What’s it like to grow up in Pine Bluff and make it to the big leagues?
Torii Hunter knows. Considered one of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars during his career, Hunter was an elite center fielder who played for the Minnesota Twins, the Los Angeles Angels and the Detroit Tigers from 1997 through 2015.
Hunter was born in Pine Bluff in 1975 and began playing baseball at the age of eight. By the time he reached Pine Bluff High School, he was already a standout player in baseball, football, basketball and track.
At age 13, he flew to New Mexico to play in a Little League tournament. After he hit a walk-off home run, he was interviewed by reporters. From then on, he considered baseball the more sophisticated, preferable route to the kind of professional athletic life he had in mind for himself.
There was no stopping this gifted athlete. Hunter continued to excel, receiving All-State honors in his junior and senior seasons. According to the head coach of the team, Hunter once hit a ball 550 feet for a home run. In 1992, Hunter made the U.S. Junior Olympic team, and when he struggled to pay the $500 fee for the team, Hunter wrote then Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton a letter asking for help, which Clinton accepted.
Instead of attending college at the University of Arkansas to play baseball, Hunter decided to go pro. He was the Minnesota Twins’ first pick in the 1993
draft, but it wasn’t until 1997 that he actually made an appearance in a big-league game as a pinch-runner, and 1999 before he was a starter. He was perhaps the best hitter in the Twins’ 2002 run to the American League Championship Series, leading the team in home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage, and finishing third in hits.
Hunter made a good living as a professional baseball player. After playing for the Twins, he was offered a fiveyear, nearly $90 million contract from the Angels.
The Tigers offered Hunter a two-year, $26 million contract as a right fielder. At the end of 2014, Hunter agreed to a one-year deal worth $10.5 million to return to the Twins.
On Oct. 26, 2015, Hunter announced his retirement from baseball. When one looks back at his career, the statistics are impressive. He won nine consecutive Gold Glove awards, was a five-time All-Star selection and won two Silver Slugger awards as the best offensive player at his position. He also recorded the most home runs by an Arkansan in major league history (353). In 2,372 games, Hunter hit safely 2,452 times — 890 for extra bases — for a lifetime batting average of .277. He stole 195 bases, drove in 1,391 runs and committed only 52 errors in center (and later right) field. In 2008, he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
After his retirement from Major League Baseball, Hunter transitioned to a front office role with the Twins as the team’s special assistant for baseball operations. He was involved in the draft process and minor league scouting while also serving as an analyst for the Twins’ television broadcasts.
Outside the baseball world, Hunter continued his involvement with several charities, including the Torii Hunter Project Education Initiative, which provides college scholarships to students in Arkansas and other states. He made a significant contribution to the baseball field and complex that now bears his name on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He is still active in Pine Bluff and is generous with his time and talent.
In 2021, Hunter was nominated for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Though he didn’t receive enough votes to enter the Hall of Fame, Hunter has garnered enough support to stay on the ballot for the past four years. Many believe it’s only a matter of time before this Pine Bluff-bred legend takes his rightful place in baseball’s pantheon of stars.
Meanwhile, in Pine Bluff, Hunter’s illustrious baseball career has received a great deal of honor. On Dec. 11, 2024, he was one of the six initial inductees and All-Time Greats chosen by the Bill Carr Museum & Jefferson County Sports Hall of Fame, along with NFL linebacker and UAPB Coach Monte Coleman, MLB player Rickey Henderson, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Don Hutson, NFL offensive tackle Willie Roaf and Pine Bluff High School multisport great Basil Shabazz.
On April 26, Hunter and his fellow Pine Bluff sports legends will formally be inducted at the Pine Bluff Country Club.
This article is from ExplorePineBluff.com, a program of the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission. Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Wikipedia, Arkansas Online and Deltaplex News.
Ninfa O. Barnard wrote this article for ExplorePineBluff.com.