Torii Hunter 2004 MVP Season

Lore & Background

Hunter led all major league center fielders in range factor (3.29) in 2001 and was named Best Defensive Outfielder in the American League by Baseball America. He won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2001. In 2002, he was selected to his first All-Star Game and made a famous catch robbing Barry Bonds of a home run. He won the Calvin R. Griffith Award as Most Valuable Twin for 2002 and ended the season sixth in MVP voting. Hunter won his third straight Gold Glove in 2003. He missed much of the 2005 season after breaking his ankle and tearing ligaments scaling the right field wall at Fenway Park on July 29, yet still won his fifth consecutive Gold Glove. On the last day of the 2006 regular season, he hit his career-high 31st home run. In 2009, he hit three home runs in one game against the San Diego Padres on June 13, and won his ninth consecutive Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award. He hit his 300th career home run on June 16, 2013, against the Minnesota Twins.

In Their Own Story

The late afternoon sun glinted off the green turf as Torii Hunter broke into his sprint toward a deep fly ball in left-center field. The crowd at Angel Stadium held its breath, watching the trajectory of the ball against the California sky. With a leap that seemed to defy gravity, he snatched the ball inches above the warning track, turning a potential extra-base hit into an out. The roar from the stands was immediate, a testament to the electric energy Hunter brought to every game.

Reader's Guide

Torii Hunter led all American League outfielders in assists in 2004 with 13, not 12.

Did You Know?

• Hunter was a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
• He hit three home runs in one game against the San Diego Padres on June 13, 2009.
• Hunter wrote then-governor Bill Clinton a letter asking for help to pay the $500 fee for the U.S. Junior Olympic team, which Clinton accepted.
• He was named Best Defensive Outfielder in the Pacific Coast League by Baseball America in 2000.