Minnesota Twins right fielder Torii Hunter has retired from baseball after 19 seasons in the major leagues. The team confirmed Hunter’s retirement Monday night.
According to the Star Tribune, Hunter had been thinking about retiring the last two off-seasons. He began the year thinking that this would be his last year. Spending time with his family and his two sons playing college football were the reasons that Hunter decided to retire.
“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. I didn’t want a going-away tour. I didn’t want to be a distraction.”
After the Twins finished their season Hunter said, "It's a lot of fun being a part of those guys, and hopefully they apply it to their lives and to their game and make themselves better."
Hunter was drafted by the Twins when he was 18. He made brief appearances for the Twins in 1997 and 1998 before his rookie season in 1999. In 2007 he had the best year of his career hitting .287 with 28 home runs, 18 steals, and had career-highs in doubles, 45, and RBIs, 107. He then singed with the Los Angeles Angels, hitting a career-best .312 in 2012. He played for the Detroit Tigers the last two year and returned to the Twins this season. This season he hit .240 with 22 home runs and 81 RBIs. Hunter hit.277 with 353 home runs, and 1,391 RBIs, and played in one championship series with the Twins, Angels, and Tigers in his 19 year career, according to ESPN. He was a five-time All-Star and won nine Gold Glove Awards, but didn’t make it to the World Series.
The Twins failed to make the playoffs this year, coming three games short of making it.