After 19 big league season, former Detroit Tigers fan favorite Torii Hunter has announced his retirement.

The Minnesota Twins drafted Hunter out of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1993.

He made his Major League debut in 1997 and was with the Twins organization until 2007, after which he signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hunter also spent time with the Tigers before returning to Minnesota last season for one last go around.

Hunter spoke to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star Tribune regarding his retirement:

I’m sad because it’s all I’ve known for half of my life. This great game of baseball has done so much for me. I have learned a lot of lessons. They say baseball is life and life is baseball, and I used baseball and applied it to my life. So I got through a lot of hardships and a lot of hard times and I learned from them and I made adjustments, which you have to do in the game of baseball as well as the game of life. So baseball taught me a lot.

But mentally, I think it’s time. I still love the game, but time has taken a toll on me mentally and physically.

Hunter was a 5-time All-Star, 9-time Gold Glover, and 2-time Silver Slugger, according to Wikipedia. He finishes his career with a .277 batting average, 2,452 hits, 353 home runs, and 195 stolen bases.

Hunter will spend some time with his family, before deciding where life will take him next.

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