Hunter, 40, is hanging up his cleats after 19 seasons in the majors, including 12 with the Minnesota Twins. For instance, Hunter robbed Barry Bonds of a home run (see below) in the 2002 All-Star game. He helped Minnesota to a renaissance of sorts, with the Twins finishing (83-79) after four-straight 90-loss seasons before that.
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He told the Star Tribune he began the year believing this would be his last in baseball, preferring to focus on his family.
“But mentally, I think it’s time”.
The 40-year-old finished his 19-year Major League Baseball career with a.277/.331/.461 stat line and recorded 1,296 runs scored, 353 home runs, 1,391 RBI and 195 stolen bases in 2,372 career games.
Longtime outfielder Torii Hunter is caling it a career.
“I’ve been married to the game 23 years”, Hunter said. Hunter was one of the standout players on those teams, and he eventually left to sign a bigger contract with the Angels than the Twins were willing to offer.
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He had brief stints with the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers before re-joining the Twins last off-season, while he batted.240/.293/.409 with 22 home runs and 81 RBIs over 139 games this season. I have learned a lot of lessons. They say baseball is life and life is baseball, and I used baseball and applied it to my life. “I still love the game, but time has taken a toll on me mentally and physically”. Hunter is a five-time All-Star. It was the ideal scenario to come back and finish my career with the Twins, possibly get to the postseason. He brought the Twins clubhouse back together and made baseball fun to play again. While Hunter never won a World Series, he was a member of eight different playoff teams.
