Kolten Wong

[Michael Trzinski]

Kolten Wong was born in Hilo, Hawaii and was born to play baseball. His father Kolen "Kaha" Wong played collegiate baseball at USC and played two years of minor league ball in the Cleveland Indians organization. After baseball, Kaha took part-time jobs so he could teach his son Kolten the game of baseball. Kolten Wong also became friends with Ultimate Fighting Championship star B.J. Penn and worked out at the Penn family gym, where Kolten learned to to swing a bat.

Wong graduated from Kamehameha HS in 2008 after earning Big Island Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year honors in both football and baseball his senior year. He was drafted in the 16th round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft but didn't sign after the Twins offered him 'only' $50,000, instead attending the University of Hawaii. Wong would go on to play three years at UH and was a three-time All-Western Athletic Conference first team selection. In 2010, he played in the Cape Cod League and was named to the All-Star name and also earned most valuable player honors. After his junior year, Wong was selected in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2011 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.

After nearly three full years in the minors, 'Wonger' made his big league debut as an August call-up with the Cards, but struggled in his six-week stint, hitting only .153/.194/.169 across 62 plate appearances. Strangely, he collected five of his nine hits in a two-game span in mid-August. Wong broke camp with the Cards in 2014 but was demoted to Triple-A in late April after batting only .225/.276/.268. He returned three weeks later and was in the bigs for good. Wong placed third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. The 5-foot-7, 185-pound second baseman spent eight years with St. Louis before being signed as a free agent by Milwaukee February 2021.

Wong played two seasons in Milwaukee, playing in a combined 250 games while slashing .262/.337/.439 across 989 plate appearances. In 2021, Wong set career highs with 32 doubles, and the following year he set career bests with 15 homers and an OPS+ of 116. In December 2022, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for Abraham Toro and Jesse Winker.

Wong was released after four disappointing months by the M's and was picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent time in the minors and played in only 20 games for LA before becoming a free agent. Wong signed with the Orioles and then with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being released by Baltimore. He spent a month at Triple-A with Reno and was released in May 2024. Wong announced his retirement a year later.

Wong finished his 11-year big league career with 973 hits, 86 HRs, and 120 stolen bases. A line-drive hitter with some pop is one of the top players from Hawaii.

He was inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame in 2016 and had his uniform (number 14) retired by the University of Hawaii in 2017.

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