Draft Day to All Star - Torii Hunter

MLB great Torii Hunter joins the show to discuss his story of how he found baseball, was drafted, and then his unique journey from the minor leagues to MLB stardom, using adversity to fuel his dreams. Thad and Ryan also discuss the highlights from the MLB Draft and NBA Summer Camp updates.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to rosters, to rings everyone. I am Ryan McDonough,
joined as always by Thad Levine. That we have a
pack show today. We're in mid July. The NBA Summer
League is going on here in Las Vegas where I'm
recording this show. We're gonna have Tory Hunter, legendary Minnesota
Twins star on in a little bit. But what I

(00:20):
want to start the show with that it's kind of
your wheelhouse, your area of expertise. The Major League Baseball Draft.
A few weeks ago we talked a lot about the
NBA Draft. We know the hype and spectacle around the
NBA Draft, which is now spread out over two days,
starts on a Wednesday with Round one and then as
a few years ago, they have the second round on Thursday.
So I think the NBA has done a pretty good

(00:41):
job overall promoting the draft that I think in a
lot of ways they copied what the NFL did when
the NFL spread out their draft over multiple days. The
difference for me is it doesn't have the runway that
the NFL does, where the Super bowls in early February,
the draft, I believe in the NFL is in mid
to late April, so they have a couple months to
promote it. The NBA draft this year is just a
few months after the fire, actually just a few days,

(01:01):
two days after the finals ended. But I want to
get your thoughts on the MLB draft, and this is
a listener question that we had. The question is why
can't Major League Baseball seem to get the same hype
and spectacle out of the draft compared to the NBA
and NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, welcome, Ryan, great to see again. I think that
you know, it starts with there's a few things that
I think are contributing factors here. It starts with the
fact that amateur baseball players are just not as well
known as their basketball and football counterparts. You just don't
see the same level of frenetic fandom of college baseball
that you see of college football in college basketball, and

(01:39):
I think that has a lot to do with television
coverage of the three sports. Baseball just isn't up to
the same speed as football and basketball in the college
TV realm. Also, as your reference to Major League Baseball is,
historically they used to do the draft over three days,
so we're fifty rounds now they're twenty rounds. Even the
most die hard fans lose interest after a couple rounds.

(02:01):
I mean, heck, Major League Baseball only televises the first
three rounds, which I think gives you a pretty good
indication of how compelling a product they actually think it is.
And then I think the last thing to consider here
is that you know, Major League Baseball has a very
developed minor league baseball system, So when a high school
kid gets drafted, that fan is probably not seeing that
player in the major leagues for five years. When a

(02:23):
college player gets drafted, that fan's probably not seeing that
player in the major leagues for three years, Whereas the
NFL and the NBA offer instant gratification if if your
team selects a player in one of those two drafts,
they're likely going to be playing, if not impacting, your team,
in the very next season. So I think those are
the major differences that make the Major League Baseball draft,

(02:46):
while interesting, not nearly the musty TV that the NBA
of the NFL draft are.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, great points that and one of the shocking stats
I read recently was that a high school right handed
pitcher has never been one to one first overall pick
in the draft. That's never happened, I believe in the
history of the Major League Baseball Draft didn't happen either
this year. So that's something that they really floored me.
But you know, maybe we get into that a little
bit later as as far as why that's the case

(03:12):
that overall, as we zoom out and look at the
draft big picture, there were some surprises, seemingly from a
fan media perspective. Starting with the number one overall pick,
what are some of your biggest takeaways from the MLB Draft? Well, Ryan,
in just a touch for a second, on the high
school draft, the high school pitcher, it's represented the highest
risk player health wise in the pool of players. So

(03:35):
that is something that all teams are aware of. We
are always enamored with the high school arm but they
have led to the most injuries and so they tend
to not fall in.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
That one to one slot. You and I've talked about
it on the show a number of times. There are
two types of drafts, one where you have a consensus
one one and one when you don't. And this was
a draft where I think there wasn't a consensus one one. Interestingly,
there was also another theme was that there was a
lack of college position player selected in the first round,
which is very different than what we've seen over the
last few years.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
When Major League.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Baseball teams are building championship rosters, they tend to build
up the middle, which is to say, they're drafting shortstops, catchers,
starting pitchers, in center fielders. Well, this draft was no
different in that regard of the thirty players selected in
the first round, all thirty play up the middle, play
one of those four positions. Specifically, there were fifteen shortstops

(04:25):
that were drafted in the first round, fifteen high school players,
fifteen college players. Of the high school players, just to
echo your point, Ryan, thirteen were position players, twelve of
which were shortstops, only two were pitchers. There were fifteen
college players taken. Seven were position players, eight pitchers, Three
of them were shortstops.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
One of the things I think that that's interesting from
Major League Baseball. I'm the voice of the fan here
on this show, right. One of the things I think
is interesting for those who know less about the Major
League Baseball draft, which I think is a majority of people.
As you pointed out, I but as far as fan
and media interest and coverage, NFL draft clear one to
me NBA draft second, and then Major League Baseball probably

(05:08):
a distant third, NHL somewhere in the mix. So when
you hear about reaches, you know, teams reached at the top.
The top two selections in the draft face some criticism.
You know, a lot's been written about it that. What
is your opinion, do you think those top two picks
were reaches and what do you think the thought processes
that those teams went through to arrive at those guys
with the top two selections.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Well, right, I think the word reach is easy to
be said by the members of the media, but I
think a few things to consider here, and as I'm
sure you can attest in the NBA, the two guys
that are selected first, so the National select ELI with
Willitts with the first pick in the draft, and the
Anaheim Angels select Tyler Bremner with the second pick. They
were both consensus first round picks. So with only one

(05:52):
pick in the first round, if that's the guy that
you want, you got to take them one and two
if you want to get them. So I'm sure their
reflection you have of the NBA draft, where sometimes you're
not necessarily taking what the pundits would say in the
mocks or where you should select the player. If you
only have one first round pick, you got to take
the guy when you want to take him. So Eli

(06:13):
Willartson just a little bit about him. He's the son
of Reggie Willets, who was a very successful big league
player and a big league coach for quite some time.
He grew up around the game. I think the one
detractor about him, he's a high school short step. He
was one of the youngest kids in the whole draft.
I think one of the knocks on him was that
he doesn't have like a plus tool, And in baseball
we refer to the five tools as being your hit tool,

(06:35):
your power, your fielding, you're throwing in, your running. He
doesn't necessarily have one clear plus tool. But what he
is regarded as is the player with the best baseball
instincts in this whole draft. The Washington Nationals said he
was number one on their board. They took him number
one overall. Tyler Bremner was getting a little bit criticized
for being the second pick in the draft. He probably

(06:56):
was a consensus top fifteen pick. All he does is
a right into pitchers throw ninety five to ninety eight
miles an hour with what was regarded as the best
change up in the whole draft. So I'm not sure
how much of a reach these two guys were ultimately.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
You know.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
The other things just to consider is in the Major
League Baseball draft, you have slots per pick, and that
is the dollar amount that is a target for you
to spend per player. What we may be seeing is
in both those teams, rather considering there wasn't a consensus
one to one or one to two in this draft,
we may be seeing that those teams are going to

(07:31):
spread the money out and try to build the best
draft classes they can rather than just have the best
player at the top of the draft. Of note to
me was the fact that the Anaheim Angels selected three
high school players in the third, fifth, and sixth round.
The National selected high school players in the third, fourth,
and fifth round. I'm going to monitor the post draft
signings to see if they save money on their first

(07:52):
round picks and overpay those high school players to incent
them to come play professional baseball. The last thing of note,
which is very unique about the Anheim Angels. They've been
widely regarded as a team that does not inst invest
a ton of money in player development. That said, over
their last four drafts when Perry Manacien has been their
general manager, they've had their first round pick the fastest

