Major league career
Hunter made his major league debut for the Astros on June 27,1994 against the Cincinnati Reds. Leading off,Hlhe singled in his first MLB at bat off Erik Hanson,stole second and scored on a Craig Biggio groundout. [5] In his lone week in the majors in 1994,he batted .250 with one double and two steals. [6] In his rookie season,Hunter joined the Astros on June 13. Three days later,he hit his first MLB home run,off Doug Henry of the New York Mets. On July 4,Omar Olivares of the Colorado Rockies hit Hunter in the right hand with a pitch,breaking a bone in his hand and landing him on the disabled list. On September 28,Hunter stole 4 bases,tying a franchise record. Hunter batted .302 with 2 home runs and 24 steals in 1995. [4]
Hunter missed almost a month of the 1996 season with a strained ribcage. He led Houston with 35 steals,batting .276 with 5 home runs,all of which were solo,no-out home runs while he was batting in the leadoff spot.
On December 10,1996,the Astros traded Hunter,Orlando Miller,Todd Jones,Doug Brocail and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Daryle Ward,C. J. Nitkowski,Trever Miller,JoséLima,and Brad Ausmus. Hunter was named the American League (AL) Player of the Week for June 30–July 6,1997 after hitting his first career grand slam on July 4,tying a game against the Baltimore Orioles. Baseball America called Hunter the fastest base runner in 1997,as he led the majors with 74 stolen bases and was caught stealing 18 times. [4] [1] His 74 steals have not been surpassed by an AL player since;only JoséReyes in 2007 has more steals in a season. [7] [8] Hunter played all 162 games that year;he also led the majors in putouts and committed only four errors. As a batter,Hunter set a franchise record by making 525 outs,later surpassed by Ian Kinsler in 2014. [9] [10] Hunter's batting average declined for the fourth straight season in 1998,batting .254 with 4 home runs and 42 steals in 142 games. [3]
On April 28,1999,the Tigers traded Hunter to the Seattle Mariners [11] for Andy Van Hekken and minor league outfielder Jerry Amador. He again led the AL in stolen bases,with 44 in 1999,although his .232 batting average was the worst among qualified batters. [1] On March 27,2000,he was released by the Mariners, [12] and four days later he signed with the Colorado Rockies. [13] Colorado traded him to the Reds on August 6 for minor league pitcher Robert Averette. [14] After the season,he had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. On November 27 he was released by the Reds,and on January 10,2001,Hunter signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, [15] who in turn granted him free agency on November 5. Hunter finished his major league career where it began,with the Astros in 2002–2003. Hunter played in the St. Louis Cardinals system in 2004 and for the independent Camden Riversharks in 2005. [3]
Because of his speed,ESPN's Chris Berman nicknamed the outfielder,"Deer" Hunter. [16]
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