Heartbreaking: A very loyal Baltimore Orioles player has announced his sudden retirement, sending a powerful statement and bidding the team and supporters a heartfelt farewell.
Zack Britton, a pitching legend and former reliever for the Baltimore Orioles, announced his retirement in late 2023.
Now, another of their former pitchers has made the decision to hang up his cleats and call it a career. This one isn’t quite as famous as the left-handed closer.
“RHP Tommy Hunter confirms to The Athletic that he is fully retired. Over the course of 16 seasons, Hunter pitched for seven teams, but he is unsure of what lies ahead. As reported by Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic, the father of four expressed that he believes he “may have something to give back to the game.”
The right-hander also revealed his plans to retire to Adam Jones on his podcast earlier in October.
Jones and Tommy Hunter were colleagues, and Hunter played six of his sixteen Major League seasons with the Orioles.
2011 saw the start of his debut season with the team when he and Chris Davis were acquired by Baltimore in exchange for Koji Uehara. After being acquired, Hunter pitched 69 1/3 innings for the Orioles that season, starting 11 of those games. His final ERA was 5.06.
In 2012, the right-hander started most of his games as a starter, but after being optioned to Triple-A because of his problems, he was shifted into the bullpen.
Hunter was exclusively employed out of the bullpen after that, starting just one more game in his Major League career.
In 2015, his initial tenure in Baltimore came to an end as he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, but he signed a contract with the Orioles in August 2016 and made 12 appearances.
While he never lived up to Baltimore’s expectations upon acquisition and will never be as memorable as Britton, Hunter did contribute quality innings to the team while he was there.
The next phase of his baseball career will reveal how he plans to remain active in the game.
