Angels’ Torii Hunter tries to adjust as Cleveland wins, 4-3

Reporting from Cleveland — 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” generously announced at 15,734, Cleveland is last in the majors in attendance too.

“With the atmosphere it kind of felt like it was a spring training game,” said Angels starter Scott Kazmir, who pitched well into the sixth inning again but still wound up with his ninth loss in his last 10 decisions. “It felt like it was just dead.”

The Indians haven’t been this bad nor drawn crowds this small since Charlie Sheen pitched for them in “Major League.” And when your own team is going nowhere as well, that can make it doubly difficult to stay focused on the game.

“Regardless, you come out, do your job. You still want to succeed and you still want to win,” said Hunter, who had two hits Tuesday, doubling in a run in the first and then singling and getting thrown at the plate trying to tie the score five innings later. “You’ve got to provide your own energy. It’s almost like instructional league.”

But regardless of where the Angels finish in the standings, this will go down as a memorable season for Hunter, who has been nominated for both the Marvin Miller and Roberto Clemente awards, baseball’s top two community service prizes.

“We’re talking about life. Giving back, helping others and not just receiving all the time,” the Angels outfielder said. “When I can do that, just give back and other people recognize that, maybe it inspires them to go out and do the same. I’m happier with that then I am with [being an] All-Star. No doubt.”

Hunter’s tireless charity work with children and the homeless has already earned him the 2007 Miller award and previous nominations for the Clemente prize, which will be presented during the World Series. Barring a miracle finish, it’s a World Series that Hunter will be watching on television.

However, there’s still a lot of work to be done between now and then — on and off the field.

“Our main goal is to finish well. That’s what you want to do in anything in life, not just sports,” Hunter said. “Stuff like that, the Marvin Miller award, off-the-field things like that, that’s finishing strong for the rest of the my life.

“Even when I’m out of the game, I want to finish strong every day. And at the end of the day I can say I did what I had to do and pleased the man upstairs.”

Bane a GM candidate

A major league source confirmed that Angels scouting director Eddie Bane will interview for the vacant Arizona Diamondbacks general manager job.

The Diamondbacks also are expected to interview interim GM Jerry Dipoto former Padres GM Kevin Towers and Dodgers executives Logan White and De Jon Watson.

Early look at 2011

Judging from the Angels’ 2011 schedule, Major League Baseball is making good on its promise to move up both the start of the regular season and the playoffs.

The Angels will open their season with a midweek game March 31 in Kansas City and will begin their home schedule April 8 against Toronto. The regular season will also end with a midweek game, Sept. 28 against the Texas Rangers.

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com