User:GhostRiver/hawaiian

Shane Patrick Victorino (born November 30, 1980), nicknamed "The Flyin' Hawaiian", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and won two World Series championships with the Phillies in 2008 and Red Sox in 2013. A right-handed fielder, Victorino was a switch hitter for most of his career before injuries prevented him from batting left-handed.

Early life
Victorino was born on November 30, 1980, in Wailuku, Hawaii, to Michael and Joycelyn Victorino. His parents married while they were still in high school, three months before the birth of their eldest son and Victorino's older brother, Michael Victorino Jr. When Victorino was seven years old, his family moved from Makawao, Hawaii, to the more-populated Wailuku Heights. Victorino had a poor reputation throughout school, as he was often belligerent and had difficulties sitting still, which in turn motivated him to channel his excess energy into athletics.

Draft and minor leagues (1999–2002)
The Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Victorino in the sixth round, 194th overall, in the 1999 MLB Draft. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, who had already offered Victorino a scholarship to play college baseball for the Rainbow Warriors, offered him an additional scholarship after the draft for the school football team, giving him the chance to play both sports. Victorino turned down the school's offer and signed with the Dodgers on June 10. After accepting a deal with the Dodgers for a signing bonus between $150,000 and $200,000, the bulk of which was devoted to a college scholarship fund should he return to school during his baseball career, Victorino was assigned to the Rookie-level Great Falls Dodgers of the Pioneer League. He appeared in 55 games for them, batting .280 with two home runs and 25 RBI in 225 at bats. After spending extended spring training with the Dodgers in Florida, learning how to switch hit in order to improve his speed on the base path, he spent the 2000 season with the Class A-Short Season Yakima Bears of the Northwest League. While his batting average dropped to .246 after making the change to switch hitting, Victorino had 21 stolen bases during his season in Yakima.

Victorino opened the 2001 season as part of the inaugural roster for the Low-A Wilmington Waves of the South Atlantic League. He found success there, and was named the Dodgers' minor league player of the month in July after batting .317 with one home run, three triples, three doubles, 14 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. He batted .283 in 435 at bats for Wilmington, with four home runs, 32 RBI, and 47 stolen bases in 112 games. Victorino, who missed three weeks in the middle of the seaon with a sprained ankle suffered while running for a ball in the outfield, attributed his increased performance in Wilmington to his batting exclusively right-handed rather than attempting to switch-hit as he had the season prior. Victorino also appeared in two games for the Class A-Advanced Vero Beach Dodgers of the Florida State League, where he went 1-for-6 with a two-run home run against Nate Robertson of the Brevard County Manatees.

After spending the offseason receiving hitting instruction from Tommy Lasorda and base running coaching from Maury Wills, Victorino, who was primed to become the Dodgers' leadoff hitter, opened the season with the Double-A Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League. In Jacksonville, Victorino advanced his reputation for speed with 38 stolen bases by mid-August. He began switch-hitting again in the second half of the season and was more successful this time, finishing .258 with 15 doubles, one triple, four home runs, and 34 RBI. In the Southern League playoffs, Victorino's game-tying run against the Carolina Mudcats helped Jacksonville to capture the East Division crown. After the regular minor league season ended, Victorino was invited to play in the Arizona Fall League. He had a successful stint with the Peoria Javelinas there, batting .330 with six doubles, one home run, 14 runs scored, and 10 RBI.

San Diego Padres (2003)
On December 16, 2002, the San Diego Padres selected Victorino in the Rule 5 draft, which allowed him to make an immediate jump to the major leagues in the 2003 season. He was the last player to be added to the Padres' Opening Day roster out of spring training, with manager Bruce Bochy giving Victorino the final spot over veterans Brady Anderson and Roberto Kelly. Victorino made his MLB debut on April 2, 2003, facing the team that drafted him. The Dodgers, in an homage to Victorino's switch-hitting, changed pitchers so that he would face right-handed pitcher Paul Quantrill while batting left-handed. His first major league hit came on April 20, a third-inning single off of Colorado Rockies pitcher Shawn Chacon.

