I’m sure some of you are wondering just how to behave Monday night when you go to the Dome, the bar, the neighbor’s or wherever to watch the Opener and that guy who used to play center field gets introduced/comes to the plate/grounds into a double play/whatever.

Yeah, we’re talking Torii Hunter — cheer or boo.

I know these aren’t really parallel circumstances, but once upon a time, in my real job at the Star Tribune, I supervised a talented young intern. All of us who worked with him, myself included, wanted him to take a job with us when he graduated from college because we knew he’d be good and we liked the guy and he was a leader in the clubhouse. (OK, I’m making up that last part.) Well, we offered him a job — not a great job and probably a job that was a bit below his skill level — and the intern left. He’s since gone to another paper, living in a city that makes him very happy, and it makes me feel good to see that he’s doing well. I don’t spend much time thinking about him, but I neither kick myself over his departure nor feel resentful in any way, shape or form when I see his work. I wouldn’t trade him for any of the writers I work with right now … but I really think he would have been better off staying here. I’m sure that young writer was grateful for the opportunity we gave him, felt it was time to move on and knows that the writers and editors he worked with here contributed something to his current prowess.

I’m bringing that context to the ballpark Monday. It’ll be kind of fun to see Torii introduced and interesting to see how he does. I wish him neither an injury nor a Puntoian season. I hope his new teammates like him after the novelty of his arrival his worn off. I hope he goes 1-for-16 through this Thursday and then knocks the cookies outta the ball when he plays other AL Central teams. I hope he gets caught between first and second (if he does manage to reach base here) trying to time a stolen base — remember that move? — and then upends I-Rod (or V-Mart or A-Pierz) to beat the Tigers (or Cleveland or Chicago) the way he knocked over that White Sox catcher a few years back.

For those of you who have come to the Twins since their run of division titles began, go back and look at Torii’s career statistics. You’ll see the struggles of a young player, learning on the job and being returned to the minors and making us wonder at times if THIS was really the guy who was going to replace Kirby in center field. Watching Torii develop into a player who could command a 5-year, $90 million fleecing of the Angels was a rare opportunity for a baseball fan.

I know that we all got wrapped up in many things Torii when he was in the local clubhouse — probably too many. He sounded off on the Jackie Robinson/No. 42 uniform thing, which I thought was interesting, and how the front office should do its job, which — given his recent advocacy that Denard Span should have gotten the center field job — hits me as even more irrelevant than it did last summer.

Right now, my suggestion is to be over Torii while bearing no malice, and to think about the struggles of his early years when you watch young Gogomez.

other people are here too

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 9:27 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.