M.A.R.A.

Shane Victorino

is a right-handed switch hitter and center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies. He bats 8th in the line-up in

Tonight’s GAME 2 of the WORLD SERIES Yankees v. Phillies at Yankee Stadium.

Watch it on Fox at 7:30pm/ET.

A track champion with a phenomenal right-arm, Victorino gains respect for his incredible speed and mad throwing skillz. Even more impressive are his accomplishments despite his relatively small stature at 5’9”. More on his stats here and here.

Victorino was born November 30, 1980 in Wailuku, Hawaii and is classified as “Pacific Islander” on his myspace.

While Wiki tags Victorino under Portuguese- and Japanese- American, and other sites claim he is also of Filipino descent, there are no primary sources confirming this information. Can anyone point me to anything that can confirm?

In the meantime check out a great piece on Victorino here.

Keywords: Famous Asians, Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies, Yankees, World Series 2009, October 29
Thanks to Joe P for the ref!
Photos via: 1, 2, 3

Chan Ho Park

ALCS: NY Yankees v. Anaheim Angels - Yanks lead series 2-1
NLCS: LA Dodgers v. Philadelphia Phillies - Phillies lead 3-1

Can there be more build up in this year’s fight for the World Series? Park has been the relief pitcher for the Phillies since January of this year. He’s pitching against the Dodgers, which is a team with whom he played for a total of 9 years from 1994-2001 and 2008.

The Dodgers are fighting for a shot at the world series under Joe Torre, who managed and led the Yankees to the post-season for all 10 years Torre was with the Yankees. The Yankees are vying for a shot at the World Series as well.

I’m not really following the NLCS series, because I’m focusing on the ALCS Yankees series, but I have read that Park was phenomenal in the 1st game of the NLCS. He entered the game in the 7th inning, no outs, and a tying run on 2nd. He pitched 3 outs to retire 3 power hitters on the opposing team and positioned the Phillies for a decent shot against the Dodgers. ROCK ON!

Park was born June 30, 1973, and is the first Korean-born major league baseball player. In his prime, Park was a “power pitcher with a dominating fastball in the mid-to-high-90-mph range, a hard slider, an 11-to-5 curveball, and a changeup”. (Wiki)

In reference to Park’s two-seam fastball (Yeah, don’t ask me exactly what that is…I’m guessing it’s a pretty sick pitch), play-by-play baseball announcer, Matt Vasgersian, once commented: “You can only see a two-seamer like that in Playstation 2.” Awe shit.

The Phillies lead the NLCS 3-1, next game is on Wednesday, October 21, 8pm on TBS.

Keywords: Asian athletes, famous asians, korean athletes, Phillies, NLCS
Photo via

Hideki Matsui

Live today!!! on FOX at 4pm
YANKEES v. Angels at Anaheim
GAME 3: American League Championship

Yanks lead over the Angels 2-0 in a ‘best of 7’ series. ALCS and National League Championship Series (NLCS) winners will compete in the WORLD SERIES, which starts October 28th.

(The Philadelphia Phillies lead the NLCS 2-1 against the LA Dodgers, now managed by former Yankee manager, Joe Torre. GO Yanks v. Dodgers world series!!! A former Yankees coaching the opposing team? TOO AWESOME…)

An instrumental player in the Yankee organization, Matsui is a top hitter and bats 7th in the line-up this season. Matsui is currently a designated hitter and is on hold from his left-field post to allow his last-season knee injury to heal. His stats can be found here.

Interesting Wiki tidbit: Playing baseball as a kid, Matsui’s older brother forced him to bat left-handed because he was too good (better than his older brother) as a righty. He wasn’t allowed to play with his older brother and his friends otherwise. Matsui’s been ROCKIN’ power hits as a lefty batter since. (He throws right-handed though)

Matsui was born June 12, 1974 in Neagari Ishikawa, Japan, signed with the Yankees in 2003, and married in a private ceremony in 2008. More on how he was discovered, how he obtained his nickname and other interesting tidbits on Wiki.

GAME ON!

Related posts: Asian athletes
Keywords: Famous Asian athletes, Yankees, ACLS Game 3, Hideki Matsui, Yankees vs. Angels
[photos: 1, 2, 3, 4]
Thanks Tony B for help on this posting!

famousfilipinos:

Benny Agbayani

Benny Peter Agbayani, Jr. (born December 28, 1971 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a professional baseball player on the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan. Born in Hawaii to Filipino and Samoan parents,^[1] he attended Saint Louis School and Hawaii Pacific University. He also attended the Oregon Institute of Technology. He formerly played with the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox.