Henry "Hank" Kawaihoa "Prince" Oana Jr. (January 22, 1910 – June 19, 1976) was a professional baseball player for 23 years from 1929 to 1951.

He played portions of three seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1934, and as a pinch hitter and pitcher for Detroit Tigers in 1943 and 1945.

Born in Hawaii, Oana played five sports in high school, and took up baseball professionally after he was noticed by Ty Cobb.

Facing a shortage of active players, the Tigers signed him, and Oana played parts of 1943 and 1945 with the team.

[1] His father, Henry Kawaihoa Oana Sr., was a Native Hawaiian from Waialua and an 1896 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, who later worked as a bookkeeper at the sugarcane plantation and as a station agent at the local railroad depot.

[2][3][4][5] Oana attended Saint Louis School in Honolulu where he had the nickname "Nutsky,"[6] and was "a five-sport star" in baseball, football, basketball, track and swimming.

[8][9][10] He spent the 1929 season with the Globe Bears, San Francisco's affiliate in the Class D Arizona State League.

Ultimately, "[h]e found himself as an outfielder being blessed with a powerful throwing arm, great speed and an ability to whack the ball to the far reaches of the parks.

He also totaled 29 home runs, 63 doubles, and 11 triples in 686 at bats during the 1933 season, and led the Pacific Coast League with 163 RBIs.

[11][13] In November 1933, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired Oana from Portland in exchange for cash, Frank Ragland, Jimmy McLeod, and a player to be named later.

[14][15] Portland manager Spencer Abbott noted that the deal required the Phillies to pay "$2500 for a look" and $20,000 if he was retained for the years.

Graham claimed that, while vacationing in Honolulu, he discovered Oana playing baseball in bare feet.

"[16] Portland manager Spencer Abbott also boasted that he was the one who had invested Oana "with the halo of Hawaiian royalty.

"[16] When the Seals signed Oana, he was rated as "an 'important money' prospect" who would likely draw five figures in a sale to a big league club.

[16] When Oana was acquired by the Phillies at the end of the 1933 season, The Sporting News published a front-page story referring to Oana as a "full-blooded Hawaiian" and a "dark-skinned islander" who "comes from the royal stock of the old Hawaiian dynasty that ruled the islands before the United States took over the country.

After his brief stint with the Phillies, Oana was returned to Portland and shortly thereafter sold to the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association.

[11] Despite playing less than the full season in the Southern Association, he led the circuit in home runs and finished second in the league with 100 RBIs.

[11] At the end of the 1939 season, the Jackson club sole Oana to the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League.

"[8] Hornsby initially thought that Oana was joking about being a pitcher, but finally relented and allowed him to pitch in relief one day in Houston.

However, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ruled that Oana was a free agent since the Texas League had disbanded.

[9]On July 3, 1943, Oana played a key role in a double-header sweep of the New York Yankees that Detroit general manager Jack Zeller said brought "the greatest thrills of any game he witnessed.

[1] Late in the 1943 season, Oana was returned to the Milwaukee Brewers, appearing in several games until he sustained a fractured wrist.

[11] In August 1945, on the recommendation of Buffalo manager Bucky Harris, the Tigers called him back up to the big leagues.

He ended his minor league career with a .304 batting average with 2,292 hits, including 428 doubles, 130 triples, and 261 home runs.

"[8] He was reported to have dressed like "a dandy", been "the Beau Brummel of baseball," and been idolized by fans for his "S-S appeal, socks and sex.

[29] He reportedly underwent eye surgery five times over the next 10 years and lived and worked during the late 1950s and early 1960s in a rehabilitation center for the blind in Austin, Texas.