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Torii Hunter On Being Back In Detroit For Opening Day: 'Who Made The Schedule?'

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - Veteran outfielder Torii Hunter wanted to play the 2015 season for the Detroit Tigers, but the organization decided to go in a different direction. Oddly enough, Hunter is at Comerica Park for Opening Day anyway. Now, of course, he is wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform.

Needless to say, Hunter did not expect to return so quickly to the ballpark where he spent the past two seasons.

"This is crazy," Hunter said before the game Monday. "Who made the schedule? That's all I'm saying. This is a place where I had fun, in Detroit. That clubhouse over there, the guys made me laugh every day. The organization is like an A-1 organization, and to start the season off, on Opening Day, [against] ... the former team I played for and I loved, it's kind of weird.

"I don't know what to expect," Hunter continued. "I don't know what the reception is going to be. I don't know if it's going to feel funny facing Verlander. We're not going to face him. It would have been funny. I would have made him laugh on the mound. So it's going to be pretty cool coming back to play against these guys. They know once I step on the field I'm just going to go out there and be competitive but at the same time have some fun."

Hunter said after the 2014 season that he would consider retiring and that if he did continue to play it would be for the Tigers or one of the teams for which he had played previously.

"I was thinking about it," Hunter said. "Then I went home and I felt good, and I was like, 'All right, I've got to keep playing. As long as there's bullets left, I've got to keep going. After this season, I'll just reevaluate everything and see what happens, but while I'm here for a year, I'm going to give it my all and play hard like it's my last."

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, who has repeatedly noted that the departure of Hunter leaves a bit of a void as far as vocal leadership in the clubhouse, said he had not seen Hunter yet but had been in communication with him.

"He did text me this morning, saying good luck, and I said good luck to him, obviously," Ausmus said. "I said, 'I hope you have a great game but you lose.' And we're going to miss him. I'm going to miss him personally. We're going to miss him in the clubhouse.

"I hope he has a good season," Ausmus added, "but I hope they don't finish ahead of us."

Hunter is not concerned about the state of the Detroit clubhouse at all, describing it as an energetic place with talented inhabitants.

"Those guys are nuts," Hunter said with a laugh. "They have a lot of fun in there. I'm pretty sure you see Miguel [Cabrera] and Victor [Martinez], they play the music loud, they have dance-off and soccer ball tournaments and different things in the clubhouse, so I'm pretty sure somebody's going to step up and do what they have to do. I had a lot of fun over there, and I respect those guys. I love them. I miss them. But now I'm on the other side; they know I've got to come play.

"Hopefully if I'm out I don't walk to the wrong dugout," Hunter added jokingly. "We'll see."

Tigers outfielder Rajai Davis said he would not be surprised to hear some friendly banter from Hunter during the game.

"Oh that's always fun, especially when you know somebody," Davis said. "That's what makes the game fun and fun to be a part of."

 

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