By fate, and a trade, MPI alum Isiah Kiner-Falefa is now starting for his dream team — the Yankees

NEW YORK >> Not many kids get to live out their childhood dream. But former Mid-Pacific shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa has.

He’s the starting shortstop of the New York Yankees, the team he fell in love with when he first visited the Bronx as a 12-year-old after helping guide Hawaii to the 12-and-under championship in Cooperstown, N.Y., the hallowed home to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Now, a decade and a half later the kid from Diamond Head whose name comes in part from his grandfather — fourth cousin to Hall of Fame slugger-turned-broadcaster Ralph Kiner — finds himself wearing those treasured pinstripes. He’s in the same lineup as 43 home-runs-and counting Aaron Judge and the rest, playing the same position as his childhood hero, Derek Jeter.

It’s a wonder he doesn’t pinch himself when he wakes up each day to make sure it’s really not a dream.

“They were my childhood dream and my favorite team,” said Kiner-Falefa earlier this week, sitting in the Yankees dugout. “We went to Cooperstown when I was 11 and 12.

“We were actually the first Hawaii team and the only Hawaii team to win the Cooperstown championship. My dad (Fili) was coaching the 12-and-under team. There’s 14 teams in the League that compete every summer and at that time 96 teams overall and we won the whole thing.

“Then in 2007 we went to the Hall of Fame Museum and saw everything, then we came down here to New York for a full week. My dad and I went to every game, and saw Jeter, A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez), all those greats.

“I just fell in love with the Yankees.”

The feeling’s become pretty much mutual, with Kiner-Falefa contributing a .274 batting average, 47 runs scored, 32 RBIs and a team-leading 15 stolen bases.

“I feel like he’s done a really good job,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who admired the then-Texas Ranger from afar the past few seasons. “He’s been a playmaker on defense at shortstop just with his athleticism and his range.

“He’s been good on the bases and gotten some big hits for us. And when he makes a mistake he’s able to get over it make the next play. He’s just brought a gritty toughness to this team that I’d heard about and expected. I think his performance has matched it.”

While Kiner-Falefa’s numbers might seem pedestrian compared to the rest of his teammates and the lack of power (no home runs) maybe bother Isiah more than he’s letting on, no one seems to be complaining.

“I think he’s hitting fine,” said catcher Jose Trevino, who’s known Isiah since they were both climbing the ladder in the Rangers’ minor league system. “But his defense, what he brings to the table everyday out there making plays, has been great.

“We’re both happy to be here. We’re grateful for our time in Texas. We literally grew up there and they taught us a lot. But we’re glad to be in pinstripes.”

So is the guy wearing No. 12. “My job is to help everybody out, play good defense, run the bases, score runs and win ballgames,” said Kiner-Falefa. “I wish I had more slug.

“I’m definitely doing my job, but at the end of the day the goal is to win here. Your numbers don’t matter. Nothing matters but winning the World Series. It’s a lot different, but the pressure is something I enjoy.”

Especially considering it’s a story in itself that brought him to the Big Apple. After three years in Texas he suspected his days there might be numbered when the Rangers signed high-priced free agent middle infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

“After the Rangers signed two middle infielders I knew it was gonna be hard to get some playing time there,” said the 27-year-old Kiner-Falefa who was in Dallas waiting things out while the major league lockout was in effect this spring. “Before the lockout I heard rumors I could get traded and one of them was to the Yankees. “I thought Minnesota, New York and maybe Oakland.”

Indeed on March 12, two days after the lockout ended Kiner-Falefa got the word: He was headed to the Twins. “I thought it was done and spent a full day just getting to know those guys,” explained Kiner-Falefa, who immediately headed to the Twins’ spring training facility. “As I was going to bed that night I found out I’d been traded to the Yankees.”

The March 13 deal sent Kiner-Falefa and third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Yankees for catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gino Urshela.