(08:14):
to the big leagues almost every year. Sam Bachman in
twenty twenty one comes to the big leagues this season
and a half later, Zach Netto in twenty twenty two
comes less than a season later. Nolan Shanwell famously only
plays forty games in the minor leagues before being promoted
to the big leagues. And Christian Moore was their first
round selection last year. He showed up in the big

(08:34):
leagues in May this season. So I'm going to be
watching this draft to see when does Tyler Bremner come
to the big leagues and maybe sooner than we think.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Ryan.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
One question I wanted to just ask you when we
just talked about the slots in Major League Baseball? How
does it work in the NBA? Are those firm signing
bonuses when you select a guy won one versus one five?
Or is their latitude each team has.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
There's a little latitude Thad, but it's not significant. They
are slotted the first picking the draft this year, that
was Cooper flag out to do going to Dallas. He's
going to make around fourteen million dollars this year. On
the rookie scale contract, you can only move the base
amount up or down twenty percent. That usually for the
Topics it is one hundred and twenty percent rather than
one hundred. You can move it down to eighty percent,

(09:17):
And that is something that you'd want to pre negotiate
with the agent. Teams picking toward the end of the
first round. Sometimes we'll do that, say, look, you know,
we're up against the luxury tax crunch, and if you
want your guy to be in the first round and
get the two years guaranteed on the rookie scale with
team options for years three and years for will he
accept eighty percent. So a lot of times those conversations
will happen before the draft. But yeah, there's not that

(09:39):
much to negotiate. Cooper flag make around fourteen million this year.
The thirtieth and last pick in the first round make
I think just under three million, So there's about an
eleven million dollar range. But I think it's good from
the team perspective because you're not worried about, you know,
signing a player like you have been historically in Major
League Baseball, will a guy be too expensive and all that.
If he's draft in the first round, he's most like

(10:00):
to play. One final note on the draft that the
thing I'm most interested in following, because I thought it
was a really cool story, was the Colorado Rockies drafting
Ethan Holiday with the fourth pick. Our listeners recognize that name,
son of Rocky's great Matt Holliday, a shortstop out of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
I thought the picture is pretty cool that Matt Holiday
picking up Ethan as a kid, and then apparently after
the draft, Matt Holliday thought it'd be a good idea

(10:21):
to pick up an eighteen year old Ethan Holiday looked
like a heavy Lifford for him at that point. But
I'll be watching that to see how that turns out
for the Rockies and Ryan.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
That comes full circle for me. I was with the
Colorado Rockies in nineteen ninety nine through two thousand and five.
I was there during Matt Holliday's heyday. I saw him
with Jackson Holiday with Ethan Holiday in the clubhouse playing
wiffle ball. Those guys could rake when they were like
two and four. Lord knows what they're going to accomplish
in the Big Leagues as a brother brother duo.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
There really really neat story. I think Rockies fans are
excited about that, and I'm excited about the guy we
have coming up next. That is Tory Hunter, a former
star of the Minnesota Twins. You know who he is
in and All Star bunch of times. One of the
most synonymous names with the Twins franchise, probably in franchise history.
He'll be joining us right after this on Rosters to Rings.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Welcome back to Roshurst Rings. We are fired up to
bring Tory hundred on the show. Let me give you
a little background as to who Toy is. Tory grew
up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Nineteen ninety three. He was
the twentieth pick in the first round by the Minnesota Twins.
Over his nineteen year major league career, he had three
hundred and fifty three home runs, accumulating almost fifty a

(11:40):
little bit over fifty war He played for the Twins,
the Angels, and the Tigers. Five time All Star, nine
time goal Glover, two time Silver Slugger, received MVP votes
in five different seasons. He was known for his highlight
reel catches, his bombs, his epic clutch bombs, but he
also happens to be a great father and a tremendous businessman.

(12:04):
One of his closest friends and longtime teammate, La Troy Hawkins,
could not have said it better when he said, you
won't find a guy with a better heart, a better
work ethic, or a better leader than Tory Hunter on
behalf of Ryan McDonough. Tory, welcome to Rosters to Rings.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Hey, thank you guys, man. I guess I gotta pay
you guys later for sand it. That was extravagant intro.
That was crazy.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
It made me.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
I was like, that was me? Is that me? They
talked about me?

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Hell, yes, that is you. Every bit of it is you.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Wow, that's that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
That said he was going to read it just the
way you wrote it, toy. He said, he just worked
for a word. Go ahead, Yeah, I'm.

Speaker 4 (12:43):
Going wrote that fifty books.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
I tripped up on one of those things.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
I apologize.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
I'll reread it later. Hey, Tory, start us off, like,
growing up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, how did that shape
you as a man and as a teammate throughout your career?

Speaker 4 (13:00):
Well, you know what now that I look back, But
as I was going through it, man. You you know,
as a kid, you're you're constantly saying like, man, this
is not the life. You know, just just the whole
area that I grew up in. It was so much
drug use and gang balance. But at the same time,
there was a lot of loving people. You know, my

(13:22):
mom knew everyone, my dad knew everyone. So if you
did something, uh that was not right outside, they had
the right to spank you. So you could get spankings
from a person you don't even know what they know.
I know your daddy, you did this, I'm gonna spank you, right.
It's like it took a village to really raise the kids.

(13:42):
Where I'm from in Pampa, Arkansas, And you know, I
had my grandmother and my grandfather, and my grandfather worked
you know, at a wood mill, and he walked to
work every day. My grand my granddad was jacked. He
was so jacked, man, and he was so in shape,
and he walked all the way to he was like
seventy five eighty and he worked till he.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
Was about seventy five eighty.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
So just watching him put in the work and always
go to work on a day to day basis, man
that's someone that I really looked up to.

Speaker 3 (14:13):
My dad worked late nights.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
My dad served in Vietnam and and but came back
and during that crack epidemic in eighty four, actually got
hooked on that. And and then that's when you saw
the life start to spiral in turn. It was different
for us. And and so sometimes you know, as a kid,
you're like, man, this is not the life.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
You start comparing yourself to other people's life.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
You look at their parents, you look at they're clean,
they're good, they're working. And then you look at my parents.
My mom was a teacher, she was actually good. My
father just not there and because of other things that
was happening in his life, that demons in his life
that he couldn't get over.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
But at the same time, I wouldn't.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
Now that I'm I'm wiser now, older, wiser, I look
back and it was like that was necessary. All those
things that I that I went through when I was
younger and seen when I was younger, it was actually
necessary because that's what built me up to get through
some of the rough times during Major League baseball. You know,

(15:20):
if there was a slump, I'm like, man, I survive shooting.
You know, if there was nights where I didn't have
any money and I was hungry in the minor leagues,
I was like, man, I've done this before.

