Torii Hunter Quotes

It's hard for a shortstop to play with a guy you don't know in the middle of the season. If you know a guy early in spring training, you're working with them.

I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me and no one came, ... I told them, 'Come hug me or the referee isn't going to allow it.'

I think that it is very interesting to write about a team because a team is a group of people who work in very close quarters and have very intense relationships so - in my days of playing sports, I was very rarely on a team that did not have it's own peculiar dynamic, and you wind up having very intense feelings for good and for bad about these people with whom you spend many hours a day.

I've been lucky enough to play on NBA teams I really enjoy, teams where I've liked everybody and had fun, and had that college kind of experience with an NBA team. When you have that, and I don't know that everyone does, but when I've had it, that's what it's all about.

Pete Rose came over to the Phillies in '79 and he became the catalyst that helped us to put it all together.

Once you look up, and it's Week 14 or 15, and it's crunch time, you can't all of a sudden turn on a switch and say, 'Hey guys, we have to step up and be brothers, be family.' That's stuff that is developed in the offseason, training camp, or throughout the season.

The preseason's all about getting good film out there, making the most of the opportunities that you get.

I always enjoyed the training part of baseball. I went to play college baseball and decided it wasn't for me.

Everyone wants to be close to your team. You don't want to have guys that don't feel comfortable in the locker room.

My boys - T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, Kayvon Webster, DeMarcus Ware, all those guys - I built very, very close relationships with those guys, and I would like to continue to build that for the rest of my career.

I got Neil Walker now as my new second baseman. He's great. He looks comfortable there. He knows what he's doing. That's the second baseman you want to play with.

With one coach, you have a lot of confidence, and you play well. Then you go with another coach, and your confidence is zero. Football is this.

... Really get to know and establish relationships with your teammates because they are your new family and they will be the ones there for you when anything goes wrong.

In all the years I played, he (Stan Williams) was the only guy who ever scared me and he was on my team.

Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game. You can devise a foolproof defensive strategy and prepare your players for every possible eventuality. But if the players don’t have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won’t pay off. And the bond that unites a team can be so fragile, so elusive.

I've kept in touch with many of my former teammates: Bob Marcucci was our team manager and we bonded over our passion for baseball.

I want to show that I can pitch well and get along with the guys in the locker room.'

I don't think I've changed very much. I think I'm the same kid that I was when I got here. When I came here all I wanted to do was win games. I wanted to play baseball for LSU and be the ultimate team player. That's all I want to do. If we don't end up being the last team to win the game at the end of the year then I won't be happy. That's all I'm worried about this year.

I love going out every day and training and being part of the team, and having friendships built up over a number of years. It's those aspects of sport that I feel are really important.

This is my best time of the year (spring training). Heck, once the season starts, I go to work.

I've turned down a lot of trades where I might have gotten a better player, but I wasn't totally sure of the chemistry of that new player coming in. Even though he might possess golden ability, his personality and the way he gets along with teammates might be things you just don't want to cope with.

We joke around a lot with our ballclub.

Coaches who scrimmage all the time don't know what to practice.

I remember one spring when I was doing the team's telecasts, Bob Allison was with me, and we were walking through the clubhouse in Orlando. This kid who was trying to make it with the Twins as an outfielder came up to me and asked who was that with me. I said that's Bob Allison, and you better hope you have as good a career as he had.

I don't worry about playing basketball; that comes natural. I just want to have fun. David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan: this is like spring break in the ghetto.