Twins center fielder Torii Hunter was named Marvin Miller Man of the Year today by the Major League Baseball Players Association. The award is given annually to the player whose on-field and off-field performance most inspires others to higher levels of achievement.

Hunter, 32, who grew up amid drugs and gang violence in Pine Bluff, Ark., has dedicated time and money toward helping underprivileged kids in urban areas. The Torii Hunter Project funded the cost for 14 inner-city teams from across the country to play in the Little League Urban Initiative Jamboree in Williamsport, Pa.

Along with his wife, he has helped raise thousands for their hometown through the Torii and Katrina Hunter Pine Bluff Community Fund. He also supports the Twins Community Fund, Athletes in Action and the Big Brothers and Sisters in the Twin Cities.

A pending free agent, Hunter batted .287 with 28 home runs and a 107 RBI this season for the Twins. He also has won six consecutive Gold Glove Awards.

I don’t want this entry to sound disrespectful to any other news outlet. But reports have circulated in recent days regarding Carlos Silva and Torii Hunter, and after getting to the bottom of both stories, I couldn’t even convince my editors to get this stuff into our print edition.

So you’re about to read leftovers, the stuff deemed unfit for print.

(*) Carlos Silva: One report said the Twins have offered Silva a three-year deal worth slightly more than $7 million per season. A local radio station went on to say Silva has “turned down” that offer. I called Silva’s agent, Peter Greenberg, and here’s the message he left on my voice mail: “No, the Twins have not made any offer to us as of 6:10 East Coast time, Thursday, Oct. 25. And you can quote me on that.”

Also spoke to a Twins official on the subject, and he said they have no idea where that’s coming from.

For what it’s worth, I won’t be surprised one bit if that ends up being very close to the Twins actual offer to Silva. If so, I think he’ll politely turn down that offer and grab a four-year deal on the open market.

(*) Torii Hunter: The Pioneer Press quoted him as saying he’s disappointed the Twins haven’t made an offer since the season ended. The report was picked up by ESPN.com and listed among the top headlines of the day Thursday. I called Hunter, and he confirmed that there have been no new offers, only discussions with his agent, Larry Reynolds. But that’s not huge news since the Twins have an exclusive 15-day negotiating window after the World Series.

“I’m not in a hurry to do anything,” Hunter told me. “The winter meetings aren’t until December.”

He plans to go to the winter meetings, which run Dec. 5-8 in Nashville. I think he’s going to enjoy this free agent stuff to the hilt.

He gave one rather cryptic quote to The Pioneer Press: “There’s other stuff, inside stuff, that people don’t know about. Money has something to do with it, but trust me, that’s just a percentage. We need to talk about stuff that needs to change before we start to get into deep talks.”

I asked him about this, and he measured his words carefully.

“It has nothing to do with money,” he said. “I’m telling you. People don’t believe that. But all that matters to me is the ring.”

Hunter has been to the playoffs four times in the past six years, but he’s also seen good players leave. And he also knows Johan Santana and Joe Nathan will be entering the final year of their respective contracts.

The Twins have a dearth of major league ready position prospects, an issue that can’t be fixed overnight. And what are the chances of the Twins keeping Hunter and still spending the dollars it takes to fill their other holes with championship caliber talent?

“I’m pretty sure they want to win,” Hunter said, “but they want to do it their way.”

In other words, building from within.

As a free agent, Hunter will have his pick of several suitors. Beyond meeting his contract terms, teams will have to sell him on their plans to compete. How good is the team now? How good will it be in five years? What are the payroll restrictions? How good is the farm system?

“My loyalty, my love is still with Minnesota,” he said. “But I need to look at the entire situation.”

Blowouts can bring out the best and worst in an announcing crew, and to me, Fox sunk to new lows last night. Joe Buck was going on and on about the Taco Bell promotion, where everyone could get a free taco after the first stolen base. I have big problems with that, which I’ll get to in a moment.

Finally, I put the TV on mute, flipped on the radio, and began listening to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. It was a beautiful thing. Miller was giving a history lesson. On a night the World Series seemed like a hopeless mismatch, he reminded us about the 1996 Braves.