Speaker 3 (15:33):
I can handle this.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
So all the things that I went through in Pine Bluff, Arkansas,
growing up good and bad, actually it was it was
kind of like my preparation for what was to come.
And so I definitely think of Pine Bluff I learned
a lot. I wouldn't take it back for anything. I
wouldn't wish it on anyone. But I think majority of

(15:55):
our young youth need to go through something, and they
don't have to go through what I went through, but
they have to go through something and actually prepares them
for what they really have to do in life.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
You know, Tory, I think you're bringing up an awesome
point here. Like I've always thought baseball is such a
melting pot. You know, You've got players from the Dominican Republic,
from Venezuela, from Panama, from Korea, from Taiwan, from Japan,
from the United States, all playing together, and we're asking
guys to all build this unity in this team. I've
always felt like some of the players who really perform

(16:28):
well in the face of adversity are the guys who
face bigger adversities in their lives. You know, when I
heard your story for the first time and you talk
about how there were nights where the electricity wasn't on,
or there wasn't necessarily food on the table, or there
was some erratic behavior around you, and then I fast
forward to Oka, like how does he handle hitting? You know,
when the game's on the line and you're at the plate,

(16:50):
It's like, well, that's not as pressure packed as what
you've experienced in your life. And I do wonder out
loud if some of the kids who've had no adversity
throughout their lives and when they're facing the first adversity
in the big leagues, it's overwhelming, and you know sometimes
it really you know, they can't overcome those moments. You
had a lot of adversity in your life and all
of sudden that prepared you well for your baseball career.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
Well, you know, some people can can have that adversity
and it becomes them.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
You know.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
For me, I kind of as I got older, but
when I was younger in the minor leagues, I actually
still had some of that I was holding on to, Uh,
and it became my prison right. And so you know,
when things get hard, you like, you know, you tell yourself, man,
it's bad at home. My brothers are hungry, the lights
are cut off. I'm here in Fort Myers, Florida with

(17:38):
the Minnesota Twins, and you know, I'm struggling and I'm
going through a lot.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
So it can be a toll on you, and I can.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
I saw it on the field, but as I got
wiser talking to guys like Kirby Puckett who's been through
a lot in Chicago and telling me, you know, hey,
no matter what, once you step on the fields, you're
safe haven.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
This is heaven.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
You know, the family could be going through hell, but
when you step here, this is heaven. You have to
go out there and perform and do it for your family.
Have something bigger than you, right, It's not about your
individual goals. It's not about you getting MVP. It's not
about getting making an All Star Gold Gloves. It's about
a vision of a legacy, something bigger than you. And

(18:17):
my whole goal was, all right, I gotta go save
my family. Before I got married, I was like, I
got to save my brothers. I gotta save my family,
and I got to play for them because I got
to get them out of poverty. I get them out
of the lights to cut off from they're hungry and
they're calling me. And so once I heard that from
Kirby Man, it's like, you know, you go out there
and you play, and I put that in my mindset.

(18:38):
That actually changed my game because I was playing for
something bigger than just me. You know, I want to
get to the big leagues, and I want a World Series,
and I want to ring or I.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Want MVP all these things about III.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
I got into a point where I had more a
vision of something that was greater than me. And that's
actually that pulled me more than anything versus the selfish
way of getting these things.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
An incredible backstory, toy, and I'd love it if you
take us back to the summer of nineteen ninety three.
If Dad mentioned you were the Twins' first round pick,
twentieth pick overall out of Pine Bluff High School in Arkansas,
What was your mindset? What was your thought process? Was
college of consideration or do you do you know as
soon as you heard your name called on draft night
that you're going to be a pro right away?

Speaker 4 (19:27):
Well, no, Actually, my mom was a school teacher, like
I told you, And so I signed with the University
of Arkansas to play in baseball. And and so summer
weren't We were negotiating, and we didn't get the deal done.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
The twins and I we didn't get the deal done.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
And I was on my way to summer school in
Badville and my mom, I'm telling her, Mom went the
first round.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
I should she don't. I don't care what the first
round is. I don't even know what that is.

Speaker 4 (19:57):
But you are going to get your education and you're
going to go to school, and he gets you a
good job, and you're gonna work for somebody. And I
always told her, I want to have my own business.
I don't want to work for no one. I want
to have my own business. She was like, shut up, boy,
you're getting your degree and you're gonna work for somebody.
And so that was the old mindset of the boomers.
And so, uh, she said, I was going to school.

(20:17):
I'm like, went in the first round. She said, I
don't know what that is, and I don't care. And
so Mike Ruth was a scout, damn still a scout,
probably with the twins, and he came and talked to
her and gave us the first offer. And the first
offer was, you know, two hundred and fifty K no school,

(20:37):
and she's like two hundred.

Speaker 3 (20:39):
She was thicking two hundred and fifty dollars.

Speaker 4 (20:41):
She was like fifty. She said, get out of my house.
And he's like, no, two hundred and fifty K in thousand,
and she was like what he said, two hundred and
fifty thousand. So she kind of kept her cool. And
my uncle Robert sold furniture right at a Havebrity's and
so he kind of he came in and spoke for us,

(21:03):
and he kind of used me as furniture. He's like,
all right, he's starting negotiating and saying, hey, plus pay
for school because he has a scholarship, we have to
pay for that. So they came back and July fifteenth,
they said, hey, we'll pay for school, and we'll give
you four hundred thousand, I mean four hundred and fifty
thousand dollars plus school. And so my mom was like,

(21:25):
oh my god, take it. So I went and I
was seventeen years old and drove to four miles, Florida
by myself as a seventeen year old twenty two hours,
stopped at every rest stop to take a piss.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
That's awesome, Tori, and Mike Ruth is still with the
Minnesota Twins. It's incredible. Hey, I just want to ask
you one additional question about Draft Knight. You referenced your
grandfather earlier when I heard you first talk about him.
You referenced that he was a guy who wanted to
play in the Negro leagues and that draft night was
a big night for him because it was kind of

(21:59):
your guy dream coming true and maybe his dream coming true. Like,
can you just take us through that, Like, what was
that experience like for your grandfather?

Speaker 4 (22:07):
Man?

Speaker 3 (22:07):
It was it was awesome.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
I mean just when I was about nine years old,
I would my mom.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
Worked in Little Rock.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
She was a teacher in Little Rock, which is about
forty minutes north, and then I stayed. My school was
right next to my grandparents' house, So after school at
two forty five, I would walk to my grandparents house
to wait for my mom to get back, you know,
around five o'clock every day. But my granddaddy wouldn't let
me take my backpack off and made me sit down
and watch the Cubs because it was day games all

(22:40):
the time WGN, Harry Carey watching the Cubs and Andre
Dawson is playing, Ryan Stanberg and Mark Grayson. So all
these guys are playing, and my granddad will say, sit down.
I never knew any words that he said. Just the end,
he'd be like, I don't know what he said, right,

(23:01):
he mumbled all his worth and then he'll say baseball.
So I knew I had to watch baseball. That's all
I heard. And so I'm sitting on the couch. I'm
watching baseball, like I don't want to watch this sport, man,
I want to play some football, right, And he said
keep watching the game. So Andre Dawson he hits the
home run in the seventh inning, right, and I think

(23:23):
he tied the game up, and the game was over.
At the end of the game, I'm like, man, I
gotta I'm going to school and I'm gonna come back
the next day.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
I'm sitting down on the couch.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
I sit down on the couch. The next day. Andre
Dawson home run. I'm like, oh my godness, dude is smashing.
He hit forty nine home run. I think one hundred
plus RBIs that year and that was the year I
think he had gave him a blank check and they
just rolle in what he was worth a million dollars
and it might have been eighty eighty six eighty five

(23:52):
somewhere around there. And so I ended up watching pretty
much all his home runs, forty nine of him that year.
And it was excited to go to my grandparents' house
and sit on the couch for my granddad. And so
he took me outside almost every day after the game,
and he showed me how to throw, showed me how
to hold the bat, showed me how to do all
these things. And then I went out and tried out

(24:14):
for a team called Mad Butcher that year and made
the team at nine years old, and these guys were
eleven and twelve. So I played up all the time.
And so I have to command my granddad for doing
that man, because without him something that he wanted to
do so bad. And during that time, there was a
slim chance that he was going to make it to

(24:36):
the major leagues during the time he was coming up
in the thirties and forties. But he actually taught me something,
and I never knew that it was going to be
a thing that I make a career out of and
a late leave a legacy out of. So I really
thank my granddad for putting part in that wisdom into me.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Great story, Tori, I love de Andre Dawson piece of
it as well. He was a guy that my friends
and I emulated growing up. We try to wrap our
back and almost pointed at the pitcher, and we didn't
have nearly the hands and wrists that he did around
that Quickly, we think we just watched the ball go
by us when we're trying all that stuff, and we
realized how unique he was. But take us now to
the west coast of Florida. You're seventeen years old, you're

(25:19):
a star in Arkansas, first round pick. You know, you
get the big signing bonus, Famili's happy and all that.
And then I think one of the things our listeners
may not realize that I didn't fully realize, even as
a fan of Major League baseball is when you get
to spring training, what a big operation it is. How
many people are there? Think of teams? Everybody looks the
major league team, but all the different minor league team,
short season, high a LOWA, all that stuff. What was

(25:43):
that like as a seventeen year old kid. I'm sure
there were a lot of pressure as the number one
overall pick or number one pick for the twins. What
was it like walking into Fort Myers seventeen years old
and seeing some of those legends from Minnesota?

