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Torii Kedar Hunter #48
Nicknames: Spidey and T-Nuts
Minnesota Twins: Center Field
HT: 6'2"
WT: 210 Bats: Right Throws: Right
Born: July 18, 1975 Pine Bluff, Arkansas
College: None
Teams: Minnesota Twins
(1997-present)
World Series
Championships: None
Did You Know?
- Torii credits his older brother, Taru, for
helping mold him into the All-Star caliber player that he is today.
- Each player on the Twins has their own
personal handshake. Every handshake we see the Twins enact was designed by
Torii himself.
- Torii takes great pride on his defense. He
has a 32 inch vertical leap and works hard in the off-season by doing box
jumps.
- The Twins selected Torii with the 20th
overall pick in the 1993 June draft.
- In Torii's first cup of tea in the show, his first locker
was next to Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield's and
future Hall-of-Famer Kirby
Puckett's.
- In 2001, Baseball America ranked
Torii as the AL's Best Defensive Outfielder. Also, Torii's 14 outfield
assists were tied for 2nd best in the league, leading him to his first ever
Gold Glove Award. He added a 2nd Gold Glove to his collection in 2002.
- Torii picked up right where he left off in
2001. With MLB threatening to contract his team, Torii finished the 2002
campaign leading the team in homers (29), RBI (94) and Steals (23). The free
swinger even managed to post a .289 BA. Needless to say, he was awarded the
Calvin R. Griffith Award as team MVP. He also finished 6th in the AL MVP
race.
- We have all seen amazing catches by Torii in
the field. However, Torii deems his famous catch of Barry Bonds' would-be
homer in the 1st inning of the 2002 All Star game as his best ever. Torii
became the first Twin since Kirby Puckett did it in 1995 to be voted a starter
in the in the 2002 Mid Summer Classic.
- After the 2002 season, Torii was invited to
tour Japan with the MLB All Star team. He not only embraced the opportunity
but went home as tournament MVP. To put the icing on the cake, Torii signed a
$32 million dollar contract a few months later that will keep him in Minnesota
for the next 4 years with an option for the 5th.
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