12 Days of Twinsmas: #12 Torii Hunter

There have been plenty of great players in the history of the Minnesota Twins. From Killebrew to Buxton and many in-between, it is tough to narrow it down to the top twelve players in the history of the Twins. One player who had a huge impact on me growing up was the electrifying Torii Hunter. Torii Hunter is the 12th greatest player in Twins history.

Rough Start
Torii Hunter was drafted 20th overall in the 1993 draft by the Twins out of Pine Bluff High School in Arkansas. He spent parts of five seasons in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut as a pinch runner in 1997. In 1998, he mostly spent time in the minor leagues and it wasn’t until 1999 that he finally played a full season in the majors. He hit .255/.309/.380 (.689) while only accumulating 0.1 fWAR in 135 games for the Twins. In 2000, he had a terrible start to the season, hitting .207 with an OPS of .543 and no home runs in 140 at-bats. He was then demoted to AAA, and he thrived, hitting .368/.403/.727 with 18 home runs in 55 games. He was then recalled to the big leagues on July 29 and hit .332/.371/.485 in 53 games the rest of the season.

The Prime
From 2001 to 2007, Torii Hunter was one of the best center fielders in all of MLB. He was 5th among all center fielders in fWAR (22.4), 4th in Home Runs (178), and 3rd in RBI (630). Defensively, among all center fielders, Hunter was second in defensive WAR with 7.7 in this seven year stretch, behind only Andruw Jones. He won an incredible seven straight gold gloves with the Twins in this span, while being voted as an all-star twice.

His best season was 2002. Hunter hit .289/.334/.524 (.858) with 37 doubles, 29 home runs, 94 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. Hunter finished 6th in MVP voting, won a gold glove, made the all-star team as a starter, and was a leader of the first Twins team to win the AL Central. They beat the Moneyball A’s in the ALDS in five games before eventually losing to the World Series Champion Angels in five games in the ALCS.

The Robbery
Hunter was notorious for making incredible catches in the outfield. Despite having a good 2001 season, he still was not a household name. Then came 2002. Hunter had an incredible first half, hitting .306/.347/.564 (.911) with a wRC+ of 135 and 20 home runs while stealing 14 bases. For this effort, Hunter was rewarded by being named the American League All-Star starting center fielder.

Then came the All-Star Game. In the bottom of the first inning with two outs, slugger Barry Bonds stepped up to the plate for the National League. Derek Lowe threw Bonds a 1-1 hanging slider, and Bonds (who hit 73 home runs the year prior) unloaded on it to center field. The crowd erupted, thinking Bonds had just hit a home run. Hunter had other thoughts. He raced back to the wall, timed his leap perfectly, and robbed Bonds of a home run. On his way into the dugout, Bonds picked Hunter up and lifted him over his shoulder. This was an iconic moment in Hunter’s career and put the league on notice.

Leadership
Hunter was never afraid to speak his mind. In 2015, he came back for one final season with the Twins. That season was very impactful for young Twins such as Aaron Hicks and Byron Buxton. In a 2016 interview, Buxton said he still talked to Torii Hunter weekly about baseball. Hunter clearly had a knack for helping the young bucks with their game, and his impact is still seen today through Buxton.

Hunter also knew how to fire a team up. Most notably, he threw a tantrum in which he berated the home plate umpire for a bad strike three call, and he started to throw his equipment, including his jersey, onto the field when they had to remove him.

Conclusion
Torii Hunter was a great center fielder for the Twins teams of the early 2000’s, accumulating 22.6 fWAR across ten seasons with the Twins. In his Twins career, he hit .268/.321/.462 (.783). He also hit 214 home runs which is 6th in franchise history, stole 128 bases (14th), and hit 281 doubles (13th).

He impacted the team on and off the field, was an idol for many young Minnesotan ballplayers, and is an all-time fan favorite in Minnesota for rejuvenating the Twins in the early 2000s.

Stay tuned for the second day of Twinsmas!

Thank you for reading, and Go Twins