Speaker 4 (25:54):
Oh man, Well, right away, you don't see the legends
back then.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
They didn't allow you to even touch them.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
You know, they were on the one side of the stadium,
and the only person that would come over was the
Kirby Pucket. He had a great person out and we
didn't see Chuck and O Block. We didn't see kenn
Herbeck too much. But Puck would come over in the
car and just kind of scream and talk trash to us,
and you know, get to know everybody. It was just
his personality. But other than that, you didn't really see anybody.

(26:25):
So I just kind of sat back. At seventeen years old.
It was July sixteenth. I signed and the next day
I was for marsh Florida. And I sat down and
Jerry White, a guy named Jerry White, actually took me.
I landed got to the stadium in my I was
in jeans and I was coming out of I was

(26:47):
getting out of the cab and he said, put your
shorts on, come out, the practice is over. I got
there around three or four. Practice is over. He said,
put your clothes on and then meet me outside in
center field. He's out there. I just landed. He's out
there teaching me. Oh, when the ball get to the wall,

(27:09):
you have to grab it with the hand. If it's dead,
you know, if the ball's not moving, you grab it
with your hand, not your glove. You might miss it.
So grab it with your hand, spread your hands out.
And he's just teaching me all these things in the outfield.
I'm like, who is this guy? And he stayed on
me from day one and I ended up, you know,
playing the big leads and I was with him for
about ten years, eleven years of my career with him

(27:31):
in the big leagues.

Speaker 3 (27:32):
So I gave him my second goal glove man.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
So when I got there, I kind of sat back
and watched allowed some people that have been there, done
that to kind of teach me and show me. So
I always told myself that I wanted to learn as
much as I could from people that's been there, done that,
So I kind of watched the whole situation. I will
encourage all the young guys that's getting drafted to sit
back and watch. Watch how they're moving, Watch how the

(27:58):
flow of the practice, the flow of the clubhouse, and
watch the flow of you know, the coaches and how
they're moving. You got to sit back and watch and
not talk so much. See more and talk less. And
that's what something that Kirby Pucket and all the guys
before me, Matt longon. You know these guys, they all say, hey,

(28:19):
just sit back and watch, don't say too much, and
ask questions.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
And that's what I did.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
You know, Tory, one of the things that I think
our listeners probably don't fully appreciate is when you come
out of Pine Bluff, you are the best player in
that league, in that city, potentially in that state. You
come into Fort Myers and now everybody is the best
player from their city and their state. You know, everybody
hit third, everybody hit first, second, third, fourth in their lineup.

(28:45):
Everybody could pitch and probably play center field or catch
or play short stuff. So it is challenging making that
adjustment from being the guy who's the best player on
the field to be one of the guys on the field.
I wonder if you could fast forward to a night
in Double A when you had to call Katrina or
your wife and tell her, maybe maybe this game isn't
for me, Maybe I'm not gonna be able to cut it.

(29:07):
What was that conversation like and what was that adjustment
like for you going from being the best player you
had ever been around, who'd ever been in any league
you've been in, to being a guy who's just one
of the guys.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
Now, Yeah, I mean, may you do have a lot
of pressure As a seventeen year old kid and drafted
in the first round. You know you're gonna hear it
from all the players you know, and you know they
said you know, subtly, and you're gonna feel the pressure.
You're gonna read about it. You're not trying to read

(29:39):
about it, but you're gonna read about it. You're gonna
hear about it. But getting to Double A when I
got there, man, I'll sleeping in my car. In nineteen
ninety seven, it's just we couldn't afford the first month.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Rent.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
We knew we were going on the road for me
and a guy named Arma Brown. We knew we were
going on the road that after the first series, and
so we just say Hey, we got to save some
money and we go on the road. We're gonna get
paid on the road. And so we slept in the
parking lot of New Britain Broadcast Stadium and in the

(30:14):
in the car, and so we got up in the
morning the rich the guy clubhouse got rich. Let us
come into the clubhouse, take a shower, right, clean ourselves up,
chill out for a minute before the manager gets there.
We were, which was al Newman. We actually drove to
the mall and just hung out at the mall until
we have to report, and then we came back as
if nothing was happening, you know. And we did that

(30:37):
for four games, and then we went on the road
and the team provide the hotel for you.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
So uh, and I was just frustrated, like, you.

Speaker 4 (30:46):
Don't we don't know what's going on. It might have
been you might think, oh, he's struggling, but I was
struggling internally before I became uh, before I struggle externally, right,
And so I just had a lot on my plate
on my mind.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
I just got.

Speaker 4 (31:02):
Married the year before and now I'm sleeping in the car,
and you know, me and my buddy was just like
all right, let's just try to save some money. And
then we end up standing at a Harthorne Inn hotel,
which is thirty nine dollars a week, and so that's
the only thing we can afford. And it was rat infested,
my roaches and everything. You just do what you have
to do, and so I was I think when I know,

(31:25):
when I look back, I was frustrated with all the
things that was going on, and I felt like it
was my fourth year. I'm like, this is this is
too long, and I can go home and work at
McDonald's and make the amount of money that i'm bringing
after taxes. And so it wasn't so much on the field.
It was so much off the field issues that that

(31:46):
actually clogged my judgment. And I called my wife and
I said, hey, I think I'm coming home. I'm gonna
go back to school and get my degree and so
I can support my family. This is not doing it.
And man, if I were to, she said, hey, don't quit.
We don't quit. Just wait till the season's over, and

(32:06):
if you feel the same way after the season, then
we'll get it done. I told my I call my
brother to get his advice. He said, well, if you
come home, I'm gonna kick your butt every day. I
don't want that to happen.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
So so I'm master motivator, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (32:22):
Master motivator. But hey, he's a he was a tough guy.
He was a tough guy, my older brother. So I
didn't I didn't want to deal with him every day.
If I know him, he was serious about it. And
so the season went on. This is this is after
April and it went on. In August twenty second, nineteen
ninety seven, I got a call ODIs Nickson got kicked

(32:43):
in the face and they said, hey.

Speaker 3 (32:44):
We need you to come up.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
And I went up and uh and got a cup
of coffee for a week, and uh, and I saw
the vision. I saw what I was fighting for, and
I was able to get a taste of that coffee
and uh and it was so when I when they
sent me back down to the minor leagues, the rest was history.

(33:06):
And I've found out what the vision was, and I
found out what the purpose and the dream.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
I tasted it and now I got to have it.

Speaker 4 (33:15):
So nineteen ninety seven it was that almost quit and
that almost give up situation, which I think everybody got
has to have. I think all of you and everyone
that go out and do great things and successful things,
they almost have that almost give up moment, and then
before you know it, something happens and then it makes
you appreciate it more.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
And that's when it turned around for me.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Tori, do you remember what your weekly salary was when
you were playing in New Britain?

