GETTING CAUGHT UP TORII HUNTER WAS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION WITH MANY OF HIS CATCHES IN MINNESOTA. NOW, HE BRINGS HIS DEFENSIVE WIZARDRY TO THE ANGELS.

Byline: Doug Padilla 

Staff Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - He is a thief in stretch pants, robbing unsuspecting people blind for as long as he can remember.

Torii Hunter, who has made a career out of his ability to take away home runs and assorted other base hits with the Minnesota Twins, now will bring his highlight-reel act to the Angels. Sure, the Angels already had a center fielder in Gary Matthews Jr., but Hunter is the center fielder of his generation and has an entire resume of great plays on YouTube to prove it.

All those catches, all those impossible feats of agility, surely they have become muddled together by now.

Could it be that Hunter actually has a list of his top three catches all time? You better believe it.

So starting at the bottom, here they are:

No. 3: With the game hanging in the balance July 18, 2003, against the Oakland A's, Hunter makes a diving catch on a sinking line drive by Ramon Hernandez to end the game and strand the tying run on second. Would have made the top two if Hunter was taking away a home run.

No. 2: In what is likely his most famous catch, Hunter used the grand stage of the 2002 All-Star Game to go over the wall at Milwaukee's Miller Park and take a home run away from Barry Bonds. How isn't this No. 1?

No. 1: Even to this day, Hunter is amazed at what he was able to do on May 17, 2003. Hunter went back to the wall in center field, jumped so high his belt nearly touched the top of the fence and took a seventh-inning three-run home run away from the Chicago White Sox's Carlos Lee. The Twins won, 3-1.

Hunter still beams about the catch that was turned into a Major League Baseball commercial for its "I Live For This" promotional campaign.

"That's my favorite, man," Hunter said. "I was up there. Sometimes you just don't think about it, you just do it. I just saw the ball and just tried to use my God-given ability and it just happened. I wasn't thinking about getting that high, you just do it. I can't even explain it to you, man. Either you got it or you don't."

A shocked Lee can be seen arriving at first base before looking to the dugout for somebody to tell him that what he saw wasn't true.

Hunter isn't the only one in the current Angels clubhouse who will always remember that catch. Newly acquired Angels starter Jon Garland was pitching that day for the White Sox, and the home run would have given him the lead and a likely victory.

"He seems to do it just enough to keep you in awe -- 'OK, it's been a little while, he's going to rob someone,'" Garland said. "It's especially memorable in those cases when it goes against you."

Hunter said he always has known he's had the gift for defense. It came to him naturally as it might to a four-sport star.

"In high school my senior year I played center field and I played it the same way I do today," Hunter said. "I've learned little things here and there from a guy named Jerry White and Kirby Puckett. Those are good guys to learn from. They taught me some things that really brought me over the hump."

White is the Twins' outfield coach and Puckett is the legendary Minnesota outfielder who had some highlight defensive plays of his own to brag about. His most memorable came in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, high up against the left-center field wall. He would later win that game on a home run in the 11th inning.

"Kirby meant a lot to me," Hunter said. "Off the field he taught me a lot about finances, different things like that. But on the field, you know what he did for me. He actually helped me as far as hitting.

"I was one of those guys who used to go to right field all the time and kept myself inside. He said, 'No, use your God-given ability and swing. Let your God-given ability take over.' When I did that, that's when I got better and that was in 2000."

Since the start of the 2001 season, Hunter has never hit less than 23 home runs when he has played at least 100 games. He had a career high 31 in 2006. Twice he has hit the 100-RBI mark, including a career-high 107 last year.

But all the offense in the world fails to get Hunter as excited as a spectacular catch.

"I'm definitely that way; that's 100 percent for me," Hunter said. "I like to take a home run away or make a game-winning catch. I like to do that any day. I love it. I get a big thrill. Sure I get a thrill from hitting a home run to win a game or a base hit. You get that thrill and you can't take it away. But to take a home run away to win a game, or help keep a lead, I love it."

Infield defense, especially at shortstop, gets the most acclaim, but outfield defense can be just as vital. Aside from great putouts, an overlooked aspect of outfield defense is cutting balls off in the gap.

"There's no mistaking that it's a priority and something that we understand the value of," manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think you'll see it with a guy like Torii in center field and Gary, Garret (Anderson) and Vladimir (Guerrero) and whatever combinations we would use around them. It's going to be a strength for us this year."

Scioscia is so confident in the ability of his outfield that he went slightly out of character to boast that he has the best in the business when it comes to defense.

"Absolutely," Scioscia said. "I think we're going to have that ability to shrink the field. We're going to be very athletic in the outfield, and I think it's going to be important to us."

Said Garland: "For me personally it's huge because I'm always going to put the ball in play. That's just the type of pitcher I am. The big thing for me is keeping that guy at first and not letting him stretch that single into a double because now I can get that ground ball and get the double play."

Now with the Angels, Hunter likes everything about his move to the American League West. Sure, the money is nice at five years and $90million, but there is the added bonus of always being on a competitive team.

"I'm loving it," he said. "I don't care how much money you give me I'm not going to sign someplace that I don't like. I wouldn't sign with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I'm here. They gave me the money but if they were losing or I didn't like the field, trust me I would not be here."

And don't forget one more thing. Hunter nearly salivates when he thinks about that 8-foot tall fence in center field at Angel Stadium.

"The wall is lower so you can rob a little more," he said. " I love the outfield, I love the atmosphere."

Better not write down his top three catches in ink. It sounds like there could be a new one joining the list soon.

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ANGELS

TODAY vs. Oakland, 1:05 p.m., Tempe, Ariz.

Radio: 830-AM.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) "I like to take a home run away or make a game-winning catch. I like to do that any day. I get a big thrill," new Angels center fielder Torii Hunter says.

Lisa Blumenfedl/Getty Images

(2 -- color) Torii Hunter's signing by the Angels makes him the team's everyday center fielder.