Hunter Is His Own Man for Twins

Kirby Puckett set a Hall of Fame standard for playing center field in Minnesota.

Torii Hunter just might be able to reach it, but he doesn’t want to hear any comparisons.

“I don’t want to be like Kirby,” Hunter said. “I want to be my own player.”

Though perhaps a bit premature, the parallels between the two are unavoidable.

Hunter was the American League’s Player of the Month in April, breaking Puckett’s team record for home runs in the season’s first month with nine.

“He’s a superstar waiting to happen,” teammate Doug Mientkiewicz said. “He’s got that Puckett-like quality.”

Hunter turns 27 in July. Puckett was a far more accomplished hitter at that age, when he led the Twins to their first World Series title in 1987.

But Hunter doesn’t even have 1,500 at-bats in the majors, yet he won his first Gold Glove last season and he is among the AL leaders for nearly every offensive category this year. With an easygoing, easy-to-like personality, he’s fast becoming the team’s most popular player.

Puckett’s once-pristine public image has been tainted by allegations from his ex-wife of infidelity and threatened violence, so the Twins would prefer to keep his name away from Hunter’s. But they certainly don’t mind marketing some of that same Puckett charm.

“Torii’s an approachable guy, and he enjoys interacting with people,” said Dave St. Peter, senior vice president for business affairs. “That does more to align him with Kirby as a player than anything.”

Hunter would rather sidestep the spotlight.

“Once you believe that you’re the man and all that, you’ll get slapped right in the face,” he said. “I just want to keep my mind focused on playing, go out there and have fun.”

Fueling the first-place Twins with an average that’s hovered around .350 all month, excellent power numbers and more spectacular plays in the field, Hunter is having a blast. It’s been just as fun to manage him.

“He’s worked very hard at his game, and he’s willing to do anything to make himself better,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Makes it pretty easy for a manager to write his name down every day.”

Baseball wasn’t always such a good time for Hunter. Batting below .200 in May 2000, he was sent to the minors.

“I didn’t have confidence at all that I was going to be back here,” Hunter said. “I’m like, ‘Man, they don’t like me anymore.’ I thought I was going to get traded.”

Now?

“Everything’s changed,” Hunter said. “I love it here.”

The Twins are relieved they didn’t get rid of him two years ago. During his time in Triple-A, Hunter says he stopped trying to please everyone. He returned to the majors in late July that season and finished at .280. Last year, he set career highs with 27 homers and 92 RBIs.

“I told myself, ‘It’s your career,’” Hunter said. “You try to play for somebody else, then you wind up hurting yourself.

“Ever since I’ve been back, I just tried to simplify things. See ball, hit ball.”

Opponents notice.

“In years past, you could throw him away and get him to get himself out,” Detroit pitcher Steve Sparks said. “Now you have to change where you’re going, in and out, up and down, because he’s so locked in.”

And don’t forget the defense.

“Anytime a ball goes out to center,” Sparks said, “we know it’s caught.”

Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 1993, Hunter has taken his share of homers away from opposing batters. With Double-A New Britain in 1997, he ran through an outfield wall to make a catch.

“I saw the wall come up, but I’m like, ‘Forget about it, I’m getting that ball,”’ Hunter said. “There was this guy on the other side with a beer in his hand. I’m like, ‘How’s it going?’ And he goes, ‘Dude, where’d you come from?’ I said, ‘From in there.’”

One of six children growing up in Pine Bluff, Ark., Hunter didn’t have much, so he insists on not taking his career for granted and keeps the needs of his siblings, parents, wife and sons ahead of his own success.

“That’s the one reason I got in this game,” Hunter said. “To help my family out.”

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan was unable to work out a long-term contract with Hunter’s agent this winter, so the two sides settled on a one-year, $2.4 million deal just seconds before an arbitration hearing was to begin.

Hunter can’t become a free agent until 2005, but the season he’s having is driving up his price.

“We both gave it a good run,” Ryan said. “It’s not too much unlike some other players who are young, where you take a run at it and if you can’t get it one winter you try again the next winter. Sometimes those things work out, sometimes they don’t.”

Hunter hopes it does.

“I love it here,” he said. “So many nice people. That’s all I’ve ever known, Minnesota Twins baseball. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I’d probably rather stick with what I know.”