Torii Hunter wants to see Alex Rodriguez reach milestone
Nearing the 600-homer club
Torii Hunter was 16 in the summer of 1992 when he first met Alex Rodriguez, then a star high school shortstop from Miami, at a Junior Olympics tournament in Boise, Idaho.
“He was 6-foot-3, he was the only one using a wood bat — a taped-up wood bat, I’ll never forget it — and he hit one 430 feet,” the Angels center fielder said last week at Yankee Stadium.
“I went back to Arkansas and told everybody, ‘Hey, there’s a guy named Alex Rodriguez who is going to be the best player ever.’ They were like, ‘What? Is he better than Shawon Dunston?’ I said, ‘Ten times better.’ And Dunston was good.”
Hunter and Rodriguez were both first-round draft picks in 1993, and though they have never been teammates, Hunter considers the New York Yankees third baseman a friend.
So it was no surprise that Hunter winced when asked whether Rodriguez’s inclusion in the 600-home-run club — he needs one to become the seventh player in major league history to reach the mark — is somewhat tainted in light of the fact that Rodriguez used steroids for three years while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003.
“That’s a hot tamale,” Hunter said, repeating his oft-used response to sensitive topics. “He’s so talented that whatever he was using, he didn’t have to, because look at him now. The last three or four years, he couldn’t have been using anything, and he’s still putting up sick numbers.”
If Rodriguez, who turns 35 on Tuesday, stays healthy for the remaining seven years of his 10-year, $275-million contract, “he could sniff 750 to 800 home runs,” Hunter said.
Hunter, for one, would be happy to see Rodriguez join Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds in baseball’s 700-homer club. The rest of America? Not so much.
Rodriguez has alienated fans and some teammates over the years, coming off as selfish when he all but forced the Rangers to trade him in 2003, only three years into a 10-year deal, and failing repeatedly in postseason play before leading the Yankees to the World Series championship in 2009.
“He got the big contract, the ladies might like him, and he’s approaching 600 home runs,” Hunter said. “Some people hate good stuff. A lot of people are drinking Haterade.”
Bad to worse
As if Chone Figgins’ season has not been brutal enough — he is hitting .229 in the first year of a four-year, $36-million deal with Seattle — the former Angels leadoff batter engaged in a heated dugout exchange with Mariners Manager Don Wakamatsu on Friday night.
The confrontation reportedly began when Wakamatsu told Figgins that he was pulling him from the game for not backing up cutoff man Jack Wilson on a high throw from the outfield.
There was a shouting match in the dugout and pushing between players and coaches trying to intervene.
Knowing how much Figgins craves winning, he can’t be too thrilled with his decision to spurn the Angels’ three-year, $24-million offer to sign with a Mariners club that going into Saturday was 37-60 and 20 games out of first place.
But hey, good thing there’s only three years left on that contract.
The money was greener in Seattle. The grass wasn’t.
Friend or foe
Former Angels ace John Lackey will start for Boston on Tuesday night, his first Angel Stadium appearance since he signed a five-year, $82.5-million deal with the Red Sox last winter. His opponent will be his best friend with the Angels, Jered Weaver.
“The guy taught me a lot over the last three or four years — we had a good relationship,” Weaver said. “I owe a lot to where I’m at today because of him. It will be cool to share the mound with him.”
— Mike DiGiovanna
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