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Torii Hunter News & Rumors

Torii Hunter keeps Angels in chase
September 25
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter glanced at the television in the Angels clubhouse Saturday afternoon and noticed the New York Yankees leading the Boston Red Sox by eight runs after three innings. "The Sox are trying to give [it] to us, man," Hunter said, marveling at Boston's spectacular collapse and the American League wild-card window that has opened. "We'll take it." The Angels, led by the hungry Hunter, who is 35 and desperate to play in his first World Series, finally looked as if they wanted it Saturday night."
Change in Gold Glove rules could benefit Torii Hunter
September 22
Los Angeles Times
 
"For the first time in 50 years, voters for the Gold Glove awards will be required to vote for two corner outfielders in each league. That could boost the candidacy of the Angels' Torii Hunter, who won nine Gold Gloves as a center fielder and is having a solid season in right field. "Torii's made a switch, which could have been difficult, seamless," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's played terrific right field for us." Hunter has a career-high 15 assists this season while turning in a number of highlight-reel catches. But under the old voting guidelines, in which all outfielders were lumped together in the balloting, he probably would have been overshadowed by flashier center fielders such"
Angels' Torii Hunter sees himself in prospect Jeremy Moore
September 4
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter is among baseball's most loquacious players, but ask the Angels right fielder what he sees in Jeremy Moore, the 24-year-old outfield prospect he took into his home last winter, and the usually effusive veteran needs only one word to respond: "Me." Hunter wasn't just referring to Moore's superb speed, athletic ability, power and aggressive outfield play. He was drawn to Moore during a rehabilitation assignment with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2009 because of shared life experiences."
Hunter makes sure Angels play like contenders
August 20
Orange County Register
 
"They never would acknowledge it, but the Angels get to look forward to a stretch of bad opponents - the sort of opponents division winners would beat up on. Friday was a good start. The Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3, at Angel Stadium, giving starter Dan Haren some rare early run support and withstanding the Orioles' drip-drip-drip offense. Excluding head-to-head matchups with the Texas Rangers, the Angels have 30 games remaining. Twenty-three are against teams with losing records, including series against the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins and Oakland A's this month. Friday's game was a perfect example of the opportunity bad teams give the Angels. They"
Torii Hunter, Angels have reasons to smile
August 20
L.A. Daily News
 
"No matter how down the Angels get, Torii Hunter usually has a smile and bright outlook. The veteran undoubtedly is one of the most well-liked players in the major leagues, and he's maintained a cheery face in the gloomiest of times this season. That includes a series loss to Texas that further exposed the Angels as an offensively challenged team clinging to playoff hopes. But Hunter continued to keep the Angels in good spirits Friday with two home runs and five RBIs in an 8-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium. On a day when the Angels continued their youth movement with the recall of top prospect Mike Trout, the 36-year-old Hunter hit a three-run homer in the first inning"
Torii Hunter turns up power for Angels
August 20
Los Angeles Times
 
"The key to Torii Hunter 's torrid August, the Angels right fielder said, has been not trying to hit home runs. "I'm not swinging for the fences," Hunter said. "I'm trying to simplify everything, take what the pitcher gives me, hit singles up the middle and to right field." Hunter had some explaining to do Friday night, because it sure didn't look like he was trying to line the ball up the middle or slap it to right field. After a Peter Bourjos leadoff double, an Alberto Callaspo single and a Howie Kendrick run-scoring single, Hunter hit a towering three-run home run to left field to cap a four-run first inning. Hunter then followed Callaspo's single in the seventh by driving a"
Torii Hunter doesn't plan to pitch team to free agents
August 15
Los Angeles Times
 
