At 5 feet 9, Shane Victorino stood out because he was so much smaller than the many behemoths at the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame induction banquet in January — honorees, their teammates, coaches and relatives.
Attendees also included former players of those being honored. Victorino purchased a table because one of the inductees, Charles Ane, was his football coach at Saint Anthony on Maui.
Victorino became a fan favorite in big-time sports cities like Philadelphia and Boston. But the most accomplished baseball player ever from Hawaii has never forgotten his roots. Shane is often the first to congratulate a fellow athlete from the islands on an accomplishment via text message or social media. His Twitter page features a huge Hawaiian flag.
Saint Anthony was where Victorino was much more than a baseball player. He also starred in soccer and track, and played every position in football that involved touching the ball, other than center.
Despite his lack of size, there was little doubt Victorino could be successful at the next level in any sport involving speed and athleticism. In a state known for its pound-for-pound athletes, Victorino may be the best of them all.
Like Chad Owens and Kolten Wong, he has served as a living example for thousands of local kids. Watching them, they can actually believe you can be under 6 feet and make it big.
Anything is possible even if you’re a little guy. You can be an All-Star, twice. You can win the World Series, twice. You can win Gold Gloves, four times.
You can play in nearly 1,300 major league games.
The one thing you can’t do, though, is the thing no one can. You can’t beat the clock.
Victorino might not be done yet — we already saw him come back from serious injuries in his 30s to hit that huge ALCS Game 6 grand slam for the Red Sox in 2013. And there were some rough spots in his minor league apprenticeship when it seemed he might not live up to his potential.
But he did. And he battled and competed and made the most of his talent for 12 seasons in the bigs.
He became a favorite in and delivered championships to cities known to be tough on their pro athletes.
But, as of late yesterday, he had made no public announcement following his release Monday from the Cubs organization.
Victorino, 35, missed much of spring training with a calf injury and had played just nine games this season for Triple-A Iowa, batting .233 in 30 at-bats. He played just 71 games in the majors last year, with the Red Sox and Angels.
“I’m not out here chasing the dream,” he told the Des Moines Register earlier this month. “There’s no dream to be chased. It’s just me playing a game I love, and if it’s meant to be in two or three weeks, it’s meant to be, if not, then life goes on as a dad (to his three children).”
Whether his career resumes or ends now, Shane Victorino’s body of work as a major league star will live on — part of that legacy is kids from his beloved home state will never have to believe it when told they’re too small for greatness.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
