There is a new name on the 2016 Twins Hall of Fame ballot – Torii Hunter.
That didn't take long. @toriihunter48 is on the #MNTwins 2016 Hall of Fame ballot. I like his chances.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) November 11, 2015
Hunter announced his retirement at a press conference last week, a year after he returned to Minnesota to play his final Major League season.
The Star Tribune notes that Hunter’s name appears on this year’s ballot despite an eligibility rule that calls for “a two-year waiting period following retirement from Major League Baseball.”
Hunter amassed 2,452 hits and 353 career home runs in 19 seasons – 12 with the Twins. He was a career .277 hitter, a five-time All Star and a nine-time Gold Glove winner.
Twins president Dave St. Peter tells the Star Tribune the team isn’t making an exception just for Hunter.
“That rule was originally put in place to make sure you don’t have a Michael Jordan situation, where a player retires and then comes back,” St. Peter said. “But we look at the voting process on a pretty regular basis, and we felt the waiting period isn’t really necessary.”
A 66-member panel of team officials, baseball historians, media members and a “fan vote” will help determine if Hunter or any of the other 16 members on this year’s ballot make the Twins Hall of Fame.