Los Angeles Dodgers organization (2003–2004)
On May 23, Victorino was designated for assignment to make room for veteran outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., who was acquired to start in center field for the Padres as a replacement for the injured Mark Kotsay. The move allowed the Dodgers to reclaim Victorino, who had batted .151 with two doubles and four RBI in his first 36 major league games. He was offered back to the Dodgers at the end of the month and was reassigned to Jacksonville. He batted .282 back in the minors, with two home runs and 15 RBI in 66 games with Jacksonville. By mid-August, Victorino had been promoted to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League, where he batted .390 in 41 at bats, with one home run and nine RBI in 11 games.

Victorino joined the Dodgers for spring training in 2004, where he hoped to compete with Jolbert Cabrera, Bubba Trammell, and Jason Romano for the left field position in Los Angeles. Despite earning praise in training camp from manager Jim Tracy, Victorino was assigned to the minor leagues on March 13 to continue his development into a leadoff hitter. He began the year back in Las Vegas with the 51s, playing alongside fellow Hawaiian baseball player Mark Johnson. Victorino struggled with switch-hitting in Triple-A, batting only .235 with three home runs and 20 RBI in 55 games, and he clashed frequently with Dodgers management, a culmination of factors which led to his midseason demotion to Jacksonville. He was more successful in Double-A, where he batted .327 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 75 games and 294 at bats.

Philadelphia Phillies (2005–2012)
On December 14, 2004, Victorino was taken once again in the Rule 5 draft, this time by the Philadelphia Phillies. Although it seemed as if Victorino had a chance to break the Phillies' 2005 Opening Day roster when Kenny Lofton and Marlon Byrd went down with injuries, both veterans recovered in time for the start of the season, and Victorino was subsequently placed on waivers. After clearing waivers, Victorino was offered back to the Dodgers, who rejected the offer. Still under Philadelphia control, Victorino was subsequently assigned to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Byrd was also sent down to the Red Barons as their everyday center fielder, but after he suffered a recurrence of the finger pain that had hindered his spring training performance, Victorino stepped up as the starting center fielder in Scranton. While the Phillies' decision to trade Byrd to the Washington Nationals at the end of May seemed as if Victorino had an opportunity to crack the major league roster, Philadelphia instead acquired Endy Chavez, another center fielder whose physical build and reputation was similar to that of Victorino. The first half of the season was mostly unremarkable for Victorino, culminating in a June slump where he batted only .265 in Scranton. He saw a major turnaround after moving into the leadoff position on June 8, with a .340 batting average, 40 runs scored, and a 14-game hitting streak between then and the end of July. Finishing his time in Scranton with a .310 batting average, 25 doubles, 16 triples, 18 home runs, 17 stolen bases, and 70 RBI, as well as a 22-game hitting streak to close out the month of August, Victorino became the first Red Baron to be namd the most valuable player for the International League.

When major league rosters expanded from 25 to 40 on September 1, Victorino was recalled to the Phillies for the final month of their 2005 season. Upon his promotion, Charlie Manuel utilized Victorino as a late-game substitution for Kenny Lofton and Jason Michaels, the everyday center fielders. His first major league home run came on September 22, a three-run blast off of the Atlanta Braves' Tim Hudson in the top of the ninth inning of a 4–0 Phillies win. In 21 games with the Phillies at the end of the 2005 season, Victorino batted .294 with two home runs and eight RBI in 17 at bats. Victorino began the 2006 season as the Phillies' fourth outfielder, backing up Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, and Bobby Abreu. His first stint as a starting outfielder came in mid-May, after Rowand crashed into an outfield wall and suffered a fractured nose. Although he was removed from a starting outfield and leadoff hitter position when Rowand returned at the end of the month, Victorino drew compliments from manager Charlie Manuel during his two weeks filling in for Rowand. The departure of Abreu at the trading deadline in July led to an outfield shakeup for the Phillies: with Burrell in the lineup, new acquisition David Dellucci would start in right field, but if Burrell continued to struggle, Dellucci would move to left field and Victorino, who was still making spot starts in center for Rowand, would start in right. When Rowand suffered a season-ending broken ankle after colliding with Chase Utley on August 21, Victorino once again took over in center field, with Burrell in left and Dellucci in right. While the Phillies failed to make the playoffs in what was considered a disappointing season, Victorino was part of a group of young players, also including Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmy Rollins, to have a strong season. He batted .287 in his first full season with the Philllies, with six home runs and 46 RBI in 415 at bats, as well as four stolen bases in 153 games. Defensively, Victorino spent most of his time in center field, and had a perfect fielding percentage in all three outfield positions, with no errors in 232 chances.