"Reporting from Toronto— Torii Hunter led the drive to keep Mark Teixeira in Anaheim three years ago. He recruited Carl Crawford last year. His career as a pitchman, he says, is over. "I'm retired," Hunter said. "It hasn't been working out." The New York Yankees bid $180 million for Teixeira, the Boston Red Sox $142 million for Crawford. Angels owner Arte Moreno had no interest in matching either bid. The marquee free agents this winter could include Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins and CC Sabathia. Hunter said he would be happy to try to sell any free agent on the Angels, but he won't make the first call or send the first text. "If somebody wants to call and talk to"
Hunter lets bat express joy over new spot in lineup
August 11
Orange County Register
 
"When Angels manager Mike Scioscia moved Torii Hunter out of the No. 2 spot in the Angels' lineup last week, Hunter did not do a dance in the middle of the locker room or start chanting, "Free at last. Free at last." His bat has done it for him. Hunter has a hit in each of the eight games since he was moved out of the second spot, multiple hits in five of them, including three three-hit games, and is 16 for 31 (.516) since the change. "I was so happy," Hunter said. "I didn't feel comfortable in the '2-hole' – but we were winning. Don't break it." Hunter spent most of a month batting second in the Angels' lineup, a move Scioscia made to try and jump-start both Hunter and the middle of the"
Center fielders past and present get together
August 4
Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
"When Torii Hunter, Denard Span and Ben Revere met for breakfast on Wednesday, it was a gathering of three center fielders chosen as first-round draft picks by the Twins. Hunter, now in his fourth year with the Angels, had some advice for both of them. On Revere, Hunter said, "He seems like a good kid; very polite, always smiling. And he's put together, to be sure. He's going to be fine. He asks a lot of questions." As for Span, who heard his name mentioned repeatedly before the recent trade deadline, Hunter said, "Hey, if somebody trades for you, they actually want you. The Nationals probably need a leadoff guy, and Denard Span fit the profile."
Hunter's HRs lead way for the Angels
July 10
Orange County Register
 
"These have not been the best of times for Torii Hunter. The Angels' leader struggled so mightily early in the season that he called it "seven weeks of hell" personally at one point. His team needed him, and Hunter was unable to provide the lift he desperately wanted to supply. And even through June and into July as the Angels have roared to life, Hunter was largely a bit player in the revival. He missed time with bruised ribs and a bruised hand, accepted an uncomfortable move to the second spot in the lineup because "I just work here," all while batting .226 with one home run and nine RBI in 30 games before Saturday. Like a hero in a country song post-game entertainer Dierks Bentley might"
Torii Hunter drives in five runs as Angels defeat Seattle 9-3
July 10
L.A. Daily News
 
"Torii Hunter's bat didn't actually resemble an icicle over his past 30 games, it just seemed that way. But he went into Saturday's game against the Seattle Mariners with a frosty average of .226 with one home run and nine RBIs in his past 106 at-bats. Then Hunter slammed the first pitch he saw from Mariners right-hander Michael Pineda in the third inning over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer, propelling the Angels to a 9-3 victory and perhaps signaling that a thaw is underway. The veteran right fielder also hit a two-run homer off Pineda in the fifth inning for a season-high five-RBI game and added a broken bat single in the eighth off reliever Chris Ray, raising his"
Veterans guide Angels to first place
July 5
Orange County Register
 
"It is not the last place you would have expected to find the Angels on the Fourth of July this year – but it wasn't the first place, either. The Angels reached the holiday in first place in the AL West for the fifth time in the past seven seasons (and stayed that way after a win over the Tiges). This time, though, it seemed like they got there with one arm tied behind their back – an offense that has been sporadic at best and must "get better," as Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Monday. "I don't feel any different," Scioscia said of his team's sharing first place with the Rangers. "We've started to get some wins and inch up there. It's really academic where you are right now. You might"
Hunter, Abreu and Wells kept together in lineup
July 5
L.A. Daily News
 
"Manager Mike Scioscia had a direct answer when asked about keeping the Torii Hunter-Bobby Abreu-Vernon Wells triumvirate connected in the lineup. "Probably because we've tried every other thing and we've probably gone the wrong direction," Scioscia said. Scioscia gathered the three players a few weeks ago and told them he was going to marry them in the middle of the order in an attempt to generate offense, and he stuck to that when Hunter returned to the lineup Monday night. And Hunter was back hitting second, where he was first placed in June after he hit there only 16 previous times in his career. He hasn't had much success, hitting only .135 (5 for 37) in the two spot coming into Monday"
Torii Hunter, Peter Bourjos shine in the outfield in 5-1 victory over Detroit
July 5
L.A. Daily News
 
