Torii Hunter’s Hall of Fame Case Hinges on Jekyll and Hyde Career

[Cody Christie]

Twins fans have rightfully given attention to Joe Mauer on the current Hall of Fame ballot, but another fan favorite continues to garner support. Torii Hunter’s resume is divided into two distinct parts, which make his case tougher to evaluate.

Image courtesy of Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Voters for the National Baseball Hall of Fame use a variety of criteria to decide on a candidate's worthiness for Cooperstown. Sometimes, players compile substantial offensive numbers over a lengthy career, making it easy to compare to other Hall of Fame members. The defensive side of the ball has been more challenging to evaluate. Elite defenders like Ozzie Smith and Ivan Rodriguez have been elected, while other defensive stars still need to garner more support. 

Torii Hunter’s resume spans parts of 19 big league seasons, but he was a very different player at the beginning of his career compared to the end. These stark differences make it harder to evaluate his overall career performance, making it difficult for voters to give him support. In 2021, Hunter first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot and received 9.6% of the vote. The following year, he nearly fell off the ballot with a crowded field from the steroid era, but he earned just over the minimum of 5%. Last year, the ballot was less crowded, and he jumped back to 6.9%. He is tracking below 5% on the 2024 ballot but has previously done well on the non-public ballots.

Hunter’s early career was defined by elite defense and athleticism in center field. From 2001-2009, he won nine straight Gold Gloves while being a human highlight reel at one of baseball’s most demanding positions. Only three center fielders, including Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Andruw Jones, have more Gold Gloves. His defense separates him from many other center fielders, putting a permanent stamp on his legacy.

The Metrodome was filled with many quirks, making it challenging for defenders to have consistent success. The centerfield wall was a bag with some unforgiving poles holding it in place. Running into those poles caused injuries to multiple defenders, including Hunter. He continued to track down fly balls with little regard for his safety. The infamous baggy also stretched into the gap, which made for some unique defensive plays. Hunter also had to deal with the Metrodome’s turf, which was sometimes unforgiving. His ability to track down balls in the gap made videos like the one below look like he was moving in fast forward. 

He could use his raw athleticism to track down balls in the outfield, but his bat took time to develop. His offensive value rose when his defensive value declined with age. In his first three full seasons, he averaged an 87 OPS+, and the Twins continued to use him because his defense was strong. Over his final four seasons, he hit .279/.335/.467 with a  114 OPS+, including five seasons with an OPS+ of 123 or higher. Hunter became a five-time All-Star, and those appearances stretched from the 2002 season in Minnesota to the 2013 campaign in Detroit. 

Offensively, Hunter accumulated numbers that appeal to traditional Hall of Fame voters. He had over 2,400 hits, more than 350 homers, and fell just shy of 200 stolen bases. Both of his Silver Slugger awards came after he turned 33 years old. He received MVP votes in five different seasons over more than a decade. His highest finish was the 2002 season when he finished sixth and helped the Twins avoid contraction by making it to the ALCS. Hunter was a vocal leader on many Twins teams, including four division titles in five years. 

Overall, Hunter fits into the category of good but not great players in MLB history. In recent years, the standards to get into the Hall of Fame have changed with the Veterans Committee elected players like Harold Baines. Other former Twins have benefited from this, too, with Jack Morris, Tony Olivia, and Jim Kaat being elected through this committee. Hunter isn’t likely to garner enough support to be elected by the baseball writers, but there may be a way for him to get to Cooperstown through the Veterans Committee. 

Do you believe Hunter deserves to be inducted into Cooperstown? Will he see a rise in his vote percentages in the years ahead? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

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[USNMCPO]

Hunter was an absolute joy to watch play. His defense was a long string of highlight reels. His return to the Twins in the twilight of his career was nice tip of the hat to Twins fans. He was an overall very good to maybe great player. There are so many players that fall into that category who are not in the HOF. I believe he will be considered to be just that - a very good ball player.

