From the Jazz Hands on the Official Blaseball Discord, a proposed lore update for Eli now that he's an Alternate:
Eli's Alternate (hereafter Elii) was much like Eli, in that he started a revolution in Hawai'i. Unlike Eli, however, Elii's revolution failed, and he was captured as a political prisoner. He was held in prison until the Return of Blaseball, at which point he was dumped onto the Hawai'i Fridays by the people in power (i.e. the United States Department of Justice) as a way to placate those calling for his release and exhaust any revolutionary spirit left in him, as even in the early days Blaseball was a constant & tiresome splort. When the Fans then voted to Open the Forbidden Book and turned it Elii's "exercise regime" into mortal peril, well, it was no skin off their nose. Somehow, Elii managed to survive, but the wear of Blaseball had its desired effect: Elii's fire had dimmed greatly after everything, and his parole bracelet made it impossible to get away. He got very good at precisely hitting cops "on accident" while pitching, though.
Things changed with the Season 16 elections, as Elii was unexpectedly swapped with Eli. The Hands removed Elii's parole bracelet, and Howell Rocha helped him work through his experiences before she left for the Miami Dale. It was clear Elii wasn't the same person as the Eli that left, though; none felt the changes more strongly than Steph Weeks. Steph and Elii are not in a relationship at present.
There was much anxiety over what happened to Eli after crossing dimensions, but news arrived in the form of a message written on Collins Melon after they returned from Elsewhere on Season 18, Day 28. The writing was heavily blurred by Immateria, but the Hands could make out that Eli had started another revolution in alternate Hawai'i, and was in the midst of establishing an independent nation of Hawai'i once more.
Both Eli and Elii play the hano, a Hawaiian nose flute.
