Center is still Torii Territory

There was a lot of emotion for the former Twins star on his first return to the Dome.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: March 31, 2008 - 11:45 PM

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New Angels center fielder Torii Hunter jogged out to the first-base line for pregame introductions and doffed his cap as fans showered him with applause. The Twins paused the introductions at that moment to play a video of Hunter's great plays for the Twin.

"Thanks For The Memoriies" flashed at the end of the presentation, the "ii" in honor of Hunter, who played with the Twins for 11 seasons, winning eight Gold Glove awards. Hunter never saw it.

He startled Twins fans on Thanksgiving Eve when he agreed to a five-year, $90 million deal that took him to the land of the Rally Monkey. It just so happened that the MLB scheduling committee had the Angels visiting the Twins this week.

Hunter tried to make sense of how everything has changed for him for nine innings Monday as he faced his former team

"I wish I could explain to you guys the feeling of coming back after walking through here for so many seasons," Hunter said. "Coming back is weird. I felt like everything was reversed and it was backwards.

"We'll get past it."

Hunter was 0-for-4 on Monday with two flyouts, a line-drive out that started a double play and a strikeout against Joe Nathan in the ninth.

Hunter had a chance to tie the score against Nathan but looked like the younger version of Hunter and chased everything Nathan threw at him. Hunter prefers playing behind Nathan, not facing him.

"I tried to do too much, and I was pretty pumped up," Hunter said. "He didn't throw me a strike, and I swung at all of them. That's how amped up I was."

The Twins got what they wanted, a 3-2 victory in the opener and at least one game in which Hunter didn't come back to bite them.

"I think he was disappointed, but hopefully he'll get in a groove and just relax and try to play baseball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He got a little emotional early. Obviously, it was a well-deserved ovation."

Hunter emerged from the visitors dugout before the game, hugged Tony Oliva and pointed at a few others he recognized behind the batting cage.

When a reporter asked Oliva about seeing Hunter in an Angels uniform, he replied, "It looks strange to me."

As the Angels took the field for batting practice, Hunter went to the center field fence and shook hands with many fans, including the longtime supporter known as "Waldo," a hard hat-wearing fan who has had Hunter's back for years.

"I talked to Waldo. We had a nice little conversation," Hunter said. "He's pretty upset, but he's still my guy."

That was clearly true. When Hunter took the field before the game began, Waldo held up a sign that read, "This is Torii Territory."

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