Sports

TORRI HUNTER RECOGNIZED FOR BASEBALL DONATION

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Monday, October 27, 2008 9:55 AM CDT

Torii Hunter probably would have rather been somewhere other than Golden Lion Stadium on Saturday. Namely, with his Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim teammates while playing for a World Series title.

Los Angeles Angels center fielder and Pine Bluff native Torii Hunter is recognized for his donation to the Arkansas-Pine Bluff athletic program during halftime of the Golden Lions’ 42-0 Homecoming victory Saturday at Golden Lion Stadium. Pictured (from left) are UAPB chancellor Lawrence A. Davis Jr., Hunter’s brother, Taru, UAPB athletic director Skip Perkins and Hunter. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

But if he and the Angels had to get eliminated early from the playoffs, as they were when they lost in four games to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series, then a trip home to Pine Bluff is a fine consolation.

“I was kind of sad for a minute,” said Hunter during halftime of Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s 42-0 win over Lincoln University. “But to just come home for Homecoming and see faces I hadn’t seen in 10 years, I’m pretty excited to be here right now.”

Hunter, a 1993 graduate of Pine Bluff High School, comes back home to catch up with family and friends for a couple of weeks every offseason. Saturday, he was at UAPB’s Homecoming game to get the public recognition that athletic director Skip Perkins said has been overdue for months.

Last spring Hunter, a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner during his 12-year professional career, donated $500,000 toward a new baseball, softball and little league complex that will eventually bear his name. Plans for the $9 million complex were unveiled in April, and initial ground work has already been done on a tract of land north of Golden Lion Stadium that was donated to the university.

Perkins, who has been in his position for a little over a year, said he’s been waiting for the right time to publicly recognize Hunter for his donation since it was received. Saturday was their first opportunity after Hunter and the Angels were eliminated from the playoffs on Oct. 6.

“We were hoping he wouldn’t have been here; we hoped he was going to be in the World Series,” Perkins said. “But worst-case scenario, he’s here, his mom is here, his brother is in town. What a great way to celebrate it in front of all this crowd.”

Hunter was in Little Rock Oct. 18 to be inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, and decided to stay through the week and attend Saturday’s football game. At halftime he presented Perkins with an oversized check in front of 14,852 fans made out to the UAPB Foundation Fund, which symbolized Hunter’s gift, the largest single donation ever made to the UAPB athletic department.

Hunter never played at UAPB as he was drafted in the first round, 20th overall, by the Minnesota Twins in the 1993 draft after his high school career ended. But his mother is a UAPB graduate, and he would like to see the Golden Lions with a permanent home. Currently, they split their home schedule between Regional Park and Taylor Field.

A target date for the first phase, which includes the playing fields, scoreboards and dugouts is for Spring 2010. Phase 2 will include stands, restrooms and concessions and phase 2 will include an indoor practice facility.

“We need somewhere to build our baseball program,” Perkins said. “We’ve got some really good players, and if you don’t have a home stadium, how do you recruit?”

Hunter is happy to help the UAPB athletic department, but he’s more excited about the little league facilities and mentoring programs that go along with the project. He remembers baseball being quite popular among Pine Bluff youth in the early-1990s, but the scene has since seen a drop-off.

A donation to help build new facilities, he said, can only help bring kids back to the game that has provided him with so much.

“If you build it they will come,” Hunter said. “You’ve been hearing that forever. We’re just trying to get (baseball) back strong. When I played in little league, this place was strong. Baseball was everything, people were out there and supportive of everything.”

Print this story   |   Email this story