Larry Brown Sports

For the past decade or so, the Yankees have owned the Twins in the postseason. Since the Yankees are always one of the best teams in the American League, that is nothing for Minnesota to be ashamed of. New York has owned a lot of teams, mostly because of how talented their roster is year in and year out. That may not be the only reason they have been able beat the Twins in four series since 2003, however. Former Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter says the Twins have been intimidated by the Bronx Bombers, which may help explain the results.

“Some guys were nervous, all nervous,” Hunter said of his former teammates according to Eye on Baseball. “There were a lot of guys mentally down — like, ooh, we drew the Yankees.’ Just play the game. Once it gets in your head, you’re done.”

As evidence, Hunter told a story about a game during the 2004 ALDS when the Twins were trailing by a run with a runner on third and one out. Torii says one of Minnesota’s right-handed batters was asked to pinch hit against Mariano Rivera and refused.

“You need a righty hitter against Rivera with his cutter,” Hunter said, noting that Jason Kubel — a left-handed hitter — had to bat instead. “Kubel wasn’t afraid, but he’s a lefty hitter.”

Another former Twin, Michael Cuddyer, called Hunter’s comments “pretty accurate.” The Yankees are dangerous and Rivera has arguably the most devastating pitch in MLB history, but being legitimately afraid of the competition at that level is embarrassing. If I were a Twins fan, Hunter’s revelation would annoy me beyond belief.

UPDATE: Current Twins have denied Hunter’s assertion.

Photo credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

Oh Yankees fans, so generous (or pompous), depending on how you view it:

This seems to be some sort of odd trend developing between Yankees fans and Torii Hunter. Remember what happened in June? That was in Anaheim, this was in The Bronx. Someone explain to me what’s going on here.

Thanks to Hot Clicks for the video

While there has not been much talk about them over the course of the season, the L.A. Angels wrapped up the first half of the season on an absolute tear.  The Angels’ record of 50-42 is nothing tremendous, but this is a team that was 36-39 heading into June 22 and has since won 14 out of 17 games including eight of their last nine.  For a team that is clicking on all cylinders, one might wonder if the All-Star Break has arrived at an inopportune time.  On Sunday, Torii Hunter made it clear that he really can’t predict what will become of the team.

“I don’t know man — I’m Negrodamus, not Nostradamus,” Hunter told Mike DiGiovanna after the game as pointed out by The Big Lead.

Classic.  Hunter is a respected clubhouse figure and a known team leader, so we all know his comment was all in good fun despite the fact that somebody somewhere will certainly be up in arms about it.  The bottom line is questions like that one are asked constantly but are always impossible to answer.  It’s nice when a player gives us a laugh from one of them, because that’s about the most we can ever get from it.

It was a disappointing weekend for Angels fans. The Halos lost two of three games to the Yankees, which is worse than usual given the Angels’ record against the Yanks the past 10 years. Mark Teixeira homered twice for the Yankees off Joel Piniero, and then in the eighth inning Nick Swisher homered to make it 5-3. Though it was only Swisher’s fifth home run of the season, there was an even rarer occurrence in right field afterwards. After the home run, fans showered Hunter with dollar bills. Torii put the loose cash to good use:

“I can’t believe they’re throwing money like that in a recession,” Hunter said. “There’s so many people with no jobs, no money, and they made it rain [dollar bills] at a baseball game. That was crazy. I was not going to let that blow away. I called time out to pick it up. It was my lucky day. I didn’t get any hits, but I did get $24 and gave it to a kid.”

Hunter did give the money to a fan nearby the dugout, but nobody knows why the bills were thrown at him. If it was some sort of Carl Crawford-like gesture by Angels fans, they should make it more clear next time. Or maybe the fan was preparing to head to a strip joint after the game as Hunter suggested, and he lost a hold of the money. Who knows? At this point we’ll take any money we can get to help us buy another guy who can hit, so maybe that fan can give the money back to the club.

Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images

Unfortunately for Adrian Beltre, the Anaheim Angels have been playing Torii Hunter in right field for the first time since like 1999.  Combine that with the fact that the right field wall in Fenway Park comes up to most outfielders’ waists, and you’ve got a situation where it’s extremely difficult to hit a home run to that part of the ballpark.  Check out the video of Torii Hunter robbing Adrian Beltre of a home run.  Certainly not Torii’s best work, but I hate when announcers say an outfielder robbed a guy of a homer when the ball wouldn’t have even gone out.  This, on the other hand, was a clear-cut big fly:

Video Credit: YouTube user dbidown74CA

Just a few days after praising Torii Hunter for doing something very few star athletes would do, we’re talking about him for a bad reason. Hunter continued his hot hitting by bashing a two-run home run to center in the first against the Tigers. In the 8th however, Hunter lost it. Torii didn’t like the called strike on the first pitch of his at-bat against Ryan Perry and let home plate umpire Ron Kulpa know about it. Hunter proceeded to take called strikes on the next two pitches and was punched out on a fastball low in the zone. He began arguing with Kulpa and got ejected after his helmet touched Kulpa’s face. Here’s the Torii Hunter ejection video and stick with it for the money shot at the end:

Emptying the ball bag onto the field was the cap to a rare moment for Torii but he certainly got his money’s worth. What really bothered Hunter is the over exaggeration by Kulpa after the helmet bumped him in the face. I’m guessing a suspension is forthcoming but hopefully it won’t be more than a game. Hey, the Angels need all the help they can get in their struggled to get over .500.

Sources:
Torii Hunter shows some pop, and pops off, for Angels in 4-2 win over Tigers [LA Times]
Video Credit: YouTube user TalkLAsports

When the Angels initially signed Torii Hunter in 2007, I was not a fan of the deal. I thought 5 years and $90 million was way too much and I still believe that his $18 million per year is too high. But when I complained about the contract, I was constantly told that Hunter would be worth the money. One of the main arguments was that Hunter was an excellent clubhouse guy and that value could not be understated. I scoffed at that notion but three years later I see what people meant.

The Angels have been struggling offensively and Juan Rivera in particular has not been making up for his poor defense in left field with his typical production at the plate. The team decided to make a move on Tuesday, promoting prospect Peter Bourjos who was tearing it up at triple-A Salt Lake. The issue was that Bourjos plays center field — the same spot occupied by nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter. Naturally you would expect the spot to go to the veteran while the rookie earns his place. Not with Hunter. The gracious, ultimate team player put winning first and his ego second:

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