Story by
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Giving back never gets old for Maui’s Shane Victorino
- Story byThe Honolulu Star-Advertiser
- Giving back never gets old for Maui’s Shane Victorino
PHILADELPHIA — The memories keep flooding back for Shane Victorino , even though it's been 15 years since he last played here.
After all, this is where the "Flyin' Hawaiian" from Maui established a career that made him a role model for thousands of kids back home.
Advertisement
"It never gets old," the 45-year-old Victorino said moments before going out to manage the National League in the Futures Game, which fell to the AL 6-1 Sunday, then guiding his team to victory in MLB's inaugural 3-on-3 event over former Phillies teammates Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins .
"So to be able to do stuff with Major League Baseball as well as the Futures Game and all the other things around Philadelphia this weekend, it's an honor.
"There are so many others that could be in this situation or get the chance to, so it always means a lot when I get asked to come back to the city, for sure."
On Saturday, Victorino presided over a reclamation project at the local Boys and Girls Club named in his honor after his Foundation made a $1 million contribution back in 2011.
Advertisement
A handful of former major leaguers, including C.C. Sabathia , who served up a decisive grand slam to Victorino in the 2008 playoffs, and nearly 100 volunteers pulled weeds and helped refurbish the grounds of a building Victorino has always held dear.
"I just hope this gives kids a safe place to come," said Victorino, who swings by the club to check out the kids whenever he can. "Hopefully someday they'll take something out of here, something they've learned to help them become successful in life — that's what it's all about."
But those kids here aren't the only ones who feel indebted to Victorino. Back home one former Hawaii standout says Victorino became his role model.
"Shane's kind of been a bigger brother to me my whole career since I got drafted," said Kolten Wong , the retired two-time Gold Glove winning second baseman who served as Victorino's first base coach in the Futures Game (He was one of five from Hawaii on his staff.) "He was kind of the first guy that gave us all hope.
Advertisement
"He wasn't a very big guy, so he was somebody we could all look up (to). We thought if he can do it, we all could have a piece of the pie.
"He definitely gave Hawaii kids the confidence to think it's not just a dream but a reality if you put the work in."
For Victorino, putting the staff together was a no-brainer.
"I set out on my journey hoping to be the kid that set the path for other kids from where I was from and made it a reality that they could touch and feel," explained Victorino, who wound up his 12-year career with the Phillies, Red Sox, Dodgers and Angels hitting .275 with 108 homers, 489 RBIs, 231 steals and two All-Star appearances.
Advertisement
"When I assembled the staff at first It was going to go with a lot of the Philly guys. Then I said to myself, I wanted to be able to build it around guys that I hopefully idolized or that I was an idol to them or looked up to in their career in baseball.
"So I went out and got Kolten Wong, Kanekoa Texeira, Brandon League , Mike Fetters and Keoni DeRenne — five guys that obviously had ties to Hawaii and people that I grew up playing with or right behind me."
Being back in Philadelphia has become a regular occurrence for Victorino, who was made a team ambassador this season. "I come in at least three times a year with the new role with the Phillies as an ambassador," he said. "This place is like a second home for me."
Victorino spent eight years with the Phillies, including the 2008 World Series championship season.
Advertisement
Victorino has also established roots in Las Vegas, his offseason home for 20 years. It's also home base for the Loco Beach Coconuts, the newest team in Banana Ball, with Victorino serving as their best known representative.
"It's been great," he said of the experience, where he's learned winning isn't what really counts. "It's given me a different perspective.
"It is baseball. It's a game. But ultimately it's about entertainment. That's what the sales pitch has to be at the end.
"It's all about the 5-year-old and the 80-year-old grandma and grandpa walking out with the biggest smile on their faces. It's not about who won. Ultimately, it's about Jesse (Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole) wanting to know I get 100 emails tomorrow saying, 'This is the greatest experience of my life and I want to come back.'"
Advertisement
While the Coconuts and Bananas' focus isn't on winning, the same can't be said about Victorino's old team. But despite posting 96 wins last year and heading into the All-Star break 45-24 since Don Mattingly replaced longtime manager Rob Thomson, Victorino knows the frustration will continue to mount until they finally make it to the top.
Just like he did twice — with the Phillies and with the 2013 Red Sox. "I'm lucky," he conceded "I want to see them win this year and go down Broad Street and high-five them on the way.
"But it's not that easy."
Of course, it never was for Victorino, the kid from Maui who blossomed into a big-time ballplayer once he arrived here in 2005. In retrospect, nearly two decades later he knows the key is to keep working hard, playing hard — and to never stop believing.
Because that's what always made the Flyin' Hawaiian soar.
