In a year when a lack of clutch offense—hell, any offense—was the team's biggest problem (10th in AL slugging percentage; 13th in AL on-base percentage), we just couldn't give anybody who swings a bat on this team our nod for best overall player. Yet Torii Hunter deserves at least a little love. He has, after all, continued to do his thing: hit for pretty good average, draw some walks, hit a lot of doubles and more than 20 home runs. But what makes him impossible to ignore? The quotability factor. In this dreary season, scanning the sports section for Hunter's latest gem has been one of the few highlights for Angels fans, be they boneheaded (“People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African-American,” he said of Latino players of African descent. “They're not us. They're impostors”) or classy (“I could say I want to go for that 10th Gold Glove,” he said about his move to right field. “But all that individual stuff, you let that go”). The Angels may lose, but Hunter is never at a loss for words.