[DJL44]

There are at least a couple dozen other CF with better resumes including two on the current ballot (Beltran and Andruw Jones). Jim Edmonds is also a better contemporary pick.

[Parfigliano]

Hunter HOF?  Twins yes.  MLB hahahahaha.....

[Karbo]

Winning all those gold gloves should put him on the ballot, but there are so many  eligible players with higher profiles that he probably will wait for the veterans committee. He should get in on that catch he made robbing Bonds of HR in the all star game. Probably my favorite Hunter memory. 

[stringer bell]

I enjoyed Torii and he was a fine player. Hall of Fame, no.

[darin617]

Twins HOF for sure MLB HOF nope.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, Karbo said:

He should get in on that catch he made robbing Bonds of HR in the all star game. Probably my favorite Hunter memory. 

Hard to keep out Mike Cameron if you put people in based on highlight reel catches.

 

[Blyleven2011]

19 years in the big leagues  , he had a good career , players and media around the league liked him  ...

I hope he goes the distance  and remains on the ballot for 10 years , I doubt he will ever get the necessary 75 percent to get elected ...

But at least for the 10 years we can say he was a minnesota twin ...

Tori played a good game ...

[Joe A. Preusser]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

There are at least a couple dozen other CF with better resumes including two on the current ballot (Beltran and Andruw Jones). Jim Edmonds is also a better contemporary pick.

I honestly thought you were crazy about Edmonds until I looked it up.  Edmonds had about 500 less hits but 10 more career WAR (60 to 50).  

I feel like Torii is awfully close to HOF worthy,  much closer than most would evaluate him. But ultimately no, not until the Veterans Committee.  

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Joe A. Preusser said:

I honestly thought you were crazy about Edmonds until I looked it up.  Edmonds had about 500 less hits but 10 more career WAR (60 to 50).  

Edmonds had more power and a better OBP (330 more walks). Edmonds was also a very good fielder.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Hunter was a terrific MN Twin -- great fielder, excellent hitter, strong leader.  He belongs in the hall of very good, with some consideration (which he is getting) for the Hall of Fame.  He won't get in now, and I think probably will not get in via the veteran's committee (or whatever they are calling its current iteration).  And that's OK.  He was an awesome part of some very good teams and made baseball fun to watch.  Not making the HOF doesn't make him less of a player.  Bravo for a fine career!

 

[Aerodeliria]

I don't think its Jekyll and Hyde; he just was not at that elite level. An all-star, sure, but a HOFer, not really.

[Doctor Wu]

15 hours ago, Karbo said:

Winning all those gold gloves should put him on the ballot, but there are so many  eligible players with higher profiles that he probably will wait for the veterans committee. He should get in on that catch he made robbing Bonds of HR in the all star game. Probably my favorite Hunter memory. 

That All-Star game catch was one of my favorite Hunter moments too, plus the reaction from Bonds afterwards!

[Doctor Wu]

12 hours ago, Joe A. Preusser said:

I feel like Torii is awfully close to HOF worthy,  much closer than most would evaluate him. But ultimately no, not until the Veterans Committee. 

Looking over the stats again, it almost DOES feel like he's worthy of consideration, which is not what I expected to feel. I always thought he was a good player, extraordinary center fielder for many years, but falls short of HOF consideration. 

[jmlease1]

Hunter was very good, and was consistently good for a long time. But I think his lack of elite seasons hurts him. Some of his awards were...questionable, and may have had more to do with him being popular and visible rather than him being the best. Out of his 9 GG's, he probably should have landed more around 4-5. All-stars? More like 3 rather than 5.

Lots of highlight reel catches and he had some memorable moments, but never had any truly big seasons. One top 10 MVP vote, and that really wasn't deserved. He was really healthy over his career, and that definitely helped his teams: you could almost always count on him as a quality starter for almost every season in his career. But "Better than Baines" is a bad argument for the Hall, and I think Torii's lack of big seasons will keep him (rightly) out of the Hall.

