EVERETT — Brian Hunter decided he belonged back on the field.
The former major-league outfielder hadn’t graced the field since his playing days ended in 2005. But 10 years later Hunter is back in the dugout, beginning his professional coaching career as the hitting coach for the Everett AquaSox.
“It’s been a great experience so far,” Hunter said prior to Monday night’s game against Boise. “I have a great group of players to work with, and what an amazing coaching staff!”
Hunter had a 10-year major-league career as a speedy outfielder from 1994-2003, including spending the 1999 season with the Seattle Mariners. The best years of his career came with the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers, and he also made brief stops in Colorado, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.
Hunter wound down his playing career with two more seasons in the minors, then hung up his spikes. He returned to his hometown of Vancouver, where he coached his son and started a youth baseball program for players ages 8-18.
But the lure of the field remained, and this year he decided to make his return.
“Chris Gwynn (the Seattle Mariners’ director of player development) contacted me, and it’s definitely more appealing to be here in my home area, the Northwest,” Hunter explained. “All those things came together and it was a key reason why I took this position.”
Hunter spent the past two months at the Mariners’ extended spring training in Peoria, Arizona, where he had the opportunity to work hands-on with the players who were in the system. But now that the season has started, the focus of his job as a hitting coach has switched.
“There’s in-season drills, there’s postseason drills and there’s preseason drills,” Hunter explained. “For these guys, they really have to stay with their approach. You can’t talk about anything mechanical, because if you talk about anything mechanically, whether it’s your hands or your feet, you lose the focus of what’s most important, and that’s picking up the ball and recognizing (it) out of the pitcher’s hand.
“We have a thing with the Mariners organization called C to Z, controlling the zone, and that’s the focus.”
Now that he’s back on the field, that’s where Hunter sees his future.
“This is pretty exciting,” he said. “I think I’m most able to help out and be involved in baseball on the field. I had a couple opportunities on the scouting side, maybe front-office management stuff. But I really enjoy being on the field with the players, being in the so-called trenches, and just going through the everyday routine with them.”
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