Hartford Courant Article on George Springer / Torii Hunter

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For fans / prospectors of George Springer or Torii Hunter fans I thought I would share an article from today's Hartford Courant on the two of them meeting. In addition to being solid players they both seem to also be good people which is nice to see. The Astros seem to be really high on Springer...

Former UConn OF George Springer Meets Boyhood Hero Torii Hunter

By DOM AMORE
The Hartford Courant

4:29 p.m. EST, March 4, 2013
LAKELAND, Fla. —
Paths cross fleetingly in baseball. One team is headed off the field, the other headed on for batting practice.

But this was one meeting that just had to take place. "Hey, George," Astros coach Eduardo Perez called to George Springer, who was stretching with his teammates.

"He's a good-looking athlete," said Hunter, the All-Star outfielder now with the Tigers. "I'd heard of him and I was watching him, he looks like an athlete. And he has a nice smile on his face. I like to see that."

Their paths had cross before — and fleetingly then, also. Hunter was playing in the minor leagues for the New Britain Rock Cats in 1996, '97 and '98. Springer, 8 years old in 1998 and living in New Britain, watched and idolized Hunter.

"I used to see him play all the time," Springer said, "right there in my backyard. He was always my favorite player, and he always will be."

They met, Springer's father, George Springer Jr., recalled, at a friend's home in New Britain on the night Hunter was called up to the major leagues by the Twins in 1998. "We were not expecting to meet Torii that night," the elder Springer recalled, "I can remember George being completely speechless. He was [8 years old]."

Springer grew to be one of the greatest players in UConn history and was drafted in the first round, at No. 11, by the Astros in 2011. The similarities to Hunter are apparent, from the athletic ability, the penchant for acrobatics in the outfield to the all-or-nothing swing and the need to cut down on strikeouts. Houston manager Bo Porter, not aware of that New Britain connection, called Hunter on Sunday night and asked him to meet with Springer.

"Torii is one of my best friends in baseball," Porter said. "George reminds me a lot of Torii. I told George, you want to look for a guy who has the same skill set as you, and try to latch onto him and pick his brain. Torii would be a great mentor for George."

And so they met behind the batting cage, exchanged a hug and chatted a few minutes, before the Astros and Tigers played their spring training game Monday afternoon. Springer, 23, was too bashful to even tell Hunter, 37, about their earlier meeting.

"No, he didn't tell me anything about that," Hunter said. "I see a lot of myself in him. He listens. That's the way I was. All I wanted to do was talk to the veteran guys around me — Kirby Puckett, Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield — and I was anxious to take what they told me and get it done, go on the field and try it. They poured it into me, because somebody had poured it into them."

Now it's Hunter's turn to pour.

"I told him, sometimes, as athletes and even as men, we have that pride," Hunter said. "We want it right now, we want results right now. You've got to take your time, learn as much as you can, get all those bad habits out of the way. Once you realize you're going to have failure in this game, that's when you start to overcome failure."

At UConn, where he helped the Huskies reach two NCAA tournaments, Springer was known to squeeze the bat too tight. After settling in for his first minor league season, Springer hit .302 with 58 extra-base hits, 24 homers, 87 RBI, 32 steals and 156 strikeouts in 128 games for Class A Lancaster and Double A Corpus Christi in 2012. Now he is in big-league camp for a second time.

"I see tremendous ability to impact a game," Porter said. "Tremendous upside. He's a special package. I'm glad we have him."

Springer said he is learning to get over "fear of failure" and make adjustments as pitchers adjust to him. The organization's tentative plan is for Springer to start the season at Double A, then move to Triple A, then perhaps get a late-season look in Houston. But you never know.

GM Jeff Luhnow said that was the Cardinals' plan for Albert Pujols in 2001, but he forced his way onto the big-league roster in spring training. Springer had two homers and five RBI in the Astros' win over the Blue Jays at Dunedin last week, raising some hopes back in Houston where a losing season is expected.

"He has impressed everyone here this spring, from our minor league people who were with him last year, to our big-league staff that is new," Luhnow said. "He has the aura of confidence now that you need as an elite athlete. When you watch him, you can't help but dream of a superstar type player. Our excitement and expectations for George have only gone north this spring."

All of this was just a dream when Springer and Hunter met for the first time, all those years ago at New Britain Stadium.

"You're blessed to be able to play this game," Hunter said, "and have a chance to touch lives. So maybe he saw me play in New Britain, saw me play the game the right way, play hard, and sign all the autographs — which I told him to do — maybe signed an autograph for him and he thought, 'He's a nice guy, he smiles a lot, has fun.' "

In the game, Hunter played five innings, going 2-for-3. Springer entered in the sixth inning as a pinch runner and struck out in his only at-bat.