Speaker 4 (33:43):
My week is salary after taxes was two hundred and
nineteen dollars.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Yeah, So I just want that to sink in for
our listeners for a second. People think that major league
baseball players, professional baseball players just get extremely wealthy playing
the game. The reality is a very very small percentage
of them. Do We've talked about it on the show.
You know, somewhere around ten to fifteen percent of guys
who get drafted ever make it to the big leagues.
Tory Hunter was a first round draft pick and four

(34:09):
years into his minor league career, he's sleeping in a
car because he's getting two one hundred and eighteen dollars
take home pay every week. That was the reality of
minor league baseball at that time. If that doesn't force
you a man to consider quitting, I don't know what
would they've cleaned that up a little bit since then,
but that was a major problem for guys coming through
minor league systems at that time.

Speaker 4 (34:31):
And at that time, you know what I hate that
they didn't have is financial literacy courses. You know about family,
You know family, they're coming after you. No one is
teaching this. And so when a minor league the draft,
especially first round at third round, between first and fifth round,
these guys are getting paid pretty good money, and so
there should be some kind of lesson for those young guys, like, hey,

(34:54):
your own family's coming out to you and friends and everyone,
and they gonna make you feel guilty about it. And
you know, there's no financial literacy courses for these young
guys to really understand what's going on, because majority of
time you see a slump, it's only because you didn't
get your rest.

Speaker 3 (35:10):
There's something going on off the field, and you didn't
beat the advanced scout.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
Three things. You didn't get enough rest. There's something else
going on in your life, right, and then you didn't
beat the advanced scout. So if you can clear you
know two of those three things, you got a good
chance of getting out of your funk.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
It's just a It's just a constant reminder that professional
athletes are exceptional at something in their lives, but they
face a lot of the same challenges the rest of
us do outside of that thing that they're so talented in.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
Yep, no doubt about it. We're human.

Speaker 4 (35:48):
We think like you guys think we might work on
our craft and really blackout sometimes to what we do.
As far as basketball football, you might see a CFO
or CEO who blacks out to what they do, you know,
and I lost a lot of relationships because I couldn't
do what they did.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
You know, I'm like, no, I'm not going there. I
got time for you. You know.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
I got lost a lot of family members who probably
did some things I feel like I couldn't. You have
to black out to the craft or the thing that
you do well because everybody's trying to pull at you,
crabs in the bucket, take you down because and they
subconsciously do it. You know, they want your money, they
want your time, they want something, and you have to

(36:30):
kind of manage and stewart that time and that money.

Speaker 3 (36:33):
Well.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
So Tory in the summer of nineteen ninety seven, you
get your cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins. You
talked about how that motivated you. You're going to play
nineteen years in the majors, including as an All Star
in your late thirties. Is you look back on your career,
who are some of the great role players, the veterans,
the mentors that stand out, and who are some of
your all time favorite teammates man?

Speaker 4 (36:56):
You know, I guess playing with Yeah, I played with
the Minis Twins. They kept a lot of greats around.
When you're talking about Rock Carew, Tony o Leva, Harmon, Killerbrew,
Kirby Pucket, Paul Mollerder has been man. Paul Mallerder was
my teammate in nineteen ninety eight. Paul maller was my

(37:18):
coach in two thousand, two thousand and one, and then
he was my manager at forty years old in twenty fifteen.
And you know, he's been more influential, influential than even
my one of my best buddies, Kirby Pucket. You know,
Molly's always been a guy who just kind of took

(37:38):
me under his wing and talked to me about life,
about Texas and no state taxes and you know, and
all these different things, whether it be finances or or
how to carry yourself or what's you know, what to
look for on pitchers, you know, the tipping of pitches.
And he was so good at that. He was a mastermind,

(37:59):
and he kind of taught me how to do it.
He had me turn my helmet around. I had a
day off in Cleveland and he the helmet has all
of them still has a hole on the top of it,
and there's a little hole you can see through. So
he made me put it on my face. And everybody's
on camera. They're like, what is this young guy doing?

(38:20):
And Paul Maler had me turn it out on my
face and Dave Berber was pitching, and he had me
just keep my eye on there for three innings and
he said, look for tipping of pitches, and don't take
that off your head until you figure it out. I'm like,
come on, Molly, you know this is gonna make me
look like a fool. I'm pretty, man, I'm pretty and

(38:40):
so and so three inners went by, and I threw
the helmet off and I said.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
I got him.

Speaker 4 (38:47):
I got him, Molly. He said, what do you have?
And Dave Berber was set. There was to be the
at the time it was the Indians. So he was
set on top of his glove and he threw a
fastball and he sat lord in his glove through a
split finger.

Speaker 3 (39:01):
Or a change up.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
I'm like, oh my god, so Dave Burbo, if you
go look it up, I'm probably hitting three fifty to
four hundred off of them because I knew what was coming,
and I knew what he threw strikes.

Speaker 4 (39:13):
With and what he threw the balls with. So when
I knew something was coming and I said, oh, he
doesn't throw strikes with that, I just spit on it.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
But I have to pretend like I was. I was fooled.

Speaker 4 (39:26):
And so Capaul Maler taught me that, and just having
people like those guys around. Harmon Killbrew taught me how
to do the autograph hit every letter. He told me
a story about at the balls. If kids are playing
one hundred and fifty years from now you're dead, and
they're playing in the field and they hit a ball
and it goes into the forest and they're looking for
the ball and then they find one and they see

(39:47):
just a T a line and a H and a line,
they're gonna be like, we got to know the ball
to play with he said, rewind that. He said, those
kids are they're playing the field and hit the ball
in the forest and they looking for a ball and
they see tr h U and t er and you
see it with legible handwriting. He said, They look you up,
say wow, this guy was a good player, and they

(40:08):
put it on the mantle.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
Which one do you want? I'm like, I want the ladder,
you know.

Speaker 4 (40:14):
So Hamak Killerbrew taught me something that wasn't had anything
to do with baseball.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
He taught me something that had something to do with professionalism.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
And so I've had a lot of guys around me
to teach me about a lot of different things. So
I advise all young guys to go out and when
you're in that clubhouse, you seek the wisest, oldest person
in there, and you sit and ask questions. That's one
thing Mike Trout did really well was sit down and
ask you a question. It was almost like a kid

(40:44):
in the backseat saying, are we there yet? Are we
there yet? That's Mike Trout.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
Tory put the shoe on the other foot. You've been
basically a captain on every team you've played on. I
want to ask you like mentoring people, what your relationship
like with Byron Buxton, how do you break him down
as a player, and what wisdom had you shared with
him as the next great center fielder for the Minnesota Twins.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
Man Byron Buckson is very explosive. I think Byron Buckson
hasn't had a chance. We see greatness here and there,
but he's still because of his injuries in the past,
he hadn't been able to show the world who he
really is. Because this guy, I feel like could be
a Hall of Famer right this guy, uh is very explosive.

(41:34):
Nobody's as fast as him, has a great arm, his
his fight to play every day is unbelievable. I think
if he stayed healthy through a whole season, you'll see
some flashes of greatness. And I think that's what you're
seeing now with him being an All Star. He was
in a home run derby, he performed well in front
of his home state in Georgia and Uh, and so

(41:56):
I definitely think that you're gonna see some greatness he
stays on that feel for the last you know, ten years,
he hadn't been as healthy as he should be, as
he could be, and I think, well, once he does,
I definitely think that he's gonna do great things. But
one thing about Barron bucks And he's one of those
guys that actually sit down, ask questions and listen.

