In New Role, Puckett Is Still Valuable

Torii Hunter was 18 during his first big league spring training camp with the Minnesota Twins, and when he walked into the clubhouse for the first time in 1994, he figured his locker would be next to the broom closet.

So imagine how stunned the outfielder was to see his nameplate above a cubicle between the lockers of Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today.

“I thought it was a mistake,” said Hunter, who through Friday was batting .249 with 17 homers and 58 runs batted in for the Twins this season. “I thought rookies and young guys would be off in a corner with someone you didn’t know. But those guys took care of me. That was the best.”

Puckett took a special liking to the kid. When Hunter struggled in the minor leagues, Puckett called with support. Hunter hit .246 in 1995, .260 in ’96 and .231 in ‘97, so there was plenty to discuss.

“He called me all the time in the minor leagues to pump me up,” Hunter said. “From [1994] on, he was like a big brother to me.”

Puckett retired abruptly in 1996 because of glaucoma and a sudden loss of vision in his right eye, but some in Minnesota believe he has played an integral role in the success of the surprising Twins this season.

Though he is the team’s executive vice president, he often goes into the clubhouse to counsel players, offer batting tips or just hang around.

“People ask me if I miss playing baseball,” Puckett said. “It’s not the game I miss. It’s the camaraderie, meeting people. That’s what I loved.”

Puckett goes into the visitors’ locker room, too, as Angel center fielder Darin Erstad, who idolized Puckett while growing up in North Dakota, discovered in 1996.

“I was a September call-up, and the first time we went to Minnesota, Kirby comes into our clubhouse yelling, ‘Where’s Dakota? Where’s Dakota?’ ” Erstad said. “It’s not very often I’m in awe of a person, but I had a hard time speaking that day.”

Chicago designated hitter Jose Canseco claims that when the White Sox play the Angels at Edison Field on Tuesday, “it will be just like any other team; I’m not going to approach it any differently.”

Words might speak louder than actions. Canseco, who has 454 career homers, is bitter about his March 28 release from the Angels after hitting .231 (nine for 39) with no homers and nine strikeouts in 13 spring-training games.

The Angels thought Glenallen Hill would be more productive, but Hill was a bust, batting .136 with two RBIs before being released June 1.

Canseco played for the independent-league Newark (N.J.) Bears before signing with Chicago, where he’s batting .282 (31 for 110) with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 31 games. Angel designated hitters have combined to hit .218 with seven homers and 43 RBIs in 108 games.

“[Angel General Manager] Bill Stoneman told me the reason we’re releasing you is because you didn’t hit a home run in 39 at-bats,” Canseco said Thursday. “I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say. You look at any power hitter, Barry Bonds, they all go through periods when they don’t hit home runs. Are you going to release them, too?

“I’ve gone over the whole thing in my mind, and it still doesn’t make sense. After they released me, they tried to cover themselves and spread rumors by telling everybody I was physically damaged [a charge the Angels emphatically deny]. I don’t know who was behind all this, but it will be figured out down the line.”

Seattle writers have probably exhausted their list of superlatives in describing the power of Bret Boone, the batting average of Edgar Martinez, the speed and throwing arm of Ichiro Suzuki and the defense of John Olerud.

Luckily for them, they have veteran pitcher Paul Abbott, who may have come up with the best description of baseball’s best team after tying a club record by winning his ninth consecutive decision Wednesday night over Detroit.

“Our team is like a five-tool player that everyone is looking for,” Abbott said. “We don’t have a weakness, and every spot we have is a strength. You don’t win 78 games by accident.”

Abbott was particularly impressed with Ichiro’s throw to the plate to cut down Jose Macias, who was trying to tag up on Bobby Higginson’s line out to medium right Wednesday night.

“He threw a strike from right field,” Abbott said. “I have trouble throwing strikes from 60 feet 6 inches.”