Hunter recalls being drafted 20 years ago

DETROIT -- The First-Year Player Draft is vastly different than it was when outfielder Torii Hunter was drafted 20 years ago. There was no MLB Network to analyze picks, the top players couldn't head to the New Jersey studios for interviews and most fans didn't know much about the players selected.

Hunter wasn't as prepared as this year's draftees when the Twins selected him in the first round and 20th overall in the 1993 Draft.

"[Former general manager Andy MacPhail] called me," Hunter said, "and I was like, 'Who? Minnesota Twins?'"

A bigger football fan than baseball, Hunter sat with his agent and family members around the house. After he was chosen, nearly all of the local television stations raced to his house in Pine Bluff, Ark., for an interview.

"All the TV stations, they have me in a Braves jersey, while I was drafted by the Twins," Hunter said while laughing. "I thought that was pretty cool, I'll never forget that. After I got drafted by the Twins, we started walking around malls, and different areas trying to look for a Twins hat."

While it wasn't long before he found his way up to the Majors with the Twins, all Hunter could find in the area were Cubs, Cardinals and Braves gear.