"It was difficult to determine which was more entertaining Monday night at Angel Stadium: A scorekeeper's "F8" or the return of No. 48. While Torii Hunter returned to the starting lineup in dramatic fashion with a home run in his first at-bat, center field teammate Peter Bourjos was all over the field - and the outfield walls and basepaths. Bourjos turned a pair of highlight catches as the Angels defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-1 in front of 43,012. Bourjos also singled and stole two bases in the third, then presumably went to the oxygen tank after the Angels' ninth victory in 11 games kept them tied with Texas for first place in the American League West. "We can play better, we can all play"
Torii Hunter's X-ray, CT scan negative
July 3
Los Angeles Times
 
"X-rays and a CT scan on the left hand of Angels right fielder Torii Hunter, which was hit by a Hiroki Kuroda pitch in the first inning Friday night, were negative. But soreness and swelling in the hand forced Hunter out of the lineup for Saturday night's game against the Dodgers, which will feature two of baseball's best pitchers, Angels right-hander Jered Weaver and Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw. It's also doubtful Hunter will start Sunday night's series finale. "I thought it was broke," said Hunter, who played defense in the top of the second inning but came out of the game before the third. "I had no feeling in my hand. I wanted to run the bases, play defense and see what happens."
Torii expected to return to lineup Tuesday
June 28
MLB.com
 
"Angels right fielder Torii Hunter passed his latest pregame test of his bruised rib before Monday night's series opener against the Nationals and is expected to be back in the lineup on Tuesday night, having missed four starts. Manager Mike Scioscia anticipated having Hunter available for late-game duty as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement in the series opener. The Angels are kicking off a 13-game homestand heading into the All-Star break."
Torii Hunter sits out for first time this season
June 25
Los Angeles Times
 
"Angels outfielder Torii Hunter had appeared in all 76 of the club's games until sitting out Friday against the Dodgers after he suffered a rib bruise Wednesday. Manager Mike Scioscia said Hunter, who left Wednesday's game at Florida in the fifth inning after crashing into the right-field wall as he made a catch, probably will miss a couple of days. Hunter is listed as day-to-day after X-rays taken Thursday came back negative. Scioscia also said reliever Fernando Rodney, who was eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, needs more time before returning from upper-back tightness that has sidelined him since June 9. The right-hander was scheduled to play catch Friday and Scioscia said"
Angels' Hunter hurts ribs in crash
June 23
Orange County Register
 
"Angels right fielder Torii Hunter left Wednesday's game against the Florida Marlins in the fifth inning after suffering a left posterior rib contusion when he slammed into the wall at Sun Life Stadium. X-rays were normal for fractured ribs, which Hunter originally feared when he made the running catch of a Gaby Sanchez fly ball and then crumpled to the warning track, where he remained down for four minutes. "It was a big out and I paid for it," said Hunter, who is now listed as day-to-day. "My whole insides shook. I'm sore like Ray Lewis hit me." On impact, Hunter's elbow jabbed the side of his rib cage, knocking the wind out of him. Hunter said he argued but lost to Angels manager Mike"
Torii Hunter leaves game with bruised ribs after hitting wall
June 23
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter's rib cage was extremely sore after Wednesday night's game, in which he was knocked out by a violent fifth-inning crash into the wall, but the Angels right fielder was still smiling and joking with teammates and reporters. "I'd be in a lot more pain if we lost," Hunter said after the Angels pulled out a wild 6-5, 10-inning victory against the Florida Marlins in Sun Life Stadium. "Right now, I'm on a good muscle relaxant, and I'm kind of high. I feel good." He was in agony a few hours earlier after crashing into the wall while making a superb leaping catch of Gaby Sanchez's drive in the fifth. Hunter, whose left shoulder bore the brunt of the impact, crumpled onto the warning"
Hunter comes through for both Angels RBIs against Marlins
June 21
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter needed to come through Monday for the offensively challenged Angels, who again found themselves unable to provide run support for a starting pitcher single-handedly holding the team in the game. "The first time I failed, but the next two, I just tried to make something happen, stay short and make the adjustment and I did that," said Hunter, who punched in both runs in the Angels' 2-1 victory on a muggy Monday night against the skidding Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Hunter struck out looking in the first inning, leaving Maicer Izturis, who doubled, stranded at second base. Hunter redeemed himself in the sixth, clubbing an Anibel Sanchez changeup"
Hunter 'cool' with lineup changes
June 9
L.A. Daily News
 
