Torii Hunter is an excellent storyteller, and some of his best were published in the latest edition of The Players’ Tribune.
Hunter’s column is titled “Started From The Parking Lot” – and his career, literally, started from the parking lot.
“In 1997, when I was playing Double-A ball, I shared a car with my teammate, Armann Brown. It was a rental. It cost $6.99 a day. It was a Geo Prizm.
We also shared an apartment. It was a rental. It cost $6.99 a day. It was a Geo Prizm.
We couldn’t afford a $19-a-day hotel room because we had just broken Spring Training and we hadn’t gotten paid yet. We opened the regular season with a seven-game homestand. But until we got that paycheck, we had nowhere to stay. After each game, we’d sit in the car and wait for everybody else to leave the stadium. Then we’d drop the Prizm seats down and sleep right there in the parking lot.”
But that’s just the beginning of what Hunter had to say.
The story that will make you laugh: how he and his 2002 Twins teammates – his all-time favorite team – put “a lot of peanut butter” in David Ortiz’s underwear.
Hunter closed his column by saying: “I’m at peace saying goodbye to the game — for now — and ready for whatever comes next.”
Twins Winter Caravan
The Twins Winter Caravan is off and driving. Trevor May, Tyler Duffey, Tony Oliva and Cory Provus have already made stops in North Dakota, and today they’re making stops in Thief River Falls, Crookston and Fargo. On Wednesday they’ll stop in Wahpeton, Watertown, South Dakota, and Montevideo, Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Paul Molitor, Byron Buxton, Casey Fien and Dick Bremer were in northern Minnesota on Monday and today they’re make stops in Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes and Bemidji. On Wednesday they’ll be in Bagley, Brainerd and Aitkin.
The Twins Caravan runs this week and next — all the way up to TwinsFest January 29-31. Check out the full Caravan schedule here.