The Red Sox have outscored Cleveland and Colorado 43-6 over the past four games. They look unstoppable. But in ‘96, the Braves rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the NLCS by outscoring the Cardinals 32-1 over the final three games, and then outscored the Yankees 16-1 in the first two games of the World Series. Well, the Yankees won Game 3, and then Jim Leyritz hit his you-gotta-be-kidding-me home run off Mark Wohlers in Game 4, and the Yankees wound up winning that series in six games.

It was bizarre listening to the insight coming from Miller and Morgan, while still watching the Fox telecast. Morgan spoke of the mindset the Rockies players had to take, how the score didn’t matter, a loss is a loss, and how they’d be fine if they could leave Boston with a split in the first two games. Miller talked about the Rockies pitchers having the “two-out blues,” getting close to escaping innings but unable to finish off the Red Sox hitters. Meanwhile, Fox kept showing that little kid in the Red Sox jersey, dancing that crazy jig in the right-field bleachers. It was really sad.

I was thrilled to check the boxscore today and see nobody stole a base last night. Good, it was a stupid promotion anyway. Stop giving away free tacos, or free anything. This is the World Series, not the Florida State League. Act like you’ve been here before.

I was embarrassed for baseball, much as I’m embarrassed for Gophers football every time I hear that first down cheer at the Metrodome. (PA voice:) “That’s a Golden Gopher!” (Crowd:) “First Down!!!!” That cheer infuriates me, as those who’ve been to a game with me can attest. It’s childish and stupid. At a Gophers hockey game or a Wisconsin football game, you hear any number of cheers and songs that have evolved naturally over time. At a Gopher football game, you are repeatedly hit with a contrived cheer, spurred on by a PA voice, that makes it sound like your school is just discovering the wonders of a first down. Heck, at the rate Tim Brewster’s squad is going, we’ll soon be asked to cheer each defensive stop, anywhere on the field. “THAT’S AN ACTUAL GOLDEN GOPHER! … TACKLE!!!!!”

But, I digress. Here’s hoping Game 2 suggests a more competitive series. A lot of us are still getting to know Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who has a 100-mph fastball and a knee-buckling curve.

“That stuff will be electric,” said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle of his rookie fireballer. “That’s the kind of stuff that every once in a while you step back and you go, ‘Wow, that’s special.’ “

A buddy called yesterday, wanting to know my pick for the World Series. He planned to bet on whichever team I didn’t choose. That’s what you get when you boldly predict “Tigers in 4!” and then watch in horror as the Cardinals win Game 1, Game 3, Game 4 and Game 5.

Leaving the ALCS, I had the same thoughts I had last year: There’s no way the NL champ can hang with the AL champ. I’ve spent the past couple days chewing on this, and I’m going with this prediction: Red Sox in 6. Here’s how I’m boiling it down, using some commonly known facts and a few things I dug up on my own:

1. The Rockies have won 21 of 22. Psst: The Red Sox are hot, too. Both teams have won their last three games. Boston just happened to do it with its back pinned against the mat in the ALCS, outscoring Cleveland in those games 30-5. In the process, the Red Sox torched some very good pitchers, including C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt. What Colorado has done is historic, but it’s not like the Red Sox are in a slump.

2. Colorado has had an eight-day layoff. I tried writing this off as a non-factor. Big deal. This is the World Series. It’s not like players are going to feel sluggish, like the first game after the All-Star break. I could see Boston having a letdown tonight because this will be its first game since Oct. 15 that isn’t an elimination game. But listening to the Rockies players, even they seem to think the layoff will be a factor. Everyone says the long layoff affected Detroit last year, making a lot of us look bad. I think if the Red Sox cruise in Game 1, the biggest reason will be Josh Beckett, not the long layoff.

3. Colorado has a disadvantage at Fenway. Yeah, well the Red Sox might have a bigger disadvantage at Coors Field. The Rockies have slim choices for a DH tonight, and it sounds like they’ll go with Ryan Spilborghs. But when the series moves to Colorado, the Red Sox will take either Kevin Youkilis or David Ortiz out of the lineup. If they put Ortiz at first base, this weakens them defensively. Also, what chance does Manny Ramirez have covering the acreage of space in left field at Coors? I think that’s going to be a bigger factor than most people realize.

