Torii Hunter Is Getting Better At Twitter

Angels outfielder and all-around-good-guy Torii Hunter has been on Twitter for a while now (@ToriiHunter48) but he finally seems to be getting the hang of it. While he isn't going to be as controversial or fan friendly as the great Logan Morrison (@LoMoMarlins), Hunter appears to be posting more on the social network and he's finally sharing the good stuff. After the Angels split a rather disappointing four game series with the Mariners, Hunter settled in for the plane ride home and had this to share...


Kendrick is quietly enjoying the best season of his career with a .297/.351/.467 line and personal bests 14 home runs and a 5.3 fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement). And he might be closing in on a career high HSIM (hot sauce in mouth). But he seems to be upbeat about it...


Zing!


Oh no he din't. I kid but this exchange is actually funnier than any "My Wife and Kids" episode you're watching on ABC Family right now.

Hunter Gets Four Games For Ball Tossing Tantrum

Torii Hunter started the day penciled in the Angels' lineup card in the four hole with that still strange looking RF next to his name. But as the day progressed, Hunter's name was removed from the line and replaced by the much less productive Juan Rivera. The speculation was that Hunter was facing a suspension for losing his cool after getting ejected last night for arguing a strikeout call. After being tossed, Hunter launched a bag of balls onto the field from the dugout.

Apparently, that kind of behavior is good enough for a 4 game suspension. The suspension couldn't have come at a worse time for the Angels and Torii Hunter. While the Angels are desperately trying to hang in the AL West division race at 9.5 games out, Hunter has been scorching hot in August. In the first 5 games of the month, Hunter has a pair of home runs to go with a .550/.571/.950 line. I know 5 games means nothing in terms of sample size but a hot streak has to start somewhere.

In the meantime, Hunter will be replaced by some mixture of Juan Rivera and Reggie Willits. Rivera has seemingly given up on trying to be good at baseball this season mixing a .319 wOBA with a -3.9 UZR. Unfortunately for Angels' fans, that's the good news. Willits is sporting a .300 wOBA and his UZR is just a slightly better but still not good -0.6. You'd think the little, scrappy white kid would be a better player, huh?

I realize the Angels have no real shot at the playoffs this season. According to Cool Standings, the Angels only have a 2.1% chance of winning the West. I'm no scientist but that doesn't sound promising. It's a good thing I'm wildly delusional though. Go Halos!

Torii Hunter's Move To Right

In an interesting move, the Angels promoted one of their top prospects in Peter Bourjos yesterday and dropped him straight into center field. The move didn't give Torii Hunter the night off though. It moved him to right field, permanently. Torii Hunter was, for some time, considered the best center fielder in baseball. Those days, however, are far behind him.

According to UZR, Hunter hasn't been on the above average side of the line since 2006. Of course, that hasn't stopped him from winning 9 Gold Gloves in a row and I doubt this move to right field will prevent him from winning another one this season. The voters aren't exactly big fans of change when it comes to Gold Gloves.

Hunter, gracious as always, said the decision was ultimately his to move to right to make room for the speedy prospect...

"You know, center field is my home. That's what I love," Hunter said. "Anytime after 12 years, you do something different, you're sad a little bit.

"This is my decision. This isn't their decision."

snip

"I didn't sleep for three, four days. I prayed about it, thought about it," Hunter said. "I think we need to do something different.

"I could say I want to go for that 10th Gold Glove. ... But sometimes you've got to slap pride in the face and all that individual stuff – the Gold Glove stuff – you can let that go. All I care about is winning. ... If this makes the team better, I'm going to do it."

Torii Hunter is what's great about baseball. He's a class act and a good ambassador for the sport. The move should immensely improve the Angels' outfield defense. Bourjos has the chance to be a very good center fielder and Hunter's move to right limits the amount of time Juan Rivera has to play the field. Although Bobby Abreu isn't exactly great shakes either in the outfield. Hopefully, Hunter's pitch to Carl Crawford in the offseason will go well.

Bourjos might be able to provide a little spark in the lineup too. He had 13 home runs and 27 steals with a .314/.364/.498 line at Triple A.

I still think the Angels can catch the Rangers. Yeah, my delusion knows no bounds.

Shot Of The Night

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

Tonight's shot of the night is All Night Hunter: 1 oz Red Bull® energy drink, 1 oz Jagermeister® herbal liqueur. So kinda like a Jager Bomb? Anyway, it's in honor of Torii Hunter.

Derwood stole my thunder by writing a post about Drew Stubbs and his 3 home runs but Torii Hunter bailed me out and prevented the Angels from being swept by the Royals. Hunter went 3-4 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. His performance justified his spot on the All Star team but Jered Weaver's absence from the AL roster is causing me to drink a couple extra shots.

Honorable Mention: Catfish Hunter (1969)
Catfish struggled a bit historically on Independence Day but July 4th 1969 was especially poor. Hunter only made it through 3.2 innings against the Twins that day serving up 3 home runs and giving up 7 runs on 8 hits. I can only assume he celebrated that year's Independence Day and loss by getting drunk off of hot dogs and liquor.