LA Angels you need to know on Hall of Fame ballot: Torii Hunter

Torii Hunter is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, representing the LA Angels along with four other Halos.

Only playing five seasons in Anaheim, Hunter will unfortunately not be going in as an Angel if he is selected to go to Cooperstown. He'd go in as a Minnesota Twin, as he played in Minnesota for 12 seasons. He still did a lot of big things as an Angel, and will never be forgotten out in Orange County.

In fact, Hunter had the best stretch of his career as an Angel. Hitting .286/.352/.462 (.814 OPS), those were all career-highs among the three teams he played for except for batting average (.295 in two years with Detroit), and his slugging percentage was tied with his slugging percentage in Minnesota. He averaged the most amount of home runs (21) on the Angels than he did anywhere else, and the same can be said about RBIs (86.4), runs (79.2), and stolen bases (12).

Also posting the best OPS+ with the Angels than he did with any other squad (122), the only reason he wouldn't be going in as an Angel is due to the length of time he was here vs the length of time he played in Minnesota. Obviously, in almost all cases, players go in with the team they spent the most time with. And he truly was sensational in Minnesota, or anywhere he went.

It wasn't just as an LA Angel where Torii Hunter placed himself in Hall of Fame discussion.

Torii Hunter was an All-Star twice with the LA Angels, but he was also an All-Star twice with the Twins and was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers too. Think he played elite defense with the Angels? Get this: He won SEVEN Gold Glove awards before he even came over to our team.

He won those first seven with the Twins, where he began his streak of nine straight years with a Gold Glove. The Halos were blessed to have Hunter on the team during those final two Gold Glove seasons.

A clutch player in his time with the Halos, Hunter hit .314/.417/.412 (0.828 OPS) in two postseasons with the Halos. Despite those postseasons only lasting a combined 13 games, Hunter still reached double-digits in RBIs.

The Angels knew they were getting a clutch hitter. Hunter hit .300/.337/.539 (.875 OPS) with 15 runs scored in 21 playoff games with Minnesota. He really did have an amazing 19-year run, and deserves to be on the ballot.

Five All-Star appearances, nine Gold Gloves, and two Silver Sluggers, Hunter was a special player. Not too many center fielders in his era boast the type of career he had.