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Yes, Old Twins Cap, I loved Torii's bat toss as well. Nothing too over the top, but just perfect when he knew he got ahold of a pitch.

It was the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. Torii Hunter was an All-Star for the first time. He left his mark in the first inning with a homer-saving catch against the wall off the bat of Barry Bonds. Hunter had plenty of spectacular catches over his career, earning him nine Gold Gloves. But that one in particular is one of the most memorable that sticks out in my mind. I don't think I'm the only one either. Hunter addresses the crowd at the end of the season. It's the end of an era now, as Hunter, 40, announced his retirement from baseball. He started and ended his career with the Twins, stopping with the Angels for five years and the Tigers for two in between. One of the favorites Hunter is right up there when you think of franchise players for the Twins. Not necessarily for his baseball stats, although those aren't too shabby either. No, Hunter represents the heart and soul of the organization. He quite often flashed those pearly whites and just had fun. The Twins drafted him in 1993, with his debut coming in 1997. It was Kirby Puckett who took him under his wing as an outfielder, and then it came full circle as Hunter became the leader for guys like Byron Buxton and Aaron Hicks. He's a career .277 hitter with 353 home runs and 1,391 RBI. He won American League Gold Glove Awards from 2001-09. He was part of the Twins core that avoided contraction and won a string of division titles. Coming home He returned to Minnesota for the 2015 season. It was really a sentimental signing, I believe. It was tough watching him slump with the bat in late summer and to watch those miscues he had in the field sometimes. But overall, it was nice to have him back in the Twins lineup. One of the other memories from this past season that sticks out isn't the most flattering for him. It was his ejection from a game against the Tigers in June. It was after a strikeout when Hunter said something to the home plate umpire about a strike 2 call. He ended up taking his jersey off and throwing it onto the field, along with his elbow pad. It was quite the scene. "Just a lot of emotions," Hunter said after the game. "We have bad days, all of us. Hitters, pitchers, even umpires have bad days. He had one. So what can you do? "All you need to do is look at the video and decide for yourself." That probably wasn't Hunter's finest moment, but it was certainly memorable. There were other things from this past season, too, like his solo home run in the 9th inning Aug. 7 in Cleveland to win the game 10-9. That was actually a weird game where the Twins gave back their 6-0 lead before rallying late. It was definitely a bright spot for Hunter though. His story seemed clear to me: He was part of a great run of division titles for the Twins in the 2000s, but played free agency because he wanted that World Series ring. Who wouldn't? He had some playoff success with the other teams, the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers, but he fell short of that final series. There was one thing he said during Thursday's news conference that I thought was great. He realized how fortunate he was to play in the playoffs for a number of years, since some guys never get that chance. "You get brainwashed into wanting a World Series," he said. So he came home. Not his born-and-raised home like it is for Joe Mauer. But Minnesota is still home for Hunter. He wanted one more year with the Twins. One more year playing baseball. One more year where he could mentor the youngsters, and start a fun dance-party tradition. Thanks for the memories Going forward, I'd like to see him on the desk for baseball broadcasts, maybe even up in the booth, too, especially for a few Twins games. He hasn't made any decisions about what path he will take in retirement, but I wouldn't mind if he wanted to coach. Or he could just hang around and mentor the young outfielders and pass on his Gold-Glove wisdom. Whatever he decides, it doesn't change what he's already given the Twins and their fans. Great catches, a signature home-run bat toss, leadership and just being one of the best overall fan favorites in team history. Thanks, Torii. Find the original blog entry at Thoughts from the Stands, a sports blog with focus on a variety of sports including the Twins, Wild, IndyCar, tennis and prep sports. You can also follow writer Heather Rule on Twitter @hlrule.

Agreed. There's definitely a need at catcher, especially when looking at the percentage of runners Suzuki throws out. I think figuring out the Plouffe-Sano-Mauer positions in the field will be one of the biggest issues in the offseason. They need to find a way for all three to be around and contribute.

