Torii Hunter is one of the greatest center fielders in the history of the Minnesota Twins and in the history of Major League Baseball. But when it comes to his induction into the Hall of Fame, Hunter’s case may be on its final legs.
According to Ryan Thibodaux’s Baseball Hall of Fame Tracker, Hunter isn’t close to the 75 percent required to earn induction and will not be part of the 2025 class. But Hunter is also in danger of being removed from the ballot with just 1.8 percent of the votes on public and anonymous ballots as of Sunday morning.
The official Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s rules state that any player receiving less than five percent of the ballot will be eliminated the following year. While Hunter has five more years of eligibility, his low total is concerning and may leave one of the greatest outfielders in MLB history outside of Cooperstown.
Torii Hunter has a valid case for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Hunter was a first-round pick by the Twins during the 1993 MLB June Amateur Draft and made his Major League debut in 1997. While Hunter spent the first two years between the majors and Triple-A, Hunter stuck as a full-time player in 1999 and broke out in 2001, hitting .261/.306/.479 with 27 home runs and 92 RBI.
Hunter made the All-Star team as the Twins won the American League Central championship in 2002 and was a key figure in three more division titles in 2003, 2004 and 2006. But while Hunter hit .268/.321/.462 in 12 seasons with the Twins he was more known for his electrifying play in center field.
Hunter won seven straight Gold Glove awards with the Twins beginning in 2001 and the streak stretched to nine straight when he won two more with the Los Angeles Angels in 2008 and 2009.
Only Andruw Jones, Ken Griffey Jr. Ichiro Suzuki, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente have had a longer streak of Gold Glove awards among outfielders. Griffey, Mays and Clemente are already in the Hall of Fame and Suzuki is a lock has a chance to be a unanimous inductee in this year’s class.
Hunter also had memorable moments including robbing Barry Bonds of a home run during the 2002 All-Star Game, which puts him squarely in the conversation as one of the greatest outfielders of all-time.
Lack of World Series title may have cost Torii Hunter induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Hunter had a strong finish to his career, spending five seasons with the Angels, two seasons with the Detroit Tigers and one final season with the Twins in 2015. But while Hunter .277/.331/.461 with 353 home runs and 1,391 RBI, the missing piece to his Hall of Fame case may have been the lack of a championship.
Hunter played in two American League Championship Series, falling with the Twins in 2002 and with the Tigers in 2013 but he never played in a World Series. It may be why Hunter’s 50.7 wins above replacement is comparable to fellow Twins legend and Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett (51.1) but Puckett is in on the strength of two championships in 1987 and 1991.
Hunter is also comparable to Jones, who is a five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner. But Jones gained more recognition as a member of an Atlanta Braves team that won 11 straight division titles from 1996 to 2005 and has 72.4 percent of the vote in his eighth year on the ballot according to the online tracker.
Hunter’s accolades make him worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame. But with the way the vote has trended, it looks like Hunter will join fellow Twins legends on the outside looking in.