And Torii isn't going to have a bunch of ex-teammates and/or managers on the Veteran's Committee shoving him in.

[mikelink45]

The commentators have got the right answer - thanks for the memories, but not a HOF player.  No shame in being really good and at the next level.  His 12 MN years puts him in the team HOF - his stats were actually better in the Angels year.  

 

[USAFChief]

One of my all time favorite Twins. I never once questioned whether Torii Hunter gave every ounce of everything he had, every game. He'd literally run through a catcher, or a wall, to win a game.

But not a HOF level player. 

[jmlease1]

4 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Looking over the stats again, it almost DOES feel like he's worthy of consideration, which is not what I expected to feel. I always thought he was a good player, extraordinary center fielder for many years, but falls short of HOF consideration. 

Stick with your first instinct. :P

Seriously though: comp Torii against guys like Jim Edmonds and Kenny Lofton, who spent significant time in their careers playing against Torii and can fairly be said to have played in the same era. All three played CF for a long time (though Torii shifted to RF for the last several years) and all had careers in MLB that were 15+ seasons where they were real players for their teams (Torii's first 2 seasons were cups of coffee that shouldn't really count against him, same with Lofton & Edmonds first seasons). Was Torii better than either of them?

I'd have to say no, even though I love Torii. Edmonds was substantially better on offense and while he was overrated on defense...so was Torii when it came to the Gold Gloves. Lofton was more fairly evaluated on his defense (he might not have won the Gold Glove in his best defensive seasons, but he was worthy of 4 of them to be sure) but was also better overall on offense than Torii: those 600 steals make a pretty big difference; Lofton stole more than 400 bases than Torii, but was only caught 61 more times. Hunter had more power, Lofton got on base more.

I think Lofton's candidacy was hurt by bouncing around a lot after leaving Cleveland, but I'm not really sure why Edmonds got so little love. Both had the peak years that Torii was missing, and while we remember Torii as being still really good from age 35 on,..Lofton was actually about as good. (both were better than Edmonds at the end, but Edmonds peak was awfully long) Unfortunately, Torii is a fairly distant 3rd to both of those guys.

[stringer bell]

The big test for Torii is whether he’ll stay on the ballot. He is exactly at 5% after 200 ballots and he needs to exceed 5% so he’ll need 10 more votes out of the final 188. I’d say his chances are a little better than 50-50. 

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Stick with your first instinct. :P

Seriously though: comp Torii against guys like Jim Edmonds and Kenny Lofton, who spent significant time in their careers playing against Torii and can fairly be said to have played in the same era. All three played CF for a long time (though Torii shifted to RF for the last several years) and all had careers in MLB that were 15+ seasons where they were real players for their teams (Torii's first 2 seasons were cups of coffee that shouldn't really count against him, same with Lofton & Edmonds first seasons). Was Torii better than either of them?

I'd have to say no, even though I love Torii. Edmonds was substantially better on offense and while he was overrated on defense...so was Torii when it came to the Gold Gloves. Lofton was more fairly evaluated on his defense (he might not have won the Gold Glove in his best defensive seasons, but he was worthy of 4 of them to be sure) but was also better overall on offense than Torii: those 600 steals make a pretty big difference; Lofton stole more than 400 bases than Torii, but was only caught 61 more times. Hunter had more power, Lofton got on base more.

I think Lofton's candidacy was hurt by bouncing around a lot after leaving Cleveland, but I'm not really sure why Edmonds got so little love. Both had the peak years that Torii was missing, and while we remember Torii as being still really good from age 35 on,..Lofton was actually about as good. (both were better than Edmonds at the end, but Edmonds peak was awfully long) Unfortunately, Torii is a fairly distant 3rd to both of those guys.

You make some good points about Edmonds, and also Lofton, a player I always loved to watch play. Both remain very underrated, even though they had long careers. But it's doubtful they will make the HOF unless a future Veterans committee decides they are worthy.