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SPORTS AROUND CAMPUS
THE REMARKER | FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 | PAGE 21
Crew 22
Spring sports preview 23
PORTRAIT MODE Years after showing anger as a young professional baseball player, Johnny Hunter has changed his attitude and fathered two young children with his wife, Amanda.
Overtime 24
Family man AFTER WELCOMING HIS SECOND CHILD, BLAKE, INTO THE FAMILY, VARSITY BASEBALL COACH JOHNNY HUNTER HAS COME A LONG WAY. AFTER STRUGGLING WITH ANGER AS A YOUNG BASEBALL PLAYER, HUNTER IS NOW TRANSFORMED INTO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MAN.
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here’s more to Johnny Hunter than meets the eye. Excessively polite, always clean cut, and known for his devotion to his children, Hunter is easy to typecast as a baseball player-turned-coach who also likes teaching history. But his story is much more complex. It starts with an aloof and often-angry 17-year-old, soon to sport a goatee and long hair, blasting Nirvana while he worked out. It ends with the Johnny Hunter of today, devoted husband to Amanda, father of three-yearold Emma and month old Blake, writing poems, a play and moderating Jeopardy in his sophomore history class. But the gap from point A to point B is a big one. From the very beginning, Hunter had somewhat of a short fuse. “My parents used to call me the Hulk growing up,” he said “I had a switch and I had trouble controlling the rage that built up inside.” A talented baseball player, Hunter shined as an outfielder at James Martin High School in Arlington, helping lead them to the 1993 5A state title. However, hand in hand with his talent was uncontrolled anger — something Hunter knew early on that he needed to reign in. “I would at times go into tantrums at a younger age,” he said. “But by the time I was a senior I began to realize that those outbursts weren’t productive. I started to really put together than this negative energy doesn’t help.” However, Hunter found that containing these outbursts was easier said than done. Making his way from Navarro Junior College to Texas A&M University, Hunter was drafted by the Padres in 1997. Occasionally, when things went poorly, the hulk would emerge, like after giving up a squeeze bunt to future MLB all-star Shane Victorino. “I was very competitive, and sometimes my emotions would come out and get the better of me” Hunter said. “Shane Victorino was a really tough out, and I was pitching against him in San Bernadino. He took a squeeze bunt on me and, I’ll put it this way: I was less than pleased with him.” Less than pleased most often meant some choice words or yelling, but eventually, it led to a breaking point. “When you come back in and you punch a wall,”
Hunter said, “and now you can’t pitch or hit as well, you realize that this is stupid, that I shouldn’t do that again.” As the years went by, through repeated conscious effort, he eventually mastered control of his emotions on the field. “I remember I started off one season on a horrible hitting streak,” he said. “I didn’t catch any breaks. And I remember coming in after lining out two or three times, and I just sat down and put my helmet up. And our minor league field coordinator caught me in the act and pointed out how I was keeping my composure. And that for me was really a growing up point.” In 2003, after six seasons in the minors, Hunter walked away from the game. Getting his foot in the door as a substitute teacher and a Lions assistant baseball coach, he pursued his teachers’ certification. When longtime Lions coach and campus icon Tom Adams retired six years later, Hunter took over as head coach of the baseball program. Now, his former struggles with channeling his emotion benefit him as a coach. “I pay attention to things like that with my players,” Hunter said, “and I’m quick to call guys on some emotional outbursts. And having a tradition with that myself, I can help them with that.” With SPC just around the corner, composure will be key to the Lions success in a tough field. And while this year’s squad might not deepest or most powerful that Hunter’s had, one thing is clear. If things get frustrating, no one’s going to punch a wall.
Hunter writing poems, play
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aseball coach and history teacher don’t begin to adequately describe Johnny Hunter. Primary among his other interests is reading: during his playing career, Hunter could often be found book in hand on the team bus. However, he has recently turned his attention to writing. “I always feel like I’ve been a much better writer than a speaker, and so this [play] is a part of me that I haven’t gotten a chance to explore as much because I’ve been involved in other things.” The play, concerning the contemporary conflicts between modern science and religious fundamentalism has been in the works since late 2011. It’s something Hunter plans to finish sometime in the near future. But he’s more than a playwright — he’s a poet, writing “homage to great thinkers.” “History is just a part of it,” Hunter said. “It’s really more of an overall interest in learning for learning’s sake. Literature, philosophy, science. Especially some of the historical and ethical principles of how we’re dealing with science. Those are really important to me as well.” Often his writing respects personal frustration regarding others’ perceptions of him. And while welcoming his newborn baby, Blake, into the family will certainly push any publishing dates back, Hunter still looks forward to one day publishing his works and breaking through others’ preconceptions of him. “I feel sometimes like I’ve been pigeonholed, like [baseball and history] are my only two interests,” Hunter said. “And they’re not. And knowing that I have so many interests out there, I don’t like the stereotypical labeling of the dumb jock or the burnt out grad student, stuff like that. There’s more to me than meets the eye, and the job titles really only scratch the surface of what I do.” — Charlie Golden
FAMILY MAN story by Charlie Golden, sports editor | photo illustration by Michael Doorey, head photographer and Zuyva Sevilla, staff artist