"Just how bad is the Angels' offense? Torii Hunter was moved to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, a radical change manager Mike Scioscia made in an attempt to jolt an ineffective offense. Hunter, who turns 36 next month, hadn't batted second since 1999 when he was with the Minnesota Twins. "You've got to stir it up and do whatever you have to do," Hunter said. "He came to me and said I was in the 2-hole. Can you believe that? What do you think about hitting second? I said `What?' I thought about it for a minute and thought it was kind of cool stirring up the lineup like that. "The last four days weren't fun at all. He's trying to stir it up and put guys in position they don't normally get in,"
Torii Hunter bats second in the order as Angels search for offense
June 9
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter did not object to being moved from the cleanup spot, where he has spent most of this season, to the second spot, a slot he hadn't started in since he was a 23-year-old rookie with the Minnesota Twins in 1999. "What's the worst that can happen?" Hunter said Wednesday before the Angels' game against the Tampa Bay Rays. "The last four days were the worst." The Angels had lost four straight and six of seven games entering Wednesday, scoring 13 runs and hitting .190 with runners in scoring position in the seven games. Hunter has struggled under the burden of carrying a club that is without slugger Kendrys Morales for the whole season and lost Vernon Wells for a month and Howie"
Time to be worried about Torii Hunter?
June 6
Orange County Register
 columnist Jeff Miller
"The Angels present a variety of very compelling reasons to be concerned. Like a lineup pocked with bottom-of-the-order hitters. And an offense that lacks muscle. And Fernando Rodney. Well, it might be time to add another concern to the list, a big one, one that, before this season, would have sounded ridiculous. It might be time to be concerned about Torii Hunter. OK, let's be totally honest today. It might be passed the time to be concerned about him. Yeah, perhaps the most optimistic man in baseball, has been performing that pessimistically of late. If not now — now that Hunter's batting average has dropped below .230, after a game in which he stranded six more runners, after his 17th"
Hunter starting to show off his arm
June 5
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter usually doesn't say good things about playing right field. He's happy to do what's best for the team, but he misses center field, and he's known to stare off wistfully while talking about his old position. But there's one benefit to playing right field: He gets to show off his arm. The Angels outfielder said he has always had a strong arm, but he certainly wasn't known for it before he moved from center to right in the middle of the 2010 season. Then came a play against the Red Sox this April, when he caught a ball along the right-field line, spun and threw on the fly to third base. It was a spectacular throw, "one of the best of my career," Hunter said. The throw beat Boston"
Hunter reaches milestone in Angels victory
May 31
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter's road to 1,000 career RBIs began with the Twins — and ended with triplets. Hunter's second home run of the game Monday, a two-run shot in the ninth inning that capped the Angels' comeback to a 10-8 victory, gave him four RBIs for the day and exactly 1,000 in his major league career. That was news to Hunter. "I had no freakin' idea," Hunter said of being informed of the milestone after the game. "When Ryan (Cavinder of the Angels' PR department) told me, 'You got 1,000 RBIs' I was, 'What? Damn, I'm old.' That was the first thing I thought. "That's impressive. That's why I kept the ball. I'm going to show my grandkids — you have to have proof." The ball landed in the left-field"
Torii Hunter has a day for the ages in Angels' 10-8 victory over Royals
May 31
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter says he doesn't pay attention to numbers. But there's one he's very aware of — 35, which is the Angels outfielder's age. So when he found out his two-run ninth-inning home run Monday not only lifted his team to a 10-8 win over the Kansas City Royals, but also gave him 1,000 runs batted in for his career, one thought popped into his mind. "I'm old," he sighed. Maybe. But he's not playing that way, at least not lately. And that's given the Angels an extra spring in their step as well. In erasing a 6-1 second-inning deficit, the Angels rallied from five runs down to win for the second time in four games — and for the third time this month, only the second time in franchise"
Hunter trying to get in sync with Bourjos
May 29
Orange County Register
 
