Torii Hunter
Torii Hunter
Torii Kedar Hunteris an American former professional baseball center fielder and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseballfor the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Detroit Tigers from 1997 through 2015. Hunter was a five-time All-Star, won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards as a center fielder and was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth18 July 1975
CityPine Bluff, AR
CountryUnited States of America
I've been with Brad forever, I've known him 13 years, and it's tough to see him go through this. He's such a great guy and it might possibly be his last year. To see him go through this, this early, we know he can still make a good comeback. And that's what we're banking on.
We'll try to clear up some things, kind of throw all that out of the way. I'm sure it's gone, but we're going to reiterate it. I don't think we have too many bad guys here.
It's kind of different, because I'm used to having Jacque (Jones) and J.C. (Romero) and all those guys around. When I came up in '99, I played with those guys in the minor leagues, so we had the chemistry already. There are a lot of new faces in here. A lot of guys, I don't really know their names.
If the guy stays healthy, we're going to win. I'll put my money on that. If he stays healthy and hits, then we're going to win.
He loved to talk to you. He helped the younger guys -- especially the younger black players.
Spring training is a (time) to get to know your team. We've got new guys on our club, and you don't even know these guys.
I look at the track record, ... Most of the guys are gone that made an impact on this club. You never know. It's a business.
I'm going to put his jersey in there and leave it in there. He's somebody who inspired me to play the game of baseball. This guy pushed me to get to the major leagues. 'I want you to come to take my spot, OK, Little Puck.' He called me Little Puck.
I learned about this game from him. He's a guy I look to like he's an older brother. I've come up in this game just by watching what Kirby Puckett is all about.
I've patterned my game after him. He's like a big brother to me.
I smell blood. I'm like a pit bull. Once I taste blood I'm on you ... and I'm about to taste blood.
Everybody knows if Shannon stays healthy, he's going to set the table. He's the igniter, and we need him in the lineup.
Everybody goes through that at some point. I'm not an April guy, I usually start off slow. I've gone 0-for-23 before, and ended up hitting .290, so he'll be fine.
We couldn't pick up the ball early because of the shadows, but that's just an excuse. He was throwing well.