Speaker 3 (42:17):
And still to this day, he.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
Will call about advice. You know, it can be personal advice.
He said, I'm thinking about doing this. Am I right
or wrong? And I'll be like right? And then sometimes
I tell him he's wrong. Majority of the time I
tell him he's wrong. But he's definitely one of those
guys that ask questions and whether it be him being upset,

(42:39):
and he will call and just see am.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
I in the right or am I in the wrong?

Speaker 4 (42:44):
And I really admire that about Byron Buckston, who wants
to get some wisdom because I've been through some right
and wrong and I don't want you to go through that.
So if you don't want to do that, young folks,
make sure you talk to the guys that's been there,
done that.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Tory Thad mentioned the nine Gold Gloves. In fact, I
think I might see one of them behind you as
we record the show on one of the cooler looking
zoom style backdrops that I see, Yeah, that one right there.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Maybe a so slugger there too.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
Yeah, this is one of my I love this one
because everybody's like, oh, Tory can feel, they can feel,
but I think it overshadowed some of my hitting. And
so when I.

Speaker 3 (43:23):
Got this, and I think this was two thousand and
nine with the Angels.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
I mean, just being one of the best centifielder hitting
center fielders in the game at that time outfielders, I
thought it was special.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
That was you understand. I cried when I got this.

Speaker 4 (43:39):
Because everybody's like, oh, he could feel, and I would
see highlights and all I see was my fielding. But
I just hit thirty jacks. I just hit twenty nine
home runs or hit three hundred or whatever it may be.
And I'm like, man, I don't get no love for that.
But when I got that, I really I felt like
I proved some people wrong.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
So for those who are listening, can't see over Tory's
left shoulder, he has a gold glove over the right shoulder.
He's got a silver slugger behind me. Is similar to
the Hawthorne in I think where he stayed. That's where
I'm saying, Las Vegas. But we won't get it too
that on this show. Tory now or I do want
to go is your defense, because that's one of the
things you're known for with the nine gold gloves, the
highlight catches. I think a lot of people probably don't

(44:20):
realize for an outfield how physical that is in terms of,
you know, hitting the ground time after time, running into
the wall, having the confidence to go up and over
the wall. How do you think you got so good
at that? And where do you develop the confidence just
to kind of go for it, because I imagine there
was probably some rough patches along the way where you
went for one, did not did not get it, and
we're feeling the pain afterwards.

Speaker 4 (44:41):
I was, you know what, I was told this story
about Wally Pitt, So you know I was I was
hurting and I was sore the next day. I'll be
sore after running to a wall or whatever it may be.
But someone got to me when I was younger about
Wally Pipp and Wally Pip took the day off, right,

(45:05):
And you know the story of Wally Pip do you
and don't you? And so he took a day off
with the Yankees. He was a really good player. It's
an All Star. I think he was a three time
All Star and all these different things, and so he
said I want a day off, and so they was like, yeah,
we'll put the rookie in. The rookie went six for six.
And then the next day he said I'm ready to play.

(45:25):
They say, no, take another day off. Rookie went out
there and he banged again. And so we never heard
of Wally Pip anymore. So I never wanted to be
Wally Pip. And I told my sons that story and
they was like, hell, no, I'm not gonna be Wally Pip.
So I continue to tell that story all the time,
even in business and with my managers. We have about
thirty managers in our restaurant, and even in business, I

(45:48):
tell him the story of Wally Pipp and he never
heard of Wally Pip and they'll look him up and
they but, oh he was pretty good.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
But yeah, he lost his job to lou Garring.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Hey, Tori, I want to shift gears for a second.
When you look at your career, you you played for
like the Murderer's row of managers. I mean, just so
the audience can understand, you played for Tom Kelly, Ron Garden, Hier,
Mike Sosha, Jim Leland, and you talked a little bit
about Paul Malader, like these were these were challenging guys.
I imagined, they're very demanding, high standards of excellence. They

(46:19):
won a ton of baseball games. Tell us a story
or two about one of those guys, Like what would
the listener not know about some of those guys? How
rewarding sash difficult? Was it to play for those guys?

Speaker 4 (46:31):
Uh? I will say, you know with Jim Leland, Jim Leland, Man,
I tell you what, the guy was so fiery man,
and I always wanted to play for him when he
was with the I was with the Twins, he was
a Tiger.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
He will wear spikes and I'd like, Jim, why you
got the spikes on?

Speaker 4 (46:47):
Man? He'd like, tee, you never know when I have
to pitch hit, you know. I just his personality and
his fire and his fight is grit. I wanted to
play for somebody like that, right, and he will fight
for you. And I end up playing for him maybe
like ten years later with the Tigers, and man, I
had so much fun in twenty thirteen. So he was

(47:08):
definitely one of my favorites. Mike Mike social is like
this guy who sits and watch reads the rule book.
Every morning. He's reading the rule book. So we're walking
there and I'd be like, what are you doing? You
know what I'm doing, right, And he's reading the rule book.
So every time he came out argued he was he
would sell rule, put a rule out there that the

(47:30):
umpire didn't even know. And so he was, you know,
preparing themselves and giving himself an optional of all the
rules when the umpire didn't even know the rules, and
he would hit him with it. They can't even throw
him out because he knew the rule. And so I
really took that from him. I'm like, wow, that's actually
pretty cool. And uh. And then you talk about Gardner,

(47:51):
who was a player's manager, who's you know, every player
wanted to play for him because he had your back.
He's gonna get thrown out for you. And then you
got Tom Kelly. I didn't like his methods at first.
He was he was a rough He was the roughest
guy I ever played for in my life. But I
got to tell you this, that man taught me something

(48:12):
that I didn't know I was going to use for
the rest of my life, is how to hit the
ball to right field.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
He will take me out of games.

Speaker 4 (48:19):
Going three for three, I hit three balls next to
Miguel to holler right around the blind drive.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Three for three.

Speaker 4 (48:26):
He pitched hit me for me in the fourth and
I went off on him right I'm arguing, I am mad,
and he said, well, if you don't go to right field,
you won't play.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
I'm like man.

Speaker 4 (48:36):
So now Tim Huston is pitching and the pitcher can
be hit.

Speaker 3 (48:41):
Almost hit me in my abs. He thought I would
say something else hit me.

Speaker 4 (48:46):
In my abs, and I actually have to go to
I shoot at the right field, but I get a hit.
You know, it's crazy. And then so my whole career
I kind of had it in my subconscious to go
to right field.

Speaker 3 (48:59):
So I can go to right feel anytime I wanted to.

Speaker 4 (49:02):
And I got to tell you that was something that
I needed in my career.

Speaker 3 (49:06):
And he was teaching me something.

Speaker 4 (49:07):
And maybe he didn't articulated the right way and anything
come across the right way because of the way he
said it and did it, But I definitely think that,
you know, he was one of my smartest managers I
ever played for. And he showed me something that I
didn't know it was going to take till I was
forty years old, and so, yeah, Tom Kelly, is that

(49:28):
guy toy.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
You played for three different Major League Baseball teams. The
one you played with the longest, though, is the Minnesota Twins.
Obviously that has a long history with the franchise as well.
The Twins have reportedly been for sale recently on and
off of the market. You started your career there, Tor,
you ended it as well in that last year in
twenty fifteen. What would you tell a perspective buyer, a

(49:49):
billionaire somebody who's looking at the Minnesota Twins what that
franchise means to you. We know the history and tradition.
If and when the Twins are sold. What do you
think the new owner will be getting.

Speaker 4 (50:00):
If the Twins are sold. I definitely think that you're
going to get some organization that stands on tradition.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
You know.