"Every time he tracks a fly ball to his left, those nine Gold Gloves have to be somewhere in Peter Bourjos' head. "Probably so – it's in my head," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said with a laugh. Hunter won those nine Gold Gloves as one of the premier centerfielders of his era. His move to right field, making room for Bourjos in center, has given the Angels exceptional range and outfield defense, even more so when three-time Gold Glove winner Vernon Wells was in left field. But it has also created an unintentional turf war between Bourjos and Hunter. The range of the two has overlapped frequently, leading to some clashes like Friday's near-disaster on Alexi Casilla's routine fly. Both"
Torii Hunter is The Man again as Angels beat A's, 4-1
May 24
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter has been trying to carry the Angels for awhile – to the detriment of both. But now he is. One day after breaking one of the longest home run droughts of his career with the big hit in an Angels' win, Hunter came through again with the bat – and his arm – in a 4-1 victory over the Oakland A's Monday night. "Torii's a good hitter," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who has been more honest than Hunter about the veteran's handicapping himself by trying too hard to lift the team by himself. "He's too good a hitter to stay down as long as we saw. "His swing was getting big and I think he really did feel he had to break a game open with a home run here and there. He's using the"
Angels lose one in the sun to Mariners, 2-1
May 20
Los Angeles Times
 
"After two miserable nights in rainy, frigid Oakland, where they lost an extra-innings heartbreaker Monday and a 14-run blowout Tuesday, the Angels could not believe the warmth and sunshine that greeted them in the often-gloomy Pacific Northwest. "It was like we were locked in a shower for two days," outfielder Torii Hunter said upon arriving in Safeco Field on Wednesday. "Man, I'm so happy to see the sun." Thursday, Hunter was cursing that sun. Making his first start of the season in center field, the nine-time Gold Glove award winner lost a fly ball in the sun in the ninth inning Thursday, allowing the Seattle Mariners to score the winning run in a 2-1 victory. The Angels' fifth"
Angels look for answers to Hunter's struggles
May 19
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter obviously finds the numbers hard to swallow. After going hitless Wednesday in Seattle, Hunter is batting .223. He has grounded into a league-leading 12 double plays, second in the majors to Albert Pujols. He hasn't hit a home run since April 21 and has just one extra base hit since May 3. "Those are my numbers, but those numbers aren't me," Hunter said, not running from them, but not willing to accept them either. Most disturbing for the Angels, though, is Hunter's .212 average (11 for 52) with runners in scoring position with 10 strikeouts and five of his double plays in those situations. On a team starved for clutch hitting (they entered Wednesday 18th in the majors and 10th"
Angels' Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells exit early
April 25
Los Angeles Times
 
