10 Questions

Hunter on the Twins, playing center and robbing Bonds

Torii Hunter enjoyed his lift from Barry Bonds but doesn't want to be known for just his famous catch. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Torii Hunter cemented his place among the best center fielders playing baseball today with a near-MVP year in 2002, smacking 29 homers and driving in 94 runs while hitting .289 for the American League Central champion Minnesota Twins. He's probably best remembered, though, as the man who robbed Barry Bonds of a home run with a spectacular, over-the-wall catch in the most controversial All-Star Game in history. Hunter sat down with SI.com's John Donovan at the team's Fort Myers spring training camp for this edition of 10 Questions.

Q: Would it be fair to characterize your 2002 season as a breakout year?

A: Yeah, I guess it was my breakout year. It was for all of us. We just didn't get no TV time [before the second half of last season]. All the great center fielders or whatever, they get all the TV time. TBS, the Superstation, the Atlanta Braves, you got Andruw Jones. Some other guys, too. Minnesota was just not a big market. All of us, we had no exposure. But we just started getting on ESPN, finding a little more ESPN, people start seeing the team and seeing that we have a pretty good team. All they read about is contraction, but they never got to see these guys play.

Q: This is a team that has been together for a while. Are people here starting to think 'OK, it's our time now ...'?

A: We've been together for a long while. We want to make it. We don't know whether it's going to be this year or the next year. But we want to get there. We know what it feels like to get to the playoffs and get so close and then fall short. I think that's going to be our motivation.

Q: A lot of people almost dismiss the Twins as the nice little team from the harmless AL Central. What do you think your opening-round win over the Oakland A's last year did for that notion?

A: We proved a lot of critics wrong. Look at their pitching rotation. They were one of the best teams in the game. Just to beat those guys … it showed other people we could play. It was the best feeling in the world when we won that game and Denny [Hocking] started jumping around out there. It wasn't just about Oakland. It was about showing other people we could play. It was more like 'All you critics, eat this!'

Q: As good as that win over the A's was, you, personally, are still going to be known for The Catch. That had to be your personal highlight, didn't it?

A: For me to get All-Star votes was pretty good. That showed that people were starting to watch us play. The whole team. For me to go to the All-Star Game, my first All-Star Game, make a catch off Barry Bonds, and Barry Bonds picks me up … that made the moment. Now people know me just from that. I mean, I don't want people to know me just for that. But it's gonna happen. It was a great moment for me. Still, I want people to know that I'm a hard worker and I can play the game, and I try to make plays like that all the time. Don't just say I made that one catch and that's it. I've made a lot more plays than that. It meant a lot. I was able to take that away and made the game end in a tie.

Q: Oh, so history should show that the All-Star Game tie was your fault?

A: [Laughing] Yeah, it was my fault. I love it. I wanna take that. I'll take the fall for that. Bud [Selig] didn't like me for that, but I'll take the blame. Blame it on me. That's all right.

Q: Did you practice those kinds of plays as a kid?

A: When I was a kid, it was all football. My older brothers, they didn't like baseball. They were all football. All those football drills, they just kind of helped in baseball. That's why, I guess, I go to the ball at the right angle. I don't waste any steps. I go straight to the ball. I'm not the fastest guy, but I go straight to the ball. No rounding off. Just BAM!, right where it's going to drop. A lot of people can't do that. It's just instincts. Either you're born with it or you don't have it.

Q: You have anything at home to remind you of The Catch?

A: Vernon Wells' dad is an artist, and he painted this big picture of me catching that ball. I got it in my game room. Every time I go in there, I got the Spiderman on my chest.

Q: Did that catch change your life, or is that being a little melodramatic?

A: It changed it a little bit. A lot more people know me. It's just different. I used to get three or four pieces of fan mail. Now it's like 300 or 400. It is different. That catch, people think I automatically had money. So instead of asking for 50 bucks, they ask for 50 Gs. And that was before my [new] contract. If somebody makes a catch like that in an All-Star Game where the whole country is watching, yeah, your life is going to change regardless, whether you want it to or not.

Q: One last question about The Catch: You knew you had it?

A: I went back, and I knew it was high enough to get out. I'm like 'Well, Barry hit it, so it's out.' But I thought I might as well get back there anyway. And I saw [Seattle Mariners' right fielder] Ichiro -- he gave up on it. But then I saw it was coming down, so I said 'Lemme go try for this.' My instincts told me 'You can get up and get this.' So I jumped higher than I thought I ever could.

Q: Who's the best center fielder in the game today?

A: No question, Andruw Jones. I still think Griffey's got it in him. The injuries are just killing him right now. Ken Griffey Jr. is still my favorite. But I just got to be honest with myself. Andruw Jones is one of the best ever.

Q: How many games is a good center fielder worth?

A: [Laughing] I'd say 30-40 games. [Laughing more.] You go out there, cut the doubles off the gaps, bring some balls down. It seems like one bad route -- you go in, break in and then try to break back, the ball's over your head -- that's a run scored, or two. You make a mistake out there, it's gonna cost you two bases, regardless.

Q: What do you think of when you think of a center fielder?

A: He's an athlete. He has speed. He can run. He's got instincts. That's what I say.

Q: Has playing center field changed?

A: Back in the day, it was more speed. It was defense. Hitting was last. Power was way last. Now, you gotta have power. I think power's like second on the list now. You gotta have speed, you gotta have range, fielding … but power's up there now. Power used to be last until Ken Griffey came into the game. Andruw. Jim Edmonds. Those guys. Now, you get a slap center fielder it's like 'Blehhhh.'

Q: Can this team win it all?

A: I think we have what we need. You look around the infield -- Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman, Luis Rivas, Doug Mientkiewicz. Those four guys didn’t have their best years [in 2002]. They go out there and have good years, like they have in the past, the sky's the limit. We need a right fielder to step up. Dustan [Mohr], [Bobby] Kielty or [Mike] Cuddyer. If they step up -- there's always an if in everything. But if they do their thing …

 

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