Speaker 4 (50:08):
I think that they keep guys around. If you go
on there, you make a good impact on the organization,
or either just all your colleagues, the people that work
in the front office. Man, we build relationship. They keep
those people around for thirty and forty years. It's guy's
been working at since I was seventeen years old. And

(50:29):
I still got a relationship ship with them now. So
you buy that organization, you getting an organization that actually
believes in tradition, and they don't have a lot of turnover.
And I really think they raise good young men in
the organization. They go after good people in the organization

(50:49):
and good players and players that's not going to hurt
the franchise, and players that actually go out and play
hard nosed baseball. And I think they draft well. I
think they raised the young man well in that organization,
and they actually teach well, and they teach the game
of baseball. So and the fan base there is they're awesome,
They're they're you know, at first I used to think

(51:11):
they love hockey more than baseball. But when we start
winning and again in two thousand and two, that man,
I couldn't believe how loud they were, how supportive they were.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
Everywhere you go, they love you.

Speaker 4 (51:24):
So, Yeah, if you buy that organization, you buy something
very special.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
I think the franchise has had a legacy of wonderful
character players who happened to be exceptionally talented, and Tori,
you were certainly one of those guys. And then you know,
the legacy that you left there carried forward, but you
also learned that legacy from the people who came before you.
One thing, I just want to make sure we hit
on before we let you go, Tori. Is you know
the impactful role you've played with your sons. You've had

(51:53):
a son drafted in Major League Baseball, You've had a
son drafted with the NFL. What advice did you give
them before they left home to start their careers? And
how was that different from the advice you got before
you left home to make that drive to Fort Myers.

Speaker 4 (52:10):
Man, I will always tell them, you know, since they
were young, I said, Man, don't have any regrets.

Speaker 3 (52:17):
You know, you don't want to be, you.

Speaker 4 (52:19):
Know, thirty forty years old and you look back and
you say, I wish I would have.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
I said, everything that you do, you do it to
the fullest.

Speaker 4 (52:27):
And also build relationships, you know, not just on the field,
not just but off the field as well.

Speaker 3 (52:33):
And that's what I did. I built a lot of relationships.

Speaker 4 (52:36):
And the reason why I do a lot of investing
in do business because I have relationships around the game.
I shook hands with people that most people can't get
in the rooms with.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
So while I was in the game of baseball.

Speaker 4 (52:47):
I got in those rooms and shook hands and build
relationship with them, and that's what I did. So you know,
you can't you got to have alignment before you have
an assignment. So you just can't go and say I
got a sign but you have no alignment. So you
got to align yourself with people in the business world,
you know, the restaurant industry, the real estate industry, the

(53:09):
Major League Baseball industry. I actually aligned myself before I
started the assignment, and so that's something that I always
did for myself and I try to teach my sons.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
And that's why I was telling you. I just sat
back and I listen and.

Speaker 4 (53:24):
I watch, and I watched the guys like you know,
David Artiz who always want to be great. And I
watched the guy like Jack Jones who wanted to be great,
and I watched the guy like Garrett Anderson and all that.
Every team I went to and I watched all the
guys can make me better. And that's who I aligned
myself with. And then that's how you get the assignment done.
And that's what I try to do.

Speaker 1 (53:44):
And I talk to my sons, Tory, Thad sent me
a list of some of the things you're working on.
Really impressive and diversified portfolio. Most of our listeners obviously
know you as a baseball player, and a great one
at that, But tell us a little more about what
you're doing now and how your baseball career I'll prepare
you for your business life.

Speaker 3 (54:03):
Well it did. It actually helped me out a lot.

Speaker 4 (54:05):
I realized that baseball taught me so much. And you
wouldn't think that baseball would, but I learned that I
was a center fielder, you know, And I learned I
need a shortstop and a second basement in the third basement.
But when you do those same things in business, you
realize you need a CFO, you need a CEO, you
need a director of operations, you need a managers, you

(54:27):
need assistant managers out So I'm able to build teams,
you know within you know my barbecue restaurant, tender smokehouse,
I have here. I have five of those. I opened
the fifth one about seven weeks ago and we're working
on the sixth one. And then we have two coffee
shops called the finca coffee shop the Farm, and it's
really good coffee farm. The table Farm the Cup and

(54:50):
it's actually really really good. And then I have Skincare
hair care product. I've been with them since I was
playing about ten to twelve years Urban Hydration and uh
so we're.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
In twenty five thousand doors in America.

Speaker 4 (55:04):
Man, it's pretty cool and so uh and then the
real estate is just what I love loved doing. And
my son took over my real estate company, Tory Jr.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
He actually is.

Speaker 4 (55:14):
Running it now. He went and worked corporate for two
years after his career in baseball, went corporate in it
management and realized like, hey, I want to I can
go do all this and make money for my dad,
not this big corporation in Europe. And so he came
back and said, I want to work. I want to
take over your real estate. So he took it over
and doing a great job. So every father wants that.

(55:37):
But just you know, when you're able to go out
and create food, sheltering clothing for people that actually work
for you, there's nothing more powerful than that.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
So and now I always.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
Look at I used to think baseball was the dream,
and baseball.

Speaker 3 (55:54):
Was the.

Speaker 4 (55:56):
Thing that actually every like my success, right, Baseball was
my preparation all the learning the leadership skills, learning how
to listen and align myself with veteran guys.

Speaker 3 (56:09):
Teamwork failure.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
You fail in baseball three out of ten times, well
you're going to fail in business and life as well.
And so baseball has prepared me for this moment right here.
So when you could say you got two hundred and
fifty employees that actually go home or team members they
actually go home and have fool shelters and clothing, there's
no greater assignment than that, and I'm all for the task.

Speaker 2 (56:37):
Well, Tori, you told your mother when you were a
young person that you were going to run your own businesses,
and you're doing that right now, and you're delivering exceptional
value to a lot of people, as you just said,
and we want to thank you for being unroster to
rings with us today. I think we learned a ton
about preparation, about competition, about excelling, but also a lot
about life. And that's what you stand for. You're a

(56:59):
professor athlete who had exceptional gifts, but what those gifts
you're still continuing to give back. It's not all about
those highlight reel catches and those clutch home runs. It's
about the lives you're impacting to this day, both in
clubhouses of all the guys you're mentoring, but all the
people in the community whose lives you continue to touch.
I want to say thank you on behalf of all

(57:21):
those people. Thank you for joining us on Rosters to Rings.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
Tory, Thank you, guys.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Stay with us to the next segment. We'll talk about
the NBA summerly. Welcome back to Rosters to Rings. What
an awesome conversation we just had with Tory, right, I
want to tap into you. You're on an eight day

(57:47):
bender in Vegas. I assume you've been locking into Sigfried
and Roy and other some great shows. But we got
one more listener question that we wanted to ask you.
It comes from RF of Southern California. He wants to
know how legitimate a prospect is Yang Hanson.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
Yeah, if by bender, Thad you mean sitting in the
hotel room and recording this show with you and then
doing serious XM shows all week, and then teaching at
sports business classroom, it's been wild. Yeah, I think it
really gets pretty wild doing all those things. No, Yang
Hanson really interesting prospect, that kind of an international man
of mystery in the NBA. There really aren't many secrets
anymore with the internet and video services that televise prospects

(58:28):
and cut up film all over the globe. But to
the extent that in twenty twenty five there can be
a surprise a little bit. That was Yang Hanson, the
Chinese Center the Portland Trailblazers drafted in the mid first round.
He was not a guy who was necessarily projected to
go in that range that most teams had him kind
of later in the first round. Most of the executives
I talked to thought he was going to be a

