He Wanted it More: Shane Victorino’s an All-Star

Shane Victorino was not the All-Star on that list.

A simple comparison of the stats is going to show you that out of the five, he was the least likely to be voted in.

According to the stats.

Two years ago, I sat in the stands at Citizens Bank Park, while the Phillies were embarrassing themselves in that way they sometimes do, or “Lidge-ing” it, as we’re calling it these days. Having just lost the lead late in the game, someone behind me yelled, “Remember this! Remember this in September when we’re a game or two out!”

This was followed by a hurricane of garbage being chucked from the outfield stands onto the grass below, while the Phillies were still on the field.

I peaked over the fence and looked down from the 400 level. There was Shane Victorino, kicking trash off the field, looking up and shaking his head, asking us, “Why?”

Another year, another game, and Shane hit the walk-off home run on a day they were handing out bobble heads with his likeness. I was carried out of my section by screaming fans simply because I was wearing a Victorino jersey.

Guess what, San Fran, L.A., Arizona, and, uh … Washington. You can put up a hissy-fit about how he doesn’t deserve it; how his batting average was the lowest and the whole “Bran Torino” thing was cheap.

Here’s the difference: Shane just wanted it more.

Who else of the five prospective All-Stars went door-to-door with the Mayor of their city, asking nicely for a simple click of the mouse next to his name? Who else smacked a game-winning base hit to prove their worth?

The guy’s got heart, talent, and an attitude that doesn’t make you want to throw up.  He’s fast, he’s clean, and when he isn’t throwing out Gregor Blanco at home to end the game, he’s shoving pies into a teammate’s face during an interview.

OK, yeah, Pablo Sandoval had that grand slam. Whatever.

Shane could have been elected president today if he wanted to. It’s just a matter of finding the city with most jobless, open-scheduled, OCD baseball fans.

Well, here we are.

So, Pablo, sorry about all that. But, come on, you get some time off. go home, see the family, take it easy. Shane’s going to be in St. Louis, a town most famous for having a giant parentheses within its borders. 

He’ll be relaxing on the bench, his eyes doing that weird thing where they almost bulge out of his head because the adrenaline is pumping through his veins like a dog on a chain, just out of reach of a rubber ball.

Mark Reynolds, honestly, I was scared of you the most. When that endorsement popped up on John McCain’s Twitter, I thought, “Wow, John McCain twitters? What a horrible waste of a politician’s time.”  Surely, your stats would speak for themselves, and having a presidential candidate say you were the one to vote for would be the end for us in Philly.

Cristian Guzman, I’m only apologizing to you because you’re on the Nationals.

Finally, Matt Kemp, being a Dodger, you should be used to your fans leaving before victory is achieved. 

What I’m trying to say is, no hard feelings. I am perfectly willing to acknowledge that yes, Shane was not the league leader on that list. But he did get the most votes. And you can’t get mad at a guy who’d rather play ball than have time off so badly, he jump starts his own grassroots campaign. It’s all I’m trying to say.

That, and apparently, John McCain’s opinion is worthless.