KANSAS CITY, MO. — He is the anti-Vladdy, a picture of patience and plate discipline who has imposed his will on the Angels in the six months he has been here, so much so that it is not only the young players who flock to him for advice and guidance.
Even Torii Hunter, an old dog in his 12th major league season, has learned some new tricks from Bobby Abreu, the veteran right fielder who has helped transform the Angels into one of baseball's most prolific offensive clubs.
"I've been an aggressive swinger my whole career -- I still put up pretty good numbers -- but I always wanted to hit .300 in the big leagues, at least once," Hunter said.
"Bobby has helped me out mentally just by talking about baseball, talking about situations. I think I'm mature enough to listen and understand what he's talking about."
The best piece of Abreu advice?
"Swing at more pitches in the strike zone, and you have a better chance of getting hits," Hunter said. "I've been doing that."
Hunter, a career .272 hitter whose best average was .289 in 2002, is batting .310 with 19 home runs and 74 runs batted in entering tonight's game in Kansas City.
The center fielder had a career on-base percentage of .326 entering 2009. His on-base percentage this season: .380. He averaged 3.53 pitches per plate appearance in 2008. He is averaging 3.74 this season.
"The only guys who never swing at pitches out of the strike zone are Barry Bonds and Joe Mauer, and I'm not Barry Bonds or Joe Mauer," said Hunter, 34.
"Those guys are great. I'm going to make mistakes in this game. But I'm better, and next year, I'll be better than this year. I'm going to keep working on it. I'm getting better with age."
Kendry Morales, Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar have gotten better -- much better -- with youth, and Abreu, who is batting .296 with a .392 on-base percentage, 12 homers, 86 RBIs and 77 walks, has been a huge influence on their development.
"They see how I handle situations, how I prepare, how I stay focused on the game, and I think the young guys have picked it up by watching, following the example," said Abreu, who ranks eighth in the AL with an average of 4.15 pitches per plate appearance.
"We have some talks too. They come to me in situations during a game to talk about pitchers, about how and when to take more pitches. They've been doing good."
