Torii Hunter expanded his role with the Twins this weekend and won the hearts of the Minnesota fan base with his storytelling.
Hunter debuted as a Twins analyst Friday joining Fox Sports North play-by-play voice Dick Bremer in the booth for the weekend series against Detroit. The Twins Hall of Famer and special assistant in baseball operations entertained viewers with his knowledge of the game and players on the field, while also engaging with the crowd at Target Field.
"I had a lot of fun," Hunter said at the conclusion of Sunday's broadcast. "It's just weird that this voice in my head is telling me what to do and I keep answering it while I'm talking on camera. And also I disseminated – I learned a new word.
"I'm glad to be a part of it."
Bremer also appeared to enjoy his time with Hunter and said the two would be back in the broadcast booth together in couple weeks.
"Your broadcast debut, I thought, went marvelously well," Bremer said. "I really enjoyed working with you."
Twins fans used social media to give Hunter's analyst debut great reviews. Hunter's knowledge of game strategy impressed a lot of viewers. He also dropped wisdom with comments like "You can never stop learning in baseball. Life is baseball; baseball is life."
"Torii was the life of the party," Melynda Tracey tweeted in response to video of Hunter dancing in the broadcast booth in-between innings (see below).
Twins fan Joshua Hardy tweeted, "Love (Hunter) on the broadcast too. Provides great insight especially on game strategy."
Fox Sports TV producer Chris Withers was also impressed by Hunter.
"It's been a great start and a lot of fun having (Hunter) join our broadcasts," Withers tweeted. "He's picked things up incredibly fast."
Here is a sampling of Hunter on the call with some more reaction:
Photo credit: Twins director of communications Dustin Morse/Twitter.