(58:50):
first round pick. I've seen him play a few times
here in Las Vegas at the Summer League, really intriguing prospects,
seven foot tall, very skilled. The nickname he got that's
probably going to be unfair, I'm certainly going to be unfair.
Is that the Chinese Jokic, you know, Nicola Jokic, because
he's very skilled with the ball, you know, seems to
have some good athleticism. The evaluators that I really respect

(59:12):
that some of them went to China to watch him play,
which is obviously very different from a scouting perspective than
watching guys play at Duke Kansas or Kentucky. They liked
his offensive skill a lot, and they think he's an
NBA player and maybe a good offensive player. The questions
come in, you know, defensively and then the physically. Anytime
you're talking about drafting a teenager, how long is it

(59:32):
going to take to build up that body, especially at
the center spot when you're the last line of defense
against pick your athletic freak in the NBA, but Yanna City, Decombo,
Lebron James. Yet you have to go body to body
with nicolea Jokic, who's huge and it's got all the
spins and tricks and skill in the world. That takes
some time. But yeah, he's been one of the buzzing

(59:53):
names here in Las Vegas, and one of the neat
things that is to see some of the international fans
come because at the game the other night there were
Blazers fan answered just root for the team, regardless who
they have, and then there was some look like Chinese
nationals who had the flag were jumping up and down
going nuts anytime jan Hanson did something. So yeah, there
aren't many surprises in the NBA anymore, but that was
one that was intriguing where they picked him and when

(01:00:13):
they picked him in Portland, and the fact that he's
come out played relatively well. I think the hype around
him and the interest in his career will only continue.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
You know, I have two follow up questions for you
on this. One just jumps to mind is how often
is it that somebody flies below the radar screen and
you know, surprises even the most experts. I mean, it
sounds like you felt like he would have been drafted
for sure, but maybe not quite so highly. And then
do as well as he's done so far, are you
surprised by what you're seeing out there?

Speaker 4 (01:00:41):
A little bit?

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
The Chinese League is different. Usually the American players dominate,
and I'll be honest that they don't necessarily love going
over there because it's not a place you can usually
go and then come back. Usually go and you're committed.
And the guys who go over there they get good money.
You know, last I checked, guys were getting a couple
million dollars a year guaranteed to play in China. That's

(01:01:01):
why they go and they dominate over there. But it's not,
you know, like the G League is. You make a
fraction of that if you go to the minor leagues,
but if you play well or a team has a need,
you can be on a plane that afternoon and playing
in a game that night.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
So that's the kind of the balance that players right
on the fringe of the NBA way. Usually it's dominated
by Americans. But yeah, young Hansen, you know, he showed
enough skill and there's been some interesting articles written about
the Blazers process. This is a multi year process that
and I think if a player is ever hidden, that
is the way to hide him. I think that's the

(01:01:34):
way it's going to happen. The last one who I
think is really an all time great player who was
off the radar was Janis a Ditakumbo in twenty thirteen,
coming out of Greece. He played in the second division.
Giannis looks nothing like the Yiannis you know.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
He was a skinny kid. He was not a great
jump shooter. I remember I was assistant GM of the
Boston Celtics, so Danny Age and I were there watching
Gianis together in the spring of twenty thirteen, right before
I got hired in Phoenix, and we said, geez, I
don't know, you know, there's some talent potential, but you know,
he kind of had a mid first round, which is
where he got drafted.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
Then a few months later, Danny Age and I were
both here in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League,
him with the Celtics, me with the Suns. And now,
you know, in the Incredible Hulk, when Bruce Banner kind
of blows up that and it's got like muscles on muscles,
we said, wait a minute, who's that guy? And they said,
that's Yiannis. So we said, it is like what you
know where we like punched drunk getting off the plane
where he delirious that that looks nothing like the guy
we saw only three or four months prior. So that's

(01:02:29):
you know that to me, that's the last great surprise.
I don't expect Young Hanson to be, you know, MVP
all NBA candidate Face of the League necessarily like Giannis is.
But if there ever is a surprise, usually that player
does not come from Duke Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina. It's
something like this, a story where guy's a bit more
off the radar. And that's how I described Young Hanson.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
You know the other part that you just referenced Ryan,
which just draws some attention. For me, is just the
fact that you said he's being being comped to Ye
to Yoki right now, which is obviously like he's a
perennial MVP. That's so tough to do, you know. Sean
Johnson was a long time scouting director for the Minnesota Twins.
He said a rule in the draft, we can't comp

(01:03:12):
people to other professional athletes because allow them to be
the best versions of themselves. Once you start putting a
name on somebody, it sets a standard that may be
really unfair for him to follow. You're talking about a
guy who is a generational talent. I mean, Yokich may
go down as one of the best players of all time.
Seems like, let's just let this guy be be himself
and shine his own light rather than kind of live

(01:03:35):
in that shadow of a player who it's going to
be extremely difficult for him to reach those heights.

Speaker 1 (01:03:40):
I would imagine, no question about it. One of the
things we tried to do when I was with the
Celtics and the Suns is you can say this player,
this prospect reminds me of this player because he does
this well. But it's not a blanket throwaway line. Then
you have to differentiate what is is different?

Speaker 4 (01:03:55):
Is it the.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
Skill, is it the makeup? Is it the health? Because yeah,
I think those plays comparison is going to be a
little bit lazy. That and as you know, each player,
each prospect is unique.

Speaker 2 (01:04:06):
Ryan, before we close out the episode, give us like
one or two highlights from the Summer League that you've experienced.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Well, I think the hype around Cooper Flag. I got
here Thursday morning, the first day of games was Thursday,
July tenth, and that there was a line out the door.
It was eleven thirty am here in Las Vegas on
a Thursday morning. I was going over there early to
do shows for Serious XM from the Thomas and Mack Center.
There was a line of one hundred people out the
door as one hundred and ten degrees outside just to

(01:04:34):
get in the building for Game one on day one.
Keep in mind this is an eleven day event. So
what this has grown into Cooper Flag against Bronnie James
was a standing room only crowd. The Lakers fans drive
through the desert about four hours to come support, and
we know a Lakers brand and their draw and then
they play Cooper Flag. So they've stood out. Another guy
actually up your way in Minnesota who I'm really intrigued by.

(01:04:55):
Johann Barnji French Center. He was in Minnesota Timberwolf's first
pick in this year's draft. I think he went number
eighteen overall. Yeah, you're really gonna be intrigued by this kid, six',
eleven long. Arms he's more not you, know as far
off the raider as Young, hanson but under the. Radar
this was, not you, know a highly touted. Guy BUT
i think he's one of those guys that if his

(01:05:16):
body continues to. DEVELOP i like his, INSTINCTS i like his.
Touch he's still very. Raw it's going to take a
lot of, time BUT i really like the fact That
minnesota took a chance on. On one of the things
that we talked To Alex rodriguez And Mark laurie about
that was him dunking from the free throw. Line they
had a private. Workout he ran and jumped from the
free throw line and, Dunk so it gives, you i,
think a feel for his size and length and. Athleticism
So i'm really intrigued to. See it's going to take some,

(01:05:38):
time BUT i Think minnesota is a Great Spot conference
finalist team two years in a row for the first
time in the history of The. Wolves he's going to
get mentored by his, Countryman Rudy. GOBERT i really like
that pick for The, wolves And i'm intrigued by his.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
Upside but for some tightness in my hip, FLEXERS i
can no longer dunk from the free throw line. Anymore
it's really a. Shame i'm sure that's the, issue the
only limiting. Factor, well thank you everyone for. Listening again
we got to hear about The Summer league of The
Major League Baseball draft and a wonderful conversation With Tory.
Hunter thanks to everyone here At rosters To. Rings please

(01:06:16):
join me host Bad, Levine ryan, McDonough and other general
managers every week For Roster syrings On, Apple, spotify or
wherever you get your. Podcasts