Shane Victorino is not what you’d call the retiring type.
But he knows it is inevitable at some point, and that perhaps he has played his final Major League Baseball game.
“I want to go as long as I can, but I get it,” he said Friday after a speaking engagement for the Positive Coaching Alliance at the Pacific Club.
Will he be at spring training in 2017, trying to make someone’s roster?
That’s the tentative plan. But right now the answer from Victorino to that question, who turned 36 on Nov. 30, is the same as everyone else’s.
“I don’t know yet,” he said.
He is hopeful, but in limbo. That’s been the status of the two-time All-Star and World Series champion from Wailuku since he was released from the Cubs Triple-A team in May.
He’s been working out at his home in Las Vegas for what he hopes will be a 13th MLB season after sitting out nearly all of last year following a few minor league games.
He had mixed emotions as he watched the Cubs’ win the World Series, knowing he could have been a part of it.
“It was hard,” he said. “It was hard to watch. Hardest (postseason) except for making the last out in the ’09 Series.”
That was with the Phillies, the year after he helped them win it all. He did it again in 2013 with the Red Sox, his grand slam in Game 6 of the ALCS propelling Boston to the World Series.
But since then, he’s batted .245 (30 points below his lifetime average) while playing in just 30 games with Boston in 2014 and 71 combined with the Red Sox and Angels in 2015. Back and hamstring injuries sent him to the disabled list.
Victorino has been a professional baseball player almost exactly half of his life. It could be that the wear-and-tear — especially considering his aggressive playing style — has finally taken its toll.
He’s healthy now. But even if an opportunity comes Victorino said he would have to weigh it against spending time away from his wife, Melissa, and young children Kali‘a, 10, and Kingston, 7.
“What’s the best for everyone? The father part is very important, being around,” Victorino said. “Things like discipline, education.”
He found it rewarding that young teammates texted him when he left the Angels in 2015, thanking him for mentoring them. He’s been asked about coaching in the pros.
If he is done as a player, Victorino sounds like he’s more interested in continuing to coach kids.
He said he took the PCA’s message to heart while coaching his son and Kingston’s teammates last summer.
“What’s different between Game 6 of the World Series and Game 1 as a 5-year-old? … I played sports (as a child) to get out of the house and not drive my parents crazy. You can look at wins and losses differently. Sports was a way to become a better kid,” he said. “Now, 6-year-olds, they’re all about winning and losing. I told them, ‘By the end of the season I want you to be a better athlete, but more importantly, a better person. You strike out, that’s fine. I do, too. The main thing is you’re a good person.’ ”
He’s set an example through philanthropy, including and annual charity golf tournament benefiting Maui charities, and $900,000 from his foundation to renovate the renamed Shane Victorino Nicetown Boys &Girls Club in Philadelphia.
“That’s going to last forever. That’s the fruit of a greater labor,” he said.
“It’s about having an impact on those who follow you,” he said. “At the end of the day, when it is done, what do you want to be remembered for?”
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser. com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