“I got a call from (general manager Brian) Cashman ‘Welcome to the pinstripes.’ ” recalled Kiner-Falefa, whose $6.6 million contract will expire after this season when he’ll become arbitration eligible. “That was pretty cool.

“I went from not having a position with the Rangers, to being a Twin, to being on my dream team. It really happened fast, but I’m glad it happened the way it did.

“I called my family and everyone was really happy. It gives them something watch during their lunch break.”

It’s also created a huge Yankee following back home. That includes people who’ve come out of the woodwork trying to renew acquaintances with the kid who’s got his name because his dad liked NBA great Isiah Thomas.

“I think it’s pretty big right now,” said Kiner-Falefa, the Rangers fourth-round pick in the 2013 Draft, “It’s definitely grown since I became a Yankee.

“I don’t really look at my phone anymore. I’ve been in the big leagues four years and never heard from a lot of people I’m hearing from now.

“But it comes with being a Yankee, which is what I always wanted. Last year I was on a hundred-loss team. To turn things around and play with some of the best guys is pretty incredible. Being here is like a total refresher and reminds me of the good times I’ve had playing baseball.”

It’s something most kids growing up in Hawaii can only dream about. “It’s a dream come true,” smiled Isiah, who keeps in regular contact with current big league fellow islanders Kolten Wong and Kurt Suzuki as well as those who helped blaze their trail like Shane Victorino. “Very surreal just to be from Hawaii where not many get the opportunity.

“We all root for each other and want the best. We understand it’s definitely not easy to be from Hawaii and make it here, and then you get the opportunity to be on the best team in baseball and the best franchise in American sports.

“It’s pretty incredible and special.”

Perhaps, but being a Yankee brings with it great expectations, especially when you’re playing for a team that has run away from the rest of the American League East and still holds the best record in the American League (70-39) despite a five-game losing streak that included a lost weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals. “Getting off to such a great start the adversity comes when there’s only one expectation and that’s winning the World Series,” admitted Kiner-Falefa. “Being a Yankee there’s an expectation of winning the World Series.

“But you don’t really want to skip to the playoffs without dealing with adversity during the season. Otherwise the playoffs can be very tough. I need the daily challenges because I feel they’re what’s gonna prepare me for when those times come. If you just go through the motions for the rest of the year the playoffs are gonna sneak up on you. So I’m trying to take everything head on now.”

But when it’s all over in a few months — however it plays out — Kiner-Falefa will head back home with his girlfriend, Teyea — to unwind.

“I try to go home every off season and just enjoy myself and get back to my roots and understand how lucky I am to be from Hawaii,” said Kiner-Falefa, who won a Gold Glove as a third baseman during the COVID-shortened 2020 season for the Rangers and before that was a part time catcher. “Being from Hawaii a lot of the people there are more athletic.

“We’re running in the sand. We’re playing outdoors a lot. I feel going back is a good opportunity to get better by using the natural resources and everything Hawaii brings.”

As for as what Isiah brings to these Yankees and for how long he’ll be able to continue living out his dream since a couple of the Bronx Bombers’ top prospects are shortstops, he’ll have to take that as it comes. Of course when you’re related to baseball royalty like Ralph Kiner you already know you’re special.

“Kiner is Caucasian,” said Kiner-Falefa, referring to his fourth cousin on his mother, Kim’s side. “My grandpa grew up in Kansas, went to California, then the University of Hawaii and never left.

“Being in Pittsburgh (where Kiner played the bulk of his career) this year I got to see the (Kiner) Big Man statue, which was pretty cool and then we got to play in the “Subway Series” against the Mets and hear about Kiner’s Corner (his signature broadcast segment).”

“But I never got to meet him or any of his family.”

While the name be partly the same, no one will ever confuse Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s game with the Hall of Famer. So the kid from Honolulu, whom many thought was too small (he’s listed at 5 feet, 10 inches) and not good enough to even get off the Island, let alone play for the winningest franchise in professional sports, will just have to keep making a name for himself.

After all, when you’re already living out your childhood dream, what can go wrong?