It's over. The book has closed on the 2015 season for the Minnesota Twins. What a ride it was. Coming into the last week of the season, the Twins had seven games left. Many thought they needed five or six wins to capture the second AL wild card spot, or even just to tie either the Astros or Angels.The Twins ended up with three wins, all in Cleveland and the last one was a comeback victory in the late innings. Torii Hunter and the Twins addressing fans Sunday. They came home still in it, ready for three final games against the AL Central Division Champion Kansas City Royals. The Twins were swept, with Friday's loss putting them two games back in the race and Saturday's loss mathematically eliminating them from playoff contention. They scored just one run in each of these three games and overall had trouble at the plate. The hitting slump started in Cleveland. It was just a struggle to get any hits at all, let alone clutch hits or string together a nice rally. At the end of the season in the playoff hunt, that's a bad time to have the bats go cold. The final countdown Friday, the game was tied 1-1 in the 8th before Glen Perkins came in and gave up the lead. Perkins has admitted his second half this year was not a good one, after his stellar performance in the first half. But no matter how the opponent runs came across the plate last week, the Twins hitters didn't do enough. I mean, when Perk gave up those runs, the Twins had just two hits on the board. That's not going to get it done. Meanwhile, the Angels and Astros (who eventually won the second wild card spot) both won this weekend. In fact, the Astros beat up on the Arizona Diamondbacks 21-5 Friday. That seems like a pretty good statement that their team is ready for a postseason run. Glass half full, or glass half empty Now, there are two ways to look at this season for the Twins. There are all the comments that the Twins exceeded expectations in 2015. They were supposed to lose another 90 games, not finish 83-79. They weren't supposed to be anywhere near a playoff race, so this season has just been all gravy, with extra mashed potatoes. People don't want to beat up on the Twins for how their season ended, because look at all the positives and everything they accomplished. The steps forward. The great rookie performances. These things are all true, and I'm not one to disagree with these comments. Who would have thought they'd still be in contention in game 161? Things change, and that's OK Still, that doesn't mean fans can't analyze how the Twins fell short of reaching the postseason. However it happened, the fact is they were in a position to contend for the playoffs. And even though expectations were very low at the start of the season, that doesn't mean expectations can't change either. This was a team that rattled off 20 wins in the month of May, after all. It was the summer of resiliency for a team that would not quit and would not fade away. When races come down to the wire in a 162-game season, it's easy to magnify every game in September. Though it's also a good reminder of the cliche that every game counts. If you think a close 4-3 loss in April or a 12-0 blowout in June doesn't matter, it's simply not true. Every loss is still a loss. But if you want to know what I'll point to when I think back to why the Twins didn't get it done, just look at their 4-6 second-to-last homestand in September. The Twins just didn't do enough. The Astros struggled during this week, too, so it would have been a good time to gain ground. The Twins lost two of three to the abysmal Tigers. Then they lost three of four to the Angels, including blowing an early six-run lead and dropping a doubleheader. The homestand included two, 12-inning losses and a five-game losing streak. That stretch was not good enough for a team trying to make the playoffs, and it came back to haunt them. All that aside, it really was a great season. I'm not as disappointed as I would be if they underachieved and missed the playoffs. Sure, of course it's always tough when your team's season ends, whenever that is, but there is so much to look forward to in 2016 and the years to come. Find the original blog entry at Thoughts from the Stands, a sports blog with focus on a variety of sports including the Twins, Wild, IndyCar, tennis and prep sports. You can also follow writer Heather Rule on Twitter @hlrule. Click here to view the article

It's over. The book has closed on the 2015 season for the Minnesota Twins. What a ride it was. Coming into the last week of the season, the Twins had seven games left. Many thought they needed five or six wins to capture the second AL wild card spot, or even just to tie either the Astros or Angels. The Twins ended up with three wins, all in Cleveland and the last one was a comeback victory in the late innings. Torii Hunter and the Twins addressing fans Sunday. They came home still in it, ready for three final games against the AL Central Division Champion Kansas City Royals. The Twins were swept, with Friday's loss putting them two games back in the race and Saturday's loss mathematically eliminating them from playoff contention. They scored just one run in each of these three games and overall had trouble at the plate. The hitting slump started in Cleveland. It was just a struggle to get any hits at all, let alone clutch hits or string together a nice rally. At the end of the season in the playoff hunt, that's a bad time to have the bats go cold. The final countdown Friday, the game was tied 1-1 in the 8th before Glen Perkins came in and gave up the lead. Perkins has admitted his second half this year was not a good one, after his stellar performance in the first half. But no matter how the opponent runs came across the plate last week, the Twins hitters didn't do enough. I mean, when Perk gave up those runs, the Twins had just two hits on the board. That's not going to get it done. Meanwhile, the Angels and Astros (who eventually won the second wild card spot) both won this weekend. In fact, the Astros beat up on the Arizona Diamondbacks 21-5 Friday. That seems like a pretty good statement that their team is ready for a postseason run. Glass half full, or glass half empty Now, there are two ways to look at this season for the Twins. There are all the comments that the Twins exceeded expectations in 2015. They were supposed to lose another 90 games, not finish 83-79. They weren't supposed to be anywhere near a playoff race, so this season has just been all gravy, with extra mashed potatoes. People don't want to beat up on the Twins for how their season ended, because look at all the positives and everything they accomplished. The steps forward. The great rookie performances. These things are all true, and I'm not one to disagree with these comments. Who would have thought they'd still be in contention in game 161? Things change, and that's OK Still, that doesn't mean fans can't analyze how the Twins fell short of reaching the postseason. However it happened, the fact is they were in a position to contend for the playoffs. And even though expectations were very low at the start of the season, that doesn't mean expectations can't change either. This was a team that rattled off 20 wins in the month of May, after all. It was the summer of resiliency for a team that would not quit and would not fade away. When races come down to the wire in a 162-game season, it's easy to magnify every game in September. Though it's also a good reminder of the cliche that every game counts. If you think a close 4-3 loss in April or a 12-0 blowout in June doesn't matter, it's simply not true. Every loss is still a loss. But if you want to know what I'll point to when I think back to why the Twins didn't get it done, just look at their 4-6 second-to-last homestand in September. The Twins just didn't do enough. The Astros struggled during this week, too, so it would have been a good time to gain ground. The Twins lost two of three to the abysmal Tigers. Then they lost three of four to the Angels, including blowing an early six-run lead and dropping a doubleheader. The homestand included two, 12-inning losses and a five-game losing streak. That stretch was not good enough for a team trying to make the playoffs, and it came back to haunt them. All that aside, it really was a great season. I'm not as disappointed as I would be if they underachieved and missed the playoffs. Sure, of course it's always tough when your team's season ends, whenever that is, but there is so much to look forward to in 2016 and the years to come. Find the original blog entry at Thoughts from the Stands, a sports blog with focus on a variety of sports including the Twins, Wild, IndyCar, tennis and prep sports. You can also follow writer Heather Rule on Twitter @hlrule.