4. Colorado took 2 of 3 at Boston in July, outscoring them 20-5, with wins against Beckett and Schilling. The important part here is the Rockies shouldn’t be intimidated by Fenway Park or Beckett or Schilling. They’ve proven they can win there, against those pitchers. Boston’s win in that series, in fact, came with Tim Wakefield pitching, and he’s not on the World Series roster. This gives me hope that the series will go six games. If Colorado can gain a split in the first two games, that would be huge.

5. Some scoring comparisons:
(*) The Red Sox outscored their opponents 867-657 (plus 210) during the regular season, and the Rockies outscored their opponents 860-758 (plus 102). Over the long haul, the offenses were similar, but Boston’s pitching was considerably better.
(*) During the playoffs, Boston has outscored teams 60-36 (plus 24), compared to 34-16 (plus 18) for the Rockies.

7. Colorado’s magical ride. The Rockies have outscored opponents 136-67 (plus 69) in winning 21 of their past 22 games. I hope they continue to play that well because that gives us the best chance of having a competitive series. But consider the opponents. During this streak, the Rockies have gone 7-0 against the Dodgers, 6-1 against Arizona, 4-0 against San Diego, 3-0 against Philadelphia, and 1-0 against Florida. I’m sorry, but the Red Sox would dominate all of those teams, too.

8. My fearless forecast:

(*) Beckett wins Game 1. (Big Papi, Mike Lowell go deep.)
(*) Ubaldo Jimenez upstages Schilling in Game 2. (Matt Holliday hits two onto Landsdowne street.)
(*) Colorado pounds Dice-K in Game 3. (Manny, 0-for-6 to that point in the series, does his King-of-the-World pose after a home run trims the Rockies’ lead to 8-2).
(*) The Red Sox pummel Aaron Cook in Game 4. (Manny misplays two fly balls but redeems himself with a home run and two bases loaded walks.)
(*) Beckett is ineffective, but the Red Sox rally against Colorado’s bullpen in Game 5. (Dustin Pedroia hits a key home run against LaTroy Hawkins.)
(*) Schilling wins Game 6, as Jonathan Papelbon delivers another six-out save. (Manny is named series MVP.)
(*) Reusse’s coverage will be awesome. Here’s some of what he wrote today.

BOSTON — The press box is buzzing about the Paul Byrd story in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. Sounds like he’s going to speak to the media outside the Cleveland clubhouse here in a bit. The timing here is shocking, obviously. It has cast a cloud over Game 7, though the on-field drama will surely take over in a few hours.

Byrd tell’s FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal today that he never hid his HGH use and that he only used it under a doctor’s supervision, resisting the urge to take increased dosages to enhance his performance. He also said he hasn’t taken it this season.

“I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor’s care and supervision,” Byrd said. “The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn’t grown.”

Something struck me about the Cleveland lineup last night. Everyone in there, 1-9, had hit at least one home run this postseason. After watching the Twins field lineups with five and six players who were almost no threat of hitting home runs, that was striking for me. Today, Franklin Gutierrez has replaced Trot Nixon in right field, and still, every one of the Indians has a postseason home run.

The Dropkick Murphys will sing the National Anthem tonight. They sing “Tessie,” which I mentioned a few weeks ago as the best ballpark song going. Kevin Millar is throwing out the first pitch.

Indians

1. Grady Sizemore CF (.275-1-2 postseason average-HR-RBI)

2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B (.214-1-6)

3. Travis Hafner DH (.179-2-4)

4. Victor Martinez C (.350-2-7)

5. Ryan Garko 1B (.323-1-4)

6. Jhonny Peralta SS (.342-2-10)

7. Kenny Lofton LF (.282-1-6)

8. Franklin Gutierrez RF (.160-1-4)

9. Casey Blake 3B (.231-1-4)

RHP Jake Wesbrook (1-1, 6.17 ERA)

Red Sox

1. Dustin Pedroia 2B (.243-0-1)

2. Kevin Youkilis 1B (.400-3-7)

3. David Ortiz DH (.462-3-6)

4. Manny Ramirez LF (.407-4-13)

5. Mike Lowell 3B (.303-1-10)

6. J.D. Drew RF (.313-1-8)

7. Jason Varitek C (.182-1-5)

8. Jacoby Ellsbury CF (.167-0-1)

9. Julio Lugo SS (.219-0-2)

RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1, 6.75)

Fenway Park. Scheduled first pitch: 7:23 p.m. (Central)