PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 10: (L-R) Jayson Werth #28 and Shane Victorino #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after Victorino made a catch at the wall for the third out of the top of the seventh inning on a ball hit by Casey Blake #30 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Two of the National League Championship Series during the 2008 MLB playoffs on October 10, 2008 at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA – OCTOBER 10: (L-R) Jayson Werth #28 and Shane Victorino #8 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate after Victorino made a catch at the wall for the third out of the top of the seventh inning on a ball hit by Casey Blake #30 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Two of the National League Championship Series during the 2008 MLB playoffs on October 10, 2008 at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) /
With Shane Victorino’s retirement ceremony happening Friday night, let’s look back at the best moments of his Phillies career.
After a 12-year career, Shane Victorino will retire with the Phillies Friday night in a pregame ceremony. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2015 with the Angels, but Victorino has not officially called it quits until now. His retirement ceremony will be one of several events celebrating the 2008 World Series champions and other teams of the era.
Over eight years with the Phillies, Victorino hit .279 with a .784 OPS, hitting 88 home runs, driving in 390 runs, and stealing 179 bases. He was worth 24 wins above replacement in this span. Victorino’s defensive prowess in center field earned him three straight Gold Gloves from 2008 to 2010.
Victorino became a fan favorite thanks to numerous high-energy plays throughout his career. The Flyin’ Hawaiian was never criticized for a lack of hustle, endearing himself to the fan base.
As the team plans to celebrate Victorino Friday night, let’s look back on the best moments of his Phillies career.
ST. LOUIS, MO – JULY 14: National League All-Star Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies takes batting practice before the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
No. 5: Winning 2009 All-Star Game Final Vote
Shane Victorino had a strong season in 2008 offensively, but it took him another year to become an All-Star. In the first half of the 2009 season, Victorino had a .309/.375/.464 line with six home runs, 42 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases.
Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Jayson Werth were all selected to the National League All-Star team after their strong first halves in 2009. However, Victorino was left off the roster, but given the chance to make the team via the Final Vote. He was one of five finalists along with Pablo Sandoval, Mark Reynolds, Matt Kemp, and Cristian Guzman.
Victorino and the team campaigned hard to get him into the All-Star Game. Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter helped campaign for Victorino. 94 WIP organized a promotion where several college students voted non-stop for more than two days straight at Citizens Bank Park. Even at my Phillies summer baseball camp, they were urging us to vote as much as we could for Victorino.
All the campaigning worked. Victorino received a record 15.6 million votes to get a place on the National League’s roster. With Carlos Beltran forced out due to injury and Charlie Manuel managing, Victorino even got the chance to start.
Victorino was an All-Star again two years later thanks to the Final Vote. However, his first All-Star Game and being able to start was certainly more memorable.
No. 4: Walk-off on Victorino bobblehead day
With Aaron Rowand manning center field in 2007, Shane Victorino spent the year playing right field. He still made a positive impact that year, posting a .770 OPS with 37 stolen bases in 131 games. He hit 12 home runs that year, but the one on June 3 that year was the most memorable.
Victorino was rather quiet during that game, going hitless in his first four at-bats. The game was a slugfest with the Phillies leading 8-7 heading into the ninth inning. Antonio Alfonseca blew the save opportunity, allowing the Giants to tie the game 8-8.
Jimmy Rollins struck out to lead off the bottom of the ninth, putting Victorino up to bat with one out and no one on. He drew a 1-0 count then lined a ball the opposite way to the left field corner, securing the walk-off win.
What made the moment even more special was that it happened on Victorino’s own bobblehead day. As the late, great Harry Kalas said, “You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
No. 3: First career home run
The start of Shane Victorino’s major-league career certainly wasn’t smooth. He debuted with the Padres in 2003 as a Rule 5 draft pick, hitting just .151 in 36 games. San Diego returned him to Dodgers in May, and he spent the rest of 2003 and all of 2004 in the Dodgers’ farm system.
The Phillies decided to take a chance on Victorino in the 2004 Rule 5 draft. He didn’t make the club out of spring training and was offered back to the Dodgers. They declined, so Victorino went back down to Triple-A. He spent all year there before making his Phillies debut in September.
When Victorino finally hit his first major-league home run, it came at an opportune time. On September 22, the Phillies and Braves were in a scoreless affair at Turner field through eight innings. Michael Tucker opened up the scoring with a RBI single in the top of the ninth inning. Victorino then blew it wide open with a three-run home run in the next at-bat.
Victorino’s home run gave Philadelphia a 4-0 win, helping keep them in the wild-card race. His first career home run took some time, but it was the first of many in a quite productive career.
No. 2: 2008 NLCS
Shane Victorino obviously had a huge impact throughout the 2008 World Series run, but the National League Championship Series was the biggest for him. He had huge moments throughout the series to help secure the moment.
In Game Two, Victorino drove in four runs with a two-run single and two-run triple. With runners on first and third and the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh, Casey Blake hit a deep fly ball into center field that could have brought the game within one. Instead, Victorino made a leaping catch in the deepest part of center field to end the inning. The final score held as the Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the series with an 8-5 win.
Game Three was the only one the Phillies lost, but it was still eventful. Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda threw a pitch near Victorino’s head, forcing him to duck out of the way. He popped back up and appeared to tell Kuroda to throw at his ribs, not at his head. After Victorino grounded out to end the inning, the benches cleared as Victorino and Kuroda continued to jaw at each other.
Victorino got his revenge the next night. Game Four of the NLCS is remembered for Matt Stairs’ home run deep into the night, but Victorino was the one who set it up with a game-tying, two-run home run of his own. The Dodgers stayed away from him in Game Five, intentionally walking him twice in the series finale.
Victorino drove in two runs and scored once in the World Series, but it was his performance in the NLCS in 2008 that really stood out.
Grand slam off C.C. Sabathia
Okay, this one was obvious. But it was a huge moment not just for Victorino, but in Phillies lore.
Cole Hamels bested Yovani Gallardo in Game One of the National League Division Series, but the Brewers did not have their ace on the mound. C.C. Sabathia pitched the last game of the season to secure the wild card for the Brewers, forcing him to wait until Game Two to pitch.
Since being traded to the Brewers, Sabathia had a 1.65 ERA, 11-2 record, and 1.003 WHIP. He threw seven complete games, including three shutouts. Despite only being on the team for half the season, he was still their most valuable player (4.9 wins above replacement). This was prime Sabathia the Phillies were up against.
The Brewers jumped out into an early lead in the first, but Pedro Feliz tied it up with a one-out RBI double in the second. After recording the second out, Sabathia walked Brett Myers on a full count, which was the most exciting walks you will ever see. Sabathia then walked Jimmy Rollins to load the bases and bring Victorino to the plate.
If you don’t already know what happened from there, Victorino lined a ball into the left field for a grand slam to make the game 5-1. It was the moment where we knew this team could take down the best and could make a deep run into the playoffs.
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Victorino’s career in Philadelphia featured plenty of excellent moments; these are just some of the most memorable. His retirement ceremony Friday night gives us the chance to look back at these great moments.