"Late in the Angels' 7-0 loss to Boston on Sunday, Manager Mike Scioscia took right fielder Torii Hunter out of the game. "He told me I [stink] right now, so I just need to take a mental break," Hunter said. Hunter is hitting .102 (five for 49) in his last 13 games, and though nearly all the Angels are struggling offensively, having scored only five runs in four games, Hunter's frustration is obvious. "Torii is swinging a lot better than what his stats show," hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. "He's hitting a lot of balls hard, but he's not getting hits." Hunter agrees. "They say hit the ball hard and you'll get a hit," said Hunter, who was two for 13 in the four-game series with Boston."
Dealing with slump, Angels' Torii Hunter gets a big hit
April 22
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter knows which keys to strike when he's slumping. Hit to right center. Take more pitches. Keep the head still. Don't swing as hard. Thursday, in the throes of a three-for-36 skid that dropped his batting average to .208 before the opener of a four-game set against the Boston Red Sox, Hunter added an early round of batting practice. And when that session didn't progress as crisply as Hunter had hoped, he resorted to throwing his bat to the third base coach's box. Add in a new slump checklist item: Blow off steam. Hunter, after two groundouts Thursday, spoiled what appeared to be a Josh Beckett masterpiece by slamming a full-count, seventh-inning pitch over the fence in dead center"
Torii Hunter leads Angels to 4-2 victory over Kansas City
April 1
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter stood before his locker in a corner of the Angels clubhouse Thursday afternoon and joked about getting some T-shirts made. "They're going to say OG on them," he said, drawing a line across his chest with an index finger. "That's supposed to stand for Original Gangster. But mine are going to stand for Old Goat." A couple of hours later Hunter showed that, old or not, this goat is not ready to be put out to pasture just yet, collecting two hits, including a long fourth-inning home run to start the Angels on their way to a 4-2 season-opening win over the Kansas City Royals. While Jered Weaver set the mood on the mound, holding the Royals to two singles by Melky Cabrera through"
Angels' Hunter: I haven't lost a step
September 17
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter answers exactly how you would expect him to. "No, I haven't," he said when asked if maybe - just maybe - he had lost a step in speed and quickness this year. "I haven't." If Hunter is slowing down at age 35, the evidence might be in his 42 percent success rate on stolen base attempts (9 of 21). His 12 times thrown out trying to steal (including five at third base) ties him for eighth in the majors. Everyone ahead of him on that list has at least twice as many successful steal attempts as Hunter. It might be in the handful of times he has been thrown out on the bases (like Tuesday in Cleveland when he tried to score from first on a double to left field by Hideki Matsui and was"
Angels' Torii Hunter tries to adjust as Cleveland wins, 4-3
September 15
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter has missed the playoffs just twice in the last eight seasons. So entering the third week of September with nothing to play for but pride isn't something he's accustomed to. "It's tough," Hunter said Tuesday, before Shelly Duncan drove in four runs with a pair of homers to lift the dreadful Cleveland Indians to a 4-3 win over his Angels. "I don't even know what to do with myself. In my mind, I still feel like we've got a chance. Maybe because for so many years I was just always in a race." There was certainly no race to be won Tuesday, not with the Angels falling four games below .500 and the Indians on pace for their worst record in two decades. And after drawing a "crowd""
Torii Hunter remains realistic about Angels' postseason chances
September 10
Los Angeles Times
 
"Opportunity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Manager Mike Scioscia remains optimistic about the Angels making some kind of playoff push, saying before Wednesday's 16-inning win over the Cleveland Indians that "we have the opportunity here where if we start playing well, we can really make this interesting." Torii Hunter remains realistic. Even after the marathon 4-3 victory, the center fielder acknowledged that the Angels failed to capitalize on what may have been their best and last chance to challenge Texas for the American League West title. "It was right there in front of us," Hunter said of an 18-game stretch against Baltimore, Seattle, Oakland and Cleveland that began on"
Abreu, Hunter feeling weight of responsibility
September 6
Orange County Register
 
