Torii Hunter heading to Angels
Former Twins star Hunter agrees to 5-year contract with Angels
Y’all may have to bear with me today, ‘cuz I’m in mourning. Torii Hunter, the heart and soul of my Minnesota Twins, has taken advantage of the riches available in free agency, signing a five-year, $90 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Angels. And who can blame him, right? How many of us would turn down that kind of money if someone were to wave it in front of us? No, I’m not upset with Hunter for striking while the iron’s hot. Any of us would make the same decision. Hmm…here’s a tough decision to ponder: play outdoors in sunny southern California, or indoors at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis? It’s not the frozen tundra, but you can see it from there. Yeah, duhhh….
What upsets me is that the economics of Major League Baseball have a created a situation where the “haves”- like the Angels- can grab free agents that the “have nots”- like the Twins- cannot afford to re-sign. Yes, kids, it’s certainly not 1987 or 1991, is it? Yes, things have certainly changed since those halcyon days (‘Course, Minnesota has won as many World Series titles- two- as Boston since 1918).
It’s difficult to be optimistic about Minnesota’s 2008 prospects, but the Twins historically have managed to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons. I don’t know that they’re going to be able to replace the heart and soul of their club this time around, but we’ll certainly find out soon enough.
While I’m upset that the Twins either wouldn’t or couldn’t resign Hunter, I’ll always have my favorite Torii Hunter moment copied onto my mental hard drive. I was on a business trip to Cleveland in the summer of 2002 when the Twins were in town to play the Indians at Jacobs Field. I went to a game, and watched Danys Baez hit Hunter with a pitch. Hunter, always an easy-going sort, snapped. He picked up the offending baseball and launched a fastball at Baez’ head. Thankfully, Hunter’s pitch was a bit outside, but as both benches emptied (yeah, and it’s true…”baseball fight” really IS an oxymoron), I was stunned…and highly amused. Guess what led off SportsCenter that night??
Today, though, I’m in mourning…and I don’t really care that Spring Training is only three months off. Another part of my childhood just took a hit.
