Shane Victorino Reflects on His Life as the Flyin’ Hawaiian

HONOLULU, Hawaii — Shane Victorino, known as the “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” has made waves in baseball over 12 seasons with his incredible diving catches. In a recent interview, the former Major Leaguer opened up about his childhood in Wailuku and the daredevil antics that shaped him.

Victorino shared a story of how he once fell from a moving car while growing up. “Cruising down the road in your hometown, the door falls open, little Shane’s on the side where the door falls open, and he goes rolling out,” he recounted. An elderly driver, moving at 30 miles per hour, ended up hitting him. “She said I went flying 20 yards,” he added.

Despite visiting the emergency room 10 times before turning five, Victorino never let injuries stop him from playing sports. Interestingly, while he spent his youth involved in sports, he never learned to surf, confessing, “I was always terrified” of the ocean. Instead, baseball was initially low on his list of priorities.

“Soccer was my favorite sport. I thought I was going to be the next Pele,” he said, before also dabbling in football and track. At one point, Victorino even received a partial baseball scholarship to the University of Hawaii. However, his mother doubted his dream. “You’re never gonna be a big leaguer; that’s not a reality,” she told him.

As fate would have it, he was later drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999, opting for baseball over a full-ride football scholarship offered by June Jones. He went on to achieve notable success, retiring in 2018 with two World Series titles (2008 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 2013 with the Boston Red Sox), two All-Star selections, and four Gold Gloves.

Now, Victorino is focused on family life as a husband and father of three, while also coaching in Las Vegas. Reflecting on his journey, he remarked, “How many baseball players have ever walked on this earth, I got to play 10 years in big leagues. That’s even a smaller percentage, so it’s like ‘How lucky!’”