"As the two veteran leaders on an underachieving team deprived of its best hitter, Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu have carried a heavy load. And it has clearly worn on them. Hunter went 20 games without driving in a run his solo home run Saturday, essentially the longest RBI-less stretch of his major-league career. (His only longer streak, 22 games in 2000, was wrapped around a demotion to Triple-A.) And he has been a repeat offender when it comes to misguided overaggressive baserunning. Meanwhile, Abreu (who drove in three runs Sunday) appears headed to career full-season lows in batting average (.253), on-base percentage (.348) and slugging percentage (.428) and seems certain to fall short"
Bourjos a lot like Hunter
August 25
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter looked over from right field Monday night and got to watch Peter Bourjos go up over the outfield wall and bring back a home run - twice. The first time, Bourjos couldn't hang on to the ball and Sean Rodriguez got a double. The second time, the ball stayed in his glove. "He played well," Hunter said after Monday's loss to Tampa Bay. "That one ball, he could've probably gotten that. I don't know if he knew the wall was there or not, but the next time, he made an adjustment. That guy is an athlete. He's not even in comfortable in the big leagues yet, and he's playing great defense. "That's how I got started. I played great defense first, and I learned how to hit a year or two"
Torii Hunter blown away by his first look at Target Field
August 21
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
"Torii Hunter hasn't been a Minnesota Twin since 2007. He's in his third year with his second big-league team. He's moved to the West Coast and to right field. But he still can't let go. His teammates notice this, and they don't let it slide. They'll catch Hunter in the Angels' clubhouse, watching a Twins game on television. "They actually tell me, 'Get over it!' " Hunter said Friday. "They're screaming at me and everything." Walking into Target Field — his first glimpse of a ballpark he helped stump for, one his voice, his presence and his play helped build — Hunter realized that his teammates are right. His time in Minnesota, without a doubt, is over, left behind on the other side of"
Torii Hunter dazzled by Twins' new park
August 21
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter got to Target Field at about 1 p.m. CDT Friday, six hours before the Angels' first game in Minnesota's new $522-million open-air stadium, and after taking a tour of the facility the Angels right fielder declared, "This place is awesome!" Hunter, who played nine years for the Twins in the dingy and sparsely appointed Metrodome, loved the limestone exterior and interior accents, the playing surface, the seating configurations and the giant video board."
Torii Hunter feels he's a key to the Twins' new home
August 20
Los Angeles Times
 
"Target Field, the new 39,504-seat, open-air home of the Minnesota Twins, is not The House That Torii Hunter Built, but the outfielder will definitely feel a sense of proprietorship when he and the Angels play their first game there Friday night. Hunter played nine seasons (1999-2007) for the Twins in the Metrodome, a dungeon-like facility in which players routinely lost track of fly balls in the dingy roof and took a constant pounding from the artificial surface. With attendance sagging and interest in the small-market Twins waning, Minnesota became a target for contraction, and in the winter before 2002 speculation grew that the franchise would be disbanded and its players disbursed to"
Hunter remains a good tracker
August 18
Orange County Register
 
"Torii Hunter agreed to move his act to right field. That doesn't mean he agreed to change his act. "I just wanted to let you know I can play anywhere," Hunter said after stealing a home run from Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre in the second inning Tuesday. "I'm still an athlete, no matter what anyone thinks. I can play anywhere. Put me at shortstop, I'll make a play there. "Naw, I'm just talking trash." It's not all trash. The reputation that helped Hunter win nine Gold Gloves as a center fielder was built in part on his penchant for going up and over outfield walls to steal home runs. According to an unofficial tally kept by the Minnesota Twins PR staff, and extended by the"
Torii Hunter is catching on in right field
August 18
Los Angeles Times
 
"The lone Angels highlight Tuesday night came in the second inning, when Torii Hunter leaped above the five-foot-high right-field wall in Fenway Park to rob Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre of a home run. It marked the 36th time, according to the Minnesota Twins and Angels — the teams Hunter has played for in his 12-year big league career — that Hunter has robbed an opponent of a homer, and the first time he has done so as a right fielder. Pitcher Jered Weaver thrust both arms in the air as he watched Hunter pull the ball back, and Hunter, who moved to right field Aug. 3 to accommodate new center fielder Peter Bourjos, flashed a huge grin after throwing the ball to the infield."
Angels' Hunter awaits a new Target
August 16
L.A. Daily News
 
