From Wong Stadium in Hilo to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the long road to the Big Leagues took 24 years for Brendan Sagara. 

Sagara, the former Vulcan pitcher, was named the Co-Pitching Coach of the Texas Rangers last week. 2021 will be Sagara's 21st season in professional baseball, but his first in Major League Baseball. Sagara will share the position with Doug Mathis in a move announced by Rangers manager Chris Woodward on October 26. 

"It's the culmination of a lot of years in the grind, for sure," Sagara said. "I tried to learn everything I could at every level, and I have been influenced by a lot of good people."

Some of that guidance came to Sagara nearly a quarter of a century ago, via former Vulcan coach Joey Estrella and current UHH leader Kallen Miyataki. Sagara had a standout senior season for the Vulcans in 1996, posting an 8-2 record and a 3.52 ERA. That won-loss record remains at the top of the Vulcan record book for their Division I era. 

"Playing for Joey Estrella was one of the best things that could've happened for me," Sagura said last weekend. "I couldn't have played college baseball for a better man, and he continues to be a big influence in my life.

"Coming to UH Hilo to pitch was such a good decision. I was talented but raw coming out of high school, and the coaching staff at Hilo really nurtured me and helped me grow both as a baseball player, and a person."

The 1996 Vulcans won only 14 games in their third season at the Division I level, but Sagara won eight of those on the mound. 

"We were an NCAA Division I program when I played there, and we were always the underdogs," Sagara recalled. "But that really brought our team closer together and the bond the boys had was really strong. Representing a small town like Hilo, a small school like UH Hilo, we played with a lot of pride and I have a lot of fond memories from my college career."

Estrella remembers Sagara fondly. "He was a coach's dream," the former Vulcan leader said. "He worked hard and he was very smart. He was fiesty and you knew that he would show up every day, always looking to get better."

Sagara came to UH Hilo via Leilehua High School in Wahiawa (Oahu). After his senior season as a Vulcan, he pitched briefly with Evansville in an independent pro league, and then began a long ride as a coach with various stops, which included UH Hilo in 2003. He spent a lot of time moving from stop to stop, but always networking along the way. 

He made his first big career jump in 2006, landing a scouting job with the New York Mets (2006-10). The Atlanta Braves were next with a scouting gig (2010-12), followed by another big move up with the Miami Marlins (2011-16) as a farm system pitching coach. Next was the Chicago Cubs as the Minor League Pitching Coordinator (2017-19) before beginning work with the Rangers as their AAA pitching coach. He had the additional title of Special Assistant for Player Development, working at the Rangers alternative training site in Arlington this past season. 

Now Sagara (and Mathis) will be tasked with fixing a Rangers pitching staff that had a 5.02 ERA in 2020, 11th of the 15 American League teams. Mathis will be in the dugout, Sagara in the bullpen in the unique set-up. This fall and winter, Sagara will oversee the Rangers off-season pitching programs.

"It's almost unfair to put it on one guy," Texas manager Woodward said of the pitching coach position. "There's so much that's involved. There's so many people that are involved. There's so much information and ideas that are involved. There is a lot of work to do.

"Can they (Mathis and Sagara) make our players better? They both, in my opinion, are really good at that."

From working in the pineapple fields as a youth all the way to the Big Leagues, Sagara has already proven that he can grind through the long haul. Part of that foundation began in Hilo, where some of those cornerstones remain to this day.

"The staff there with Coach E (Estrella), Kallen Miyataki (current head coach), Lyle Tamaribuchi, and Richard DeSa, pushed me and developed me, allowing me to learn from my successes and mistakes early on," Sagara added. "That set me up to have a pretty good senior season and carried me into my professional career," he said.

"I was then and am certainly now a proud Vulcan."