Torii Hunter finds his childhood idol on 'Old Baseball Cards'
Like most of us, Torii Hunter had a baseball player he loved as a kid. And like most of us would, even at 44 years old, Hunter still gets excited about pulling his idol out of a pack of baseball cards.
That idol? He’s Andre Dawson. And on this week’s episode of “Old Baseball Cards,” Yahoo Sports’ baseball-card driven nostalgia show, Hunter pulls Dawson’s 1987 Topps card and reminisces about watching Dawson crush homers for the Chicago Cubs as a kid.
The cards were definitely on our side here. Hunter spends the beginning of the episode talking about how he hopes he pulls Dawson — and then it happens. The joy is the same whether you’re a kid who loves baseball or an MLB star who won nine straight Gold Glove.
This week we’re opening those 1987 Topps as well as 1999 Fleer Ultra. We talk about a long list of players, including Bo Jackson, Bobby Bonilla, Dennis Eckersley, Ray Durham and one of Hunter’s friends who owes a whole lot of cows these days. Hunter even bites into some gum from 1987 and immediately regrets that. He’s a big personality and this episode one of our best.
Hunter — who retired in 2015 and 19 years in the big leagues, 12 of them with the Minnesota Twins — joined us on behalf of the Still Got Game Foundation. It’s a recently formed non-profit in which ex-pro athletes have come together to give back and promote social change. Hunter, along with Kenny Lofton, LaTroy Hawkins and Ken Griffey Jr., are among the group’s board members.
If you like this, be sure to check out dozens of episodes below, including episodes we recently released with Hawkins and Lofton. If you like this one in particular, you should also check out our episodes with Eric Davis, Nick Swisher and even Dawson himself.
Previously on Old Baseball Cards
RECENT EPISODES: Don Mattingly | Tom Gordon & Nick Gordon | Ron Darling | Mike Rizzo | Craig Counsell | Rocco Baldelli | Kevin Cash | Brad Ausmus | Pete Rose | Mike Trout | Kyle Freeland | Tony Gwynn Jr. | Archie Bradley | Manny Machado | Keynan Middleton | Pete Alonso | Todd Frazier | Miguel Rojas | Future Stars edition | Tim Wallach | LaTroy Hawkins | Kenny Lofton
MUST-SEE EPISODES: Randy Johnson | George Brett | Dave Winfield | Gary Vee | Jerry Dipoto | Mike Krukow | HQ’s Scott Rogowsky | Felipe Alou | Torey Lovullo | Nick Swisher | David Ross | Tim Raines | Thomas Ian Nicholas aka Henry Rowengartner | Pedro Martinez | Bronson Arroyo | Eric Davis | Dusty Baker | Hank Azaria | Alex Rodriguez | Scott Boras | A.J. Ellis | Bernie Williams | Chase Utley | John Smoltz
COMPILATIONS: Best trades of 2017 | Best finds of 2017 | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 1) | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 2) | The Best of People Eating 30-Year-Old Gum | The Best Finds of 2018 | Favorite Guests of 2018
CROSSOVER EPISODES: The Miz | Metta World Peace | Jazzy Jeff
STARS FROM BACK IN THE DAY: Fred Lynn | Eduardo Perez | J.J. Putz | Luis Gonzalez| Duane Kuiper | Edgar Martinez | Ryne Sandberg | Frank Thomas | Sandy Alomar Jr. | Delino DeShields | Cliff Floyd | Dan Plesac | Aaron Boone | Bobby Bonilla | Andre Dawson | Ivan Rodriguez | Jack Morris | Jeff Nelson | Mark Teixeira | Rick Ankiel | Kevin Millar
MANAGERS/COACHES: Terry Francona | Joe Maddon | Bruce Bochy | Clint Hurdle | Buck Showalter | Brad Mills | Bob Melvin | Dave Roberts | Gabe Kapler | Alex Cora | Dave Martinez | Ron Gardenhire | Scott Servais
CURRENT PLAYERS: Alex Bregman | CC Sabathia | Curtis Granderson | Noah Syndergaard | Kyle Hendricks | Clayton Kershaw | Todd Coffey | John Axford | Dee Gordon | Adam Eaton | Rajai Davis | Brad Ziegler & Tyler Clippard | Buster Posey, David Price & Anthony Rizzo
CELEBS: Kurt Busch | Bill Nye | Mr. Belding | Alyssa Milano | Josh Duhamel | Joel McHale
ETC: Chris “Mad Dog” Russo | Josh Kusnick | Jeff Passan | Ken Kendrick
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Mike Oz is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @mikeoz