"The Angels will travel to Minneapolis on the second leg of their road trip that begins Tuesday in Boston and give the Angels their first look at the Twins' new open-air ballpark, Target Field. It will be especially meaningful for Angels right fielder Torii Hunter, who spent nine seasons playing in the ugly Metrodome, with seams in the artificial turf and a blow-up roof in which many a flyball was lost. "I remember going to a lot of breakfasts, lunches and dinners with politicians trying to get that stadium clause passed," Hunter said. "It didn't happen soon enough for me, but I've having a great time here in Anaheim. I've played in the playoffs twice, I'm getting a tan, you can't beat it.""
Angels' Hunter eager to return following suspension
August 11
L.A. Daily News
 
"Angels right fielder Torii Hunter returns to the lineup today, having served his four-game suspension for his tirade and ejection Friday in Detroit. "I feel like an outcast," Hunter joked before Tuesday's game against Kansas City. "I served my sentence, I've got 24 hours until my release. The first thing I'm going to do is eat a hamburger." Hunter could make light of the situation because the team has played well without him, rebounding from an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles last week. "The guys are holding it down, they're playing well," he said. "I was able to let my body heal and let my mind relax a little bit." Hunter wouldn't disclose where he watched the"
Move to right field helps Angels' Torii Hunter fill in some gaps in his knowledge
August 11
Los Angeles Times
 
"The pride and ego that come with winning nine Gold Glove awards in center field aren't all that Torii Hunter has to suppress as he resumes his transition to right field Wednesday in Angel Stadium. Hunter, who on Tuesday completed a four-game suspension for a testy argument with an umpire last Friday, will have to subdue the instinct — bred over a decade of being the lead dog in the outfield — to rabidly chase down every ball in the gaps. "I'm going to call Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Cameron to see what the biggest adjustment was," Hunter said, referring to a pair of Gold Glove-winning center fielders who moved to right field. "It's cool, because now I'm learning something new. I was always"
Angels' Torii Hunter accepts four-game suspension
August 8
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter already had advised his agent to start preparing his appeal for a possible suspension after the Angels right fielder's tantrum Friday night at Comerica Park. "I'm going to fight it," Hunter told reporters in the clubhouse following his eighth-inning ejection, which preceded an outburst in which his batting helmet brushed against umpire Ron Kulpa's face and Hunter flung a bag of balls onto the field. There wasn't much fight in Hunter a day later. He decided to accept the four-game suspension and undisclosed fine handed down by Major League Baseball after conferring with agent Larry Reynolds, Angels General Manager Tony Reagins and Manager Mike Scioscia. Hunter sat out the"
Hunter makes permanent move to right field
August 4
ESPN.com
 
"Torii Hunter has been one of the best outfielders in the Major Leagues since becoming a regular with the Twins in 1999. He's won nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards in center field, but he moved to right field as the Angels outfield had a whole different look in Baltimore's 6-3 victory Tuesday night. Manager Mike Scioscia said before the game that rookie Peter Bourjos will be the center fielder from now on with Hunter moving to right and Bobby Abreu shifting to left. Hunter had played 1,396 games in center since last starting at a different outfield position in 1999, and had just two balls hit to him in his first game in right. But Hunter threw out Matt Wieters at home in the eighth inning"
Torii Hunter wants to see Alex Rodriguez reach milestone
July 25
Los Angeles Times
 
"Torii Hunter was 16 in the summer of 1992 when he first met Alex Rodriguez, then a star high school shortstop from Miami, at a Junior Olympics tournament in Boise, Idaho. "He was 6-foot-3, he was the only one using a wood bat — a taped-up wood bat, I'll never forget it — and he hit one 430 feet," the Angels center fielder said last week at Yankee Stadium. "I went back to Arkansas and told everybody, 'Hey, there's a guy named Alex Rodriguez who is going to be the best player ever.' They were like, 'What? Is he better than Shawon Dunston?' I said, 'Ten times better.' And Dunston was good." Hunter and Rodriguez were both first-round draft picks in 1993, and though they have never been"