Perhaps the most brutal part of a punishing Twins season has been watching all of those former Twins going off to greener ball fields, while we’re stuck with a roster of Double-A wonders.
It has become, Twins fans, our national past time.
That said, we were talking around the BringMeTheNews sports watercooler today, noting that in a nice piece of baseball irony, Torii Hunter drove in the winning run for Detroit as the Tigers clinched the AL Central title by beating the Twins Wednesday night.
It gives us pause: Who would’ve thunk it, that at age 38, after 17 seasons in the Majors, that Torii Hunter would be playing at this level? Still? Is this guy gonna somehow get into the Hall of Fame, something that was never really considered about him before?
To be fair, Hunter’s stat line – which was good enough at mid-season to earn him his fifth All-Star nod – has benefitted from hitting in front of Miguel Cabrara and Prince Fielder in the Tiger line up. Still, here’s where he’s at:
.304/.335/423 with 17 home runs and 84 RBI in 602 at bats. Not bad for a guy born in the 1970s.
Of course, we’d have to look at all sorts of numbers to calculate his real Hall of Fame worthiness, but something to consider as he enters his fourth playoff series since leaving Minnesota – the guys still wins.
And if he keeps playing at this level for a few more years … well, then, you have to consider it, don’t you?
We’re not sabremetricians here, and for that you can say that we don’t know what we’re talking about. And you can crunch all the career numbers you want right here.
One thing you’ll find is that his 162-game career batting average is .279 with 24 home runs and 95 RBI. That’s a season right in line with his performance this year – and a season most teams would take in a second from their left fielder.
One thing you won’t find on the stat sheet is his nine gold gloves, which has to be a consideration. Let the argument begin.
