5 Good Minutes With Torii Hunter: 'I Was Like 'Be A Man'
By Jeff Riger
As soon as the Tigers brought Torii Hunter into the mix during the offseason, he seemed like an immediate fan favorite. Not only is he hitting .405 this young season and has seven multi-hit games in the nine that he has played -- The guy is also funny. Hunter, whether he was on Minnesota, Anaheim or here, has always been a great quote.
Below, you'll see some better ones he uttered after Detroit routed Minnesota 11-1 to win a three-game series on Thursday afternoon.
- I asked Hunter if starting pitcher Doug Fister is tougher than the rest of the team because he was wearing short sleeves to pitch in 35-degree weather while the rest of the team was bundled up. Hunter said: "Fister tougher than us??? Yeah, he was, it was pretty cold out there! I had the sniffles today, it was pretty weird, but at the same time I got the job done. Both teams were cold, they are dome guys over there, so they might have been a little colder than we were, but it was really cold."
- Hunter was then asked about getting hit by a pitch in the seventh inning by Jays reliever Esmil Rogers? Hunter said: "I kind of screamed, it was very embarrassing. It was a change up and I screamed before it even hit me. I was just like AHHHH, you know I have a lot of fun. It hurt pretty good in that cold weather, 85 miles per hour and I looked at that speedometer and I saw 85 and I was like 'Be a man.' Run down the line and don't rub it, don't rub it, but it hurt, you know had a little fun."
- I then asked Hunter about the age old baseball theory that veterans are supposed to struggle in cold weather? Hunter said: "Really, who said that? I have never heard that before, I don't know where that came from. It makes me feel good...no it doesn't, I'm lying! I'm lying! It hurts out there, it's cold for everybody not just for veterans. For a veteran I think more mentally they can kind of throw it out of their mind and get the job done, we've been there before."
- Listen to the entire Torii Hunter interview before. I promise you will laugh at least 4 or 5 times! CLICK HERE to listen.
