s historically poor batting received a major boost while he was in town. In 44 games for the Islanders, Bonds slashed .311/.435/.527 (.963 OPS), leading the team in those final two stats and tacking on seven home runs, 37 RBI, and 16 stolen bases.

In the outfield, Bonds led all outfielders in range factor per game at 2.57, recording 109 putouts and only a couple of errors. This guy truly did it all, and that was the very reason why he didn’t stay in Hawaii.

From an Islanders perspective, it’s a shame that Hawaii couldn’t get more games out of the best power hitter they had ever seen. But there was no way the parent club was going to leave him in Honolulu for very long. Though through a statistical loophole Bonds recorded his first hit on April 20th, Bonds was promoted to the major leagues at the end of May, making his official debut on the 30th.

He never looked back.

Though Bonds’ rookie season was subpar compared to the rest of his career, he was still an effective bat and far better served the organization in Pittsburgh rather than Hawaii. And once he left, the rest of the Islanders failed to pick up where he left off.

By season’s end, Hawaii was dead last in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and home runs. Three players (including Bonds) recorded an OPS above .900, but none of them played more than 44 games for the Islanders.

Leading the way long term was infielder Ron Wotus, whose Triple-A bat had improved at age-25 and slashed .315/.398/.415 (.813 OPS) through 125 games and tied for a team-leading 57 RBI. Wotus, who spent years in Hawaii and had two quick trips up to Pittsburgh in 1983 and 1984, was hoping for another chance. Unfortunately, his major-league days were done by then, and his playing days didn’t have that many years left as well.

Helping Wotus was Benny Distefano, who slashed .259/.329/.463 (.792 OPS) and also had 57 RBI. The 24-year-old’s performance did earn himself a major-league promotion towards the end of the season, where he played the first 45 of his 240 MLB games.

Like many years in the past, pitching was a strength for the club. Hawaii led the Pacific Coast League with a 3.80 ERA, tied for first with 6.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and finished second with a 1.388 WHIP.

Righty José DeLeón, who split the season rather evenly between Triple-A and the majors, boasted a 2.46 ERA for Hawaii before he was traded. Yes, that trade hurt the Islanders, but the deal with Chicago helped Pittsburgh re-acquire Bobby Bonilla, who the Red Sox had taken in the Rule 5 Draft.

Bonilla was a reward for DeLeón’s services that Hawaii would never benefit from. Such is life in the minor leagues.

Picking up work were lefty Rich Sauveur and righty Dave Johnson. Both pitched to ERAs in the low threes and combined for 12 complete games and nearly 250 innings. Both would go on to have middling MLB careers, though Johnson did have three seasons with Baltimore.

On the back end, the bullpen was primarily solidified by 36-year-old Ed Farmer. A former MLB All Star, Farmer had over 600 big-league innings to his name, but was at the tail end of his career and found work as a farmhand in Hawaii. In 80.2 innings and over 40 appearances, Farmer amassed a 2.57 ERA, 1.190 WHIP, and 1.85 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Unfortunately for Hawaii, their final year of an affiliation with the Pirates was rather unsuccessful. Following the immense regular season success of the 1984 and 1985 seasons, the Islanders tumbled into a 65-79 record, failing to make the playoffs.

Having many of your best players plucked out of the lineup can do that to a team.

For the Islanders, the drop in performance was a massive change. Manager Sandt couldn’t find a way to turn it around, and Hawaii finished with a losing record for the first time since 1978, back when they were an affiliate of the San Diego Padres and bottomed out in their division with a 56-82 record.

Hawaii’s 1986 campaign marked an unceremonious end to the relationship between the Islanders and the Pirates, and was another step in Hawaii’s eventual loss of the team altogether.