Philadelphia Phillies’ Shane Victorino can’t wait for next season
Shane Victorino was recently present at a dinner event for Philadelphia Sports Writers’ Association (PSWA) and he was more than willing to talk about the upcoming season.
The hard hitter claimed the humanitarian award for 2010 at the event and it sparked a mood to unveil the emotions leading up to the coming season.
Victorino has been involved in social work for a long time now and his main focus has been on his organization, Shane Victorino Foundation. The entity works at providing recreation, educational, and, health programs, to children across Philadelphia and Hawaii.
The programs also include a dedication of $900,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia.
"Doing stuff off the field and being recognized for it means a lot to me", Victorino said in the pre-dinner news conference. "Individual accomplishments are always great, but our team goal in 2011 is to win the World Series".
Victorino was present at the dinner with team mate Roy Halladay and majority of the club management officials. The team representatives were more than eager to talk about their soon to begin campaign, for the World Series in April.
With only 15 days left till spring training, the crew was more than happy to pounce at the prospect of getting on to the field again.
Shane and the general manager, Ruben Amaro Jr. agreed that the roster seems like the best one to date.
"If we hit and we pitch, ultimately I'd have to say on paper that we're the best team", Victorino said. "I'm not one to make predictions and make these bold statements to stir the pot, but I think if you look, on paper, we're favourites to win it all. But
we've got to go play. I've always said that. You have to play 162 games and try to win 11 games in the playoffs. We did it in '08. We came up short in '09. We came up short in '10. But '11 is a different year. But this team is pretty excited, and I know the
city is".
There is a sense of restlessness in Victorino’s stance on the future. There are a lot of teams looking to mark their presence in the regular league but the Phillies have their added advantage in the form of a strong pitching unit. Will it truly be their
year, this time around?
Tags: