Shane Victorino

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**Shane Victorino**

Philadelphia Phillies — No. 8
Outfielder
Born: November 30, 1980 (1980-11-30) (age 27)
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 2, 2003 for the San Diego Padres
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Batting Average	.274
Home Runs	20
Runs Batted In	104
Teams
San Diego Padres (2003) Philadelphia Phillies (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 has an extremely strong arm, throwing out base runners who are heading for home plate from deep in the outfield with ease.

[edit] 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.^[1]

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).

[edit] 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.

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.^[1]

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 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", and "Shane-O".