Like the motto of his home island, Shane Victorino is no ka oi—he's No. 1.

The Maui-born and -raised Philadelphia Phillies center fielder just completed the greatest season by a Major League baseball Player (non-pitcher) from Hawaii. This was confirmed (in my mind, at least) with his winning of a Gold Glove award announced this week.

Victorino established himself as a star in 2008, with career highs in nearly every important offensive stat. He really shone in the postseason, his clutch hitting and defense among the biggest reasons the Phillies made it to the World Series.

One of the majors' fastest players and blessed with a great arm, Victorino has vastly improved his power hitting while continuing to hone his defense and small-ball skills—like moving the winning run of the World Series over to third with a ground ball to the right side.

Two-time all-star pitcher Sid Fernandez had superb years with the Mets, including a key role in the Game Seven win of the 1986 World Series. So an argument for Fernandez as Hawaii's greatest major leaguer remains valid—for now. But Victorino is just 27 and considered by many one of the best all-around athletes in baseball. He probably hasn't reached his peak.

Rounding the bases:

» The state ethics commission will present University of Hawaii chancellor Virginia Hinshaw with what director Daniel Mollway calls a “;hefty document”; of questions about UH's Sugar Bowl travel, probably by the end of the month.

“;We had to prioritize our work with the elections,”; Mollway said. “;But we continue to work on this.”;

Central to the issue is legality of people (including spouses and children of UH personnel) going to the Sugar Bowl at state expense.

» I've been told Under Armour doesn't produce the best shoes in the world for football, not yet anyway. So was it the footwear that caused so many Hawaii players to slip and fall in the loss at Utah State?

Probably not, since this wasn't a problem in previous games.

Plus, Texas Tech is also under contract with UA, and the Red Raiders don't have any difficulties keeping their feet. Ask Texas.

All that slip-sliding away by the Warriors, though, does emphasize the importance of what is standard operating procedure for most teams, but not always UH: A walk-through at the stadium you're going to play at on the day before the game.

» Punahou associate athletic director Jeff Meister is among the applicants to become the Buffanblu AD. The top spot opens with the impending retirement of Tom Holden.

As you might guess, the job of leading what Sports Illustrated calls the best high school athletic department in the country has drawn considerable interest, locally and from the mainland. So there might be some intriguing possibilities.

But instead of the doctrine of change as advocated by that old Punahou hoopster Barry Obama in his new venture, this may very well be a case of not trying to fix something that ain't broken, and going with a competent candidate from the current administration.