Torii Hunter: I’ll Retire an Angel No Matter What

Back in June Los Angeles Angels right fielder Torii Hunter was batting .225 while dealing with a painful injury to his right quadricep and while he was contemplating a retirement at the end of the fall 2012 season (when his contract expires), he now says he would continue playing, but only if the Angels extend his contract.

In a press statement Hunter revealed:

“I’ll retire an Angel no matter what, whether they give me an extension or whether it’s next year,” Hunter said. “This is the only place I want to play. I’m not going anywhere.”

Hunter went on to say that his leg injury made it hard to run, putting him on a path to break Jim Rice’s America League record for the most double played grounded into, however that soon changed and as of Tuesday he was batting .310 with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs.

When asked about his age he quickly replied:

“Since I’ve been hitting, nobody’s said anything about my age,” and “My body was going through some pain and I was fighting it, pushing it, wanted to be in the lineup. I wanted my players to see me in the lineup, but I think it hurt the team and myself, actually.”

It’s still unknown if the Angels will offer Hunter a future position as they already have Vernon Wells and Bobby Abreu in their outfield, along with novices Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout who have both began to come into their own recently.

If the Angels don’t want him Hunter is happy to retire under his full no-trade protection clause.

“I really don’t like the Beasts of the East,” Hunter said. “I really don’t want to be the Evil Empire, because I didn’t like them for so long.”

I have to hand it to Torii Hunter he’s definitely a loyal Los Angeles Angels player and fan.