The Wake

When people hear the words baseball and Hunter, the next word that usually pops in their heads is Torii. But there’s another Minnesota player named Hunter and he’s been a mainstay for Gopher baseball for the past four seasons.

Andy Hunter, a preseason All-Big Ten pick and current .349 hitter, is a fifth-year senior on this year’s Gopher team and a St. Paul native. He also excels in academics at the U and was named an Academic All-American the past two seasons.

The Wake: What are your thoughts about playing such a tough non-conference schedule year in and year out?

Hunter: It’s something that our program prides itself on. It’s what Coach Anderson has always done. We try to get a sense right away of where we’re at and really the only way to do that is to play the best in the country. Sometimes it means we don’t start out as well as we’d like and sometimes we do. When you do, you really feel like you’re in a good spot and when you don’t it just gives you some ideas of what you need to improve on. It’s part of the reason I came here because I wanted to play against the best. And this year was no different.

The Wake: What are your expectations, as an individual and as a team, for the Big Ten Season?

Hunter: Well this is the first year that I’ve been a non-defending Big Ten champion. But Minnesota is still Minnesota and people shoot at us. We’re kind of like the Yankees of the Big Ten. We’ve been there so much, so often that people are definitely bringing their A-game to the table to play us. Obviously going out and winning the Big Ten is a goal. I would like to go out as a Big Ten champion in my last year. From an individual standpoint, the goal is just to continue to produce. I’ve been in the middle of the lineup my entire career because I’m there to drive in runs and that’s going to be my goal to take advantage of the opportunities to do just that.

The Wake: Biggest reason why you will win the Big Ten?

Hunter: This is the most together group I’ve ever played with. I really feel right away that everybody is pulling for each other. We’d had some tough games already, but no one is getting down and people are staying with it and that’s unique for what I’ve experienced in my time here. We’ve struggled with that in the past. We have more depth and togetherness than we really know what to do with it at this point.

The Wake: What does the team need to work on to achieve that goal?

Hunter: It’s an experience thing. We kind of threw out our entire roster from last season. We don’t really have a core group that’s been playing together for a long time. Our pitching staff has a new look, we got catchers battling and we got infield and outfield battles. If it’s a weakness, I guess it’s that we have almost too much depth and not enough experience.

The Wake: Favorite part about playing for the Gophers?

Hunter: When I decided to come back this year, it was the idea to put on our actual game uniforms and to step out on the field and have people screaming for you. There’s just nothing like being a part of that group, putting on a Minnesota jersey and having people there cheering for you. And you get to play in the Dome and be on that floor where such great things have happened from Twins’ and Gophers’ standpoints. The long fall and spring practices are probably not the most enjoyable things in the world, but at the end of the day you’re playing baseball and you get to put that jersey on.

The Wake: Any pre/post-game rituals?

Hunter: I re-tape my bat before every single game. It’s something I started doing my freshman year. I fell in love with Barry Bonds and I try to emulate his tape job on my bat. I eat all the time during the games and never wear the same shoes I’m going to play in throughout the day.

The Wake: Best thing on television right now?

Hunter: Spring training baseball and the beginning of the golf season. It’s a great time of the year for television.

The Wake: Worst thing on television?

Hunter: All the crappy reality shows on MTV and VH1.

The Wake: Favorite athletes?

Hunter: The guy I like to watch the most is Barry Bonds, but my favorite athlete is Tiger Woods.

The Wake: Favorite Movie?

Hunter: Caddyshack no doubt.

The Wake: Pet peeve?

Hunter: I’m a pretty easy-going guy so I don’t know if I have any. I like to talk a lot, maybe people who don’t talk a lot. (laughs)

The Wake: Most embarrassing moment on/off the field?

Hunter: My first at bat ever (during) my freshman year down in Arizona and I got a base hit off a guy into left field in the top of the ninth. Next pitch the guys throws was a ball in the dirt and all I hear is Coach Fornasiere saying “Advance to second on a ball in the dirt,” so I take off and get thrown out by about 30 feet. We were down by one at the time and as I walk off the field some guy yells, “Hey six, next time leave the dog sled behind.” That was a dose of college baseball right off the bat. I was high as it gets and as low as it gets in about 10 seconds.