Shane Victorino

Infobox MLB player
name=Shane Victorino


width=300
position=Outfielder
team=Philadelphia Phillies
number=8
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1980|11|30
debutdate=April 2
debutyear=2003
debutteam=San Diego Padres
statyear=July 27, 2008
stat1label=Batting Average
stat1value=.275
stat2label=Home Runs
stat2value=29
stat3label=Runs Batted In
stat3value=139
teams=
*San Diego Padres (by|2003)
*Philadelphia Phillies (by|2005-present)

Shane Patrick Victorino (born November 30, 1980 in Wailuku, Hawaii) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed.

Victorino's strongest attribute on the baseball diamond is his impressive speed, both in the outfield and on the bases. This comes as no surprise, since he is a former Hawaii state high school track and field champ (Spring, 1999) for St. Anthony High School in the 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m dashes. His 100 m time (10.80) was also a state record. He has been consistently clocked at 3.7-3.8 sec. from home to first right-handed. He also has a strong arm, with 24 career outfield assists. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/victosh01.shtml|title=Shane Victorino Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-12]

Minor leagues

A Little League Baseball player from the age of 8, and originally drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999.cite web |url= http://www.hanahou.com/pages/Magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=655&MagazineID=41 |title= The Flyin' Hawaiian |author= Kirk Lee Aeder |work= Hana Hou! Vol. 11, No. 1 February/March 2008 |quote= ]

Victorino was originally a Rule 5 draft pick in 2002 by the San Diego Padres, but was later returned to the Dodgers. He was a Rule 5 pick again in 2004; the Phillies this time retained him.

Throughout the 2004 season, Victorino owned a .178 batting average, though he batted .294 in the 2005 season with the Philadelphia Phillies and was named the International League (AAA) Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Major leagues

Victorino has had experience in two different Major League organizations. He made his Major League debut in 2003 with the San Diego Padres and played in 2005 with the Phillies. He was one of the two reserve outfielders for the Phillies in the 2006 season, along with David Dellucci. During the 2006 season, Victorino had a chance to play regularly when an early season injury to teammate Aaron Rowand required he take Rowand's spot. The trade of Bobby Abreu, slumping performance of Pat Burrell, and another Rowand injury on August 21, 2006, gave Victorino even more playing time.

In reference to his speed and place of birth, he has been nicknamed: "The Flyin' Hawaiian", "The Pineapple Express", "The Energizer Bunny", "The Muscles From Maui", "The Polynesian Popeye", and "Vic".

On Father’s Day, 2007, the Phillies honored him with a Hawaiian-themed day and flew his father in from Maui for the game; his son hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the tenth against the San Francisco Giants.

In 2007, Victorino changed his jersey number from 18 to 8 after giving number 18 to new teammate Wes Helms in exchange for a new watch. Victorino was the Phillies starting right fielder for the 2007 season. He permanently replaced Bobby Abreu, who was traded to the New York Yankees midway through the 2006 season. On June 3, 2007 the Phillies celebrated "Shane Victorino Day" with Victorino hula figurines. Victorino ended the day's game with a walk-off home run.

Following the departure of Aaron Rowand to the Giants in the offseason, Shane Victorino has been moved to center field for the 2008 season.

In the 2008 NLDS Game 2 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Victorino hit a grand slam (his first ever grand slam in the major leagues and the Phillies first post-season grand slam) off of CC Sabathia in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Victorino went on to say in his blog, that it was a home run that he will cherish. Victorino also became the first person in post-season history to have a home run, a double, and two steals in a single game. [http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=281002122]

References

External links

*baseballstats |mlb=425664|espn=5409 |br=v/victosh01|fangraphs=1677 |cube=V/shane-victorino