It's not the same without Torii but life goes on with new hero, Carlos Gomez

Many loyal Minnesota Twins baseball fans said that life as a Twins fan wouldn’t be the same without popular, wide-smiling Torii Hunter in the lineup.

I was a believer to that notion when I first heard late last year that Torii was leaving the Twins and would now be a Los Angeles Angel. Just couldn’t imagine the Twins centerfield terrain not being inhabited by No. 48. Well, life goes on.

We’re only eight games into the 2008 season and so far, so good. We Twins fans have another centerfielder and one who has about as wide a smile as Torii. Our newfound hero — let’s hope — is 22-year-old Carlos Gomez from the Dominican Republic.

Gomez is wearing Brad Radke’s old number, #22. After eight games, he was batting .333 and had five stolen bases in five attempts.

This lad wants to play baseball and he loves the game. I went to three of the Twins’ first seven games and was most impressed by the excitement this young man brings to the field.

Sitting out in the cheap seats on Sunday with my wife, I watched closely as Gomez took his spot in centerfield before the game started. From second base to the outfield, he wore one of the widest grins you would ever see and had his eye on the fans the entire time.

As the National Anthem played, Gomez kept his arm around the youngster standing next to him in the outfield. He loves this game and loves playing for the Minnesota Twins.

Yes, I know it’s very early in the season but with the proper tutelage and the Twins have the manager and the coaches to provide it, he’s a cinch to be a superstar. He’s just a blur when patrolling the outfield and at times almost over runs the ball.

He makes young kid mistakes but Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire forgives him for that and doesn’t want to put a collar on the excitement this kid has and provides to other players.

Gomez also has proven that he can bunt and when putting down the bunt, he’s already over half way to first.

The answer still is yes when people ask me if I miss Torii Hunter. My three grandchildren, who are also avid Torii fans, also miss him and stayed up late from school a week ago to go see Hunter and the Angels play the Twins.

A bonus before the game was to see Hunter receive his seventh Gold Glove, this time presented to him by Manager Gardenhire. When I told my grandson Ryan that Torii was going to receive a Gold Glove, five-year-old Ryan exclaimed: “Grandpa, I knew he could do it.”

Angels centerfielder Torii Hunter holds up his Gold Glove for Twins fans to admire. (Photo by Howard Lestrud)
The Twins may struggle this year but they are in a rebuilding mode and some of their younger talents are going to make this team a challenger for the playoffs in the near future. Delmon Young is also age 22 and wears #21. He’s the real thing, too.

The Twins may not win the division this year but they will be competitive and it is already quite evident that they have some exciting components to make a fun team to watch. Francisco Liriano has not even caught up to the team yet. If he can find his old grove of two years ago, the Twins will be a team to watch.