Man of the people: Torii flies into the stands

JustinVerlander35 · Jun 5, 2011

Despite being 35 years old, not much besides age has changed for Torii Hunter since the nine-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner was patrolling center field for the Twins earlier in his career.

On Saturday, the Angels' right fielder not only showed he still has a flare for the dramatic, but he's still willing to sacrifice his body.

Hunter got a great jump on a fourth-inning Ervin Santana breaking ball that the Yankees' Robinson Cano belted deep down the right-field line. It wasn't clear when the ball left the bat if Cano connected well enough to clear the fence, but Hunter had his mind made up: He was going to try his absolute hardest to prevent that.Hunter's dead sprint brought him near Anaheim's short wall in the right-field corner, which he ended up tumbling over in an impressive but unsuccessful effort to snag the ball. The result left him empty-handed and instead on top of a Yankees fan as he disappeared behind the fence for a few seconds.

The play was one that could have left Hunter with an injury, but he said he was OK, and certainly felt fine enough to crack a joke about it.

"I'm glad the fan let me catch him," Hunter said with a smile. "I hit some guy. His friends were yelling, 'Get off my friend.'"

The Pine Bluff, Ark., native -- who has made a living on robbing home runs throughout his career -- thought he was near the taller wall in right-center.

"Out of my peripheral vision I saw the tall wall and I thought I was there," he said. "I got close to catching it. But the short wall stopped me a little bit and tilted me over. It went out of my reach."

Hunter said he was simply "trying to make a play" for Santana, who, besides surrendering three runs on two Yankees home runs, had a quality outing. Santana went seven innings, allowing just those three runs on seven hits and three walks.

When asked if such plays make him consider changing his style, Hunter swiftly responded with a shake of his head.

"No," he said. "That's what they pay me for. To play hard -- that's the way I play the game. I play hard. I want to win and when a guy's on the mound pitching like that, they appreciate that effort."
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Read More- http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...tebook_id=20057102&vkey=notebook_ana&c_id=ana

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Man of the people: Torii flies into the stands

JustinVerlander35 Bringin' the Heat

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Man of the people: Torii flies into the stands

JustinVerlander35 Bringin' the Heat

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