With a series of offseason moves that sent Jeff Conine to the Cincinnati Reds and brought free agent Jayson Werth to Philadelphia, Victorino became the Phillies' in 2007, joined by Rowand in center and Burrell in left. A number of Phillies suffered major injuries over the course of the 2007 season, including Victorino, who strained his right calf in the middle of a 4–1 victory against the Chicago Cubs on July 30. At the time, Victorino had been one of the best offensive players for the Phillies, batting .284 with 21 doubles and leading the team with 32 stolen bases before he was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was activated from the disabled list on August 22, but aggravated the calf two days later while trying to beat out a ground ball and was removed from the game with a limp. Werth was given more playing time in the outfield as Victorino eased into playing as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement, but Victorino's calf continued to nag at him through the start of September, and he was temporarily shut down to prevent more aggravation. Despite this second-half injury, Victorino finished the 2007 regular season batting .281 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI in 456 games, as well as 62 stolen bases in 131 games. With a victory on October 1, the Phillies clinched the top spot in the NL East for their first postseason appearance in 14 years. They faced the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 National League Division Series (NLDS), and Manuel chose to start Victorino over Werth in Game 1, believing the switch hitter would have more luck against left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis. Instead, Victorino went 0-for-4 with one strikeout, losing to the Rockies 4-2. The Rockies proceeded to sweep the Phillies in the best-of-five series. With Rowand leaving the Phillies in free agency during the 2007-08 offseason, Victorino shifted from right to center field, with newcomer Geoff Jenkins coming in to play right.

The Phillies went into the 2008 NLDS wanting to forget about their previous season's sweep, with Victorino telling reporters, "We have unfinished business."
 * 2008
 * 2009
 * 2010

The Phillies suffered a number of preseason injuries that forced Manuel to retool his lineup for Opening Day of the 2011 season; one of these changes moved Jimmy Rollins to third in the order and allowing Victorino to lead off. On April 24, Victorino helped the Phillies defeat the San Diego Padres 3-1 with his first career inside-the-park home run, a line drive that narrowly missed Will Venable and could not be retrieved in time. He followed this effort with a 15-game hitting streak that came to an end on May 14, the same day Victorino left a 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves with a sore hamstring. He missed three weeks with the injury, returning on June 3 with five singles in a 2-1 extra innings loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Victorino was injured again on July 3, injuring his thumb on an awkward outfield fall during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. While still recovering from the injury, Victorino was named to his second All-Star Game, once again winning the fan vote. Since the thumb injury prevented Victorino from actually appearing in the game, the fan vote runner-up, Andre Ethier of the Dodgers, appeared in the game instead. By the All-Star break, Victorino was the only Philadelphia batter hitting over .300, and he had nine home runs, 34 RBI, and 13 stolen base before he was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his swollen thumb. Although not fully recovered, Victorino was activated from the disabled list on July 19, with additional precautions while running the bases to ensure that he did not further aggravate the injury.

