Torii Hunter Announced Retirement From Baseball

In lieu of an extravagant exit from the game of baseball, Torii Hunter quietly hung up his baseball cleats on his own accord thus ending an impressive career marked with humility and respect. The five-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winning outfielder announced his retirement from baseball yesterday.

 

Hunter took to his Instagram page to announce his retirement with a collage of photos that spanned his nineteen year career. This past season, he signed with the Minnesota Twins which was the team who drafted him for his tenure and he contributed heavily to their wild-card run before it came up short. He finished the season with a .240 batting average with 22 home runs and 81 RBIs, which had him finish off his career with the stat line of a .277 batting average with 353 homers and 1,391 RBIs. He has played with three teams in the Twins, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Detroit Tigers, and playing in one American League Championship series each but never winning a World Series Championship.

Talking to the Star Tribune, he wants to give back to his family. “I’ve been married to the game 23 years,” Hunter said. “I put it almost No. 1 in my life. My family kind of second. I made sacrifices for my family. And now it is time to give them more time.”

Photo: MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 20: Torii Hunter #48 of the Minnesota Twins hits a home run against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the second inning at Target Field on September 20, 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Sherman/Getty Images)