With Chase Utley and Ryan Howard entering the 2012 season on the disabled list, Victorino became the Phillies' number-three hitter, batting behind Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco. After spending the first two months of the season with an injured tendon in his right hand, Victorino received a cortisone injection on June 2, and under the orders of the team doctor, he sat out that night's game. It was the 53rd game of the season, and the first in which Victorino was not in the starting lineup. At the time, he was batting .333 right-handed and .227 left-handed, and he told reporters that the tendon only bothered him when he batted left. He continued to struggle even after the injection, with his batting average never passing .270 after April 24 and no extra-base hits between June 13 and July 14. He appeared to recover after the All-Star Game break, going 20-for-56 with four doubles, three triples, and a home run to start the second half. Through the end of July, Victorino batted .261 for the Phillies, with nine home runs, 40 RBI, and 24 stolen bases.
 * 2011

Los Angeles Dodgers (2012)
At the MLB trading deadline on July 31, 2012, the Phillies sent Victorino back to the Dodgers in exchange for Josh Lindblom, Ethan Martin, and a player to be named later, ultimately minor league shortstop Stefan Jarrin. The Dodgers used the trading deadline to reinvigorate their roster, acquiring Hanley Ramírez, Randy Choate, and Brandon League in addition to Victorino. In this retooled team, manager Don Mattingly placed Victorino in left field and in the leadoff hitter position. The Dodgers had hoped that Victorino would provide an offensive spark for the struggling team, but his batting suffered in Los Angeles. By September 16, his batting average was only .233 with his new team, and he had six more strikeouts than runs scored. Although he continued to be a reliable fielder and baserunner for the Dodgers, stealing 15 bases in 53 games, Victorino batted only .245 after the trade, and he lost the leadoff batter spot after only 25 games. He became a free agent at the end of the season, and with Carl Crawford promised the starting left fielder role in 2013, Victorino began to seek out other teams.

Boston Red Sox (2013–2015)
On December 4, 2012, Victorino signed a three-year, $39 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. With an established center fielder in Jacoby Ellsbury, manager John Farrell indicated that Victorino would be moved to the right corner, a position they had been hoping to fill with an established defender.

In the final spring training game before the 2014 MLB season, Victorino injured his hamstring while attempting to run out a double under wet conditions at JetBlue Park. The next day, he contracted influenza, and the combination of illness and injury left him bedridden for Boston's Opening Day. He returned to the lineup by the end of April, batting second in the lineup and recording a hit in each of his first four games, including four hits and two RBI against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 29. He aggravated the hamstring on May 23 while attempting to run out a bunt in another game against the Rays, and was added to the disabled list the next day. While undergoing a minor league rehab assignment with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox that June, Victorino began to suffer from back pain and tightness. By the start of August, medical scans suggested that Victorino would need surgery on his back, and on August 5, he underwent a season-ending lumbar discectomy. He appeared in only 30 games and made only 133 plate appearances for the Red Sox in the injury-truncated season, batting .268 with two home runs and 12 RBI in the process.
 * 2013

Once Victorino proved to Farrell that he was physically healthy enough to start the 2015 season, he was named Boston's starting right fielder over Rusney Castillo. Although he was given the starting outfield job, Farrell also said that the Red Sox wanted to use Victorino conservatively so as not to injure him further. Only two weeks into the season, Victorino strained his right hamstring while stealing second base in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list in order to open a roster spot for relief pitcher Matt Barnes. Although Victorino had a poor start to the 2015 season, going just 5-for-35 in his first 12 games, the Red Sox could not find a successful replacement for him while he was on the disabled list: Daniel Nava, Brock Holt, and Allen Craig both underperformed, and Craig was sent back to the minor leagues after hie brief stint in right field. After missing a road series against the Toronto Blue Jays due to rumors that the turf at the Rogers Centre was painful on older athletes' legs and back, Victorino was activated on May 11, starting in right field and batting seventh for a series against the Oakland Athletics. The return to the lineup was brief, as Victorino returned to the disabled list on May 23 after straining his left calf while making a catch. He was activated on July 4 as part of a larger series of roster moves in Boston, and was expected to platoon in right field with Alejandro De Aza. Limited to 33 games for Boston in 2015, Victorino batted .245 with one home run and four RBI in 94 at bats.

Los Angeles Angels (2015)
On July 27, 2015, Victorino was traded from the Red Sox, who were last in the AL East, to the Los Angeles Angels, who sat atop the AL West. Boston agreed to retain $3.8 million of Victorino's remaining $4.9 million salary for the year, and they also acquired Angels infielder Josh Rutledge. Victorino was part of a series of acquisitions made by the Angels to increase their offensive depth with platoons at two positions. He would split left field with David DeJesus, with Victorino facing primarily left-handed pitchers, while David Murphy and C. J. Cron shared designated hitter duties. Victorino continued to struggle both offensively and defensively after the trade, with his batting average dropping to .228 by the first week of September and a series of uncharacteristic defensive errors. His defensive struggles were highlighted on August 21, when Victorino committed his first error since August 14, 2013, during the sixth inning, and followed it with another in the ninth. He played in 38 games for the Angels after his midseason trade, batting .214 with no home runs and three RBI in 84 at bats. The Angels, meanwhile, finished with a 85–77 record and were third in the AL West. Victorino became a free agent at the end of the 2015 season.

Chicago Cubs (2016)
On February 26, 2016, Victorino signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs. The deal included an invitation to spring training and a chance to claim an outfield position alongside Jorge Soler, Jason Heyward, and Dexter Fowler. He received only limited time in spring training, however, before straining his left calf on March 8. Because the injury limited his ability to participate in regular training camp, on March 29, Victorino was briefly released from the team in order to sign a new minor league contract that would "re-create spring training" as he continued his rehabilitation. On May 6, Victorino was activated off of the disabled list and assigned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. When Heyward was injured on May 29, the Cubs had to decide between filling his position with Victorino or Matt Szczur, both of whom general manager Jed Hoyer believed to be "Major League-ready". The team opted to activate Szczur from the disabled list and release Victorino in the hopes that he would find a position on a different team.

Retirement
On July 3, 2018, Victorino, who had not played in the major leagues since 2015, announced his formal retirement from professional baseball. He signed a ceremonial one-day contract with the Phillies on August 3, enabling him to officially retire as a member of the team with whom he had played for most of his career. The celebration, in which Victorino threw a ceremonial first pitch that was caught by Ryan Howard, was part of a larger 10-year anniversary celebration of the World Series championship team.

Victorino is regarded by sportswriters as one of the most successful professional baseball players from the state of Hawaii. In 2018, he was one of four athletes inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, joining Clarissa Chun, Clay Stanley, and Dean Wilson.

International career
Victorino was one of several Phillies to make an appearance at the 2009 World Baseball Classic: he and Jimmy Rollins represented the United States national baseball team, Matt Stairs appeared for Canada, J. C. Romero pitched for Puerto Rico, and Carlos Ruiz was behind the plate for Panama.

Four years after his first appearance, Victorino was again selected for Team USA at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, where he was expected to back up Ryan Braun, Adam Jones, and Giancarlo Stanton.

Personal life
In 2018, Victorino's father successfully ran for Mayor of Maui County. Victorino is named after one of his father's favorite films, the 1953 Western Shane. He is of Portuguese heritage on his father's side, and Japanese, Chinese, and native Hawaiian descent on his mother's side. Victorino married his wife, Melissa Smith, in November 2009. Their first child, Kali'a Makenna Victorino, was born in March 2007. Their second child, son Kingston Shane Victorino, was born in September 2010.

Victorino has won a number of awards for his charity work. After participating in a number of fundraising activities for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research, he was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for the 2008 MLB season. In 2011, he was presented with the Branch Rickey Award for his work with children through both the Shane Victorino Foundation and Philadelphia-area Boys & Girls Clubs of America. That same year, Victorino was inducted into the Baseball Humanitarians Hall of Fame.

Victorino was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at the age of five, and he has maintained a medication and treatment regimen into adulthood. He stopped taking stimulants for ADHD after high school, but began medicating again while in the minor leagues, a decision that he attributes to his success in MLB. He has also been vocal about the emotional dysregulation caused by the disorder and how it affects his athletic performance.