Hunter Pence

At 41 years old, Hunter Pence has this physical status:

Hunter Andrew Pence (born April 13, 1983) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter who is a free agent.

He has played for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Pence competed for the Giants in 2012 and 2014 World Series championship teams.

Early life

Pence attended Arlington High School in Arlington, Texas. He started playing outfield for the first three years before switching to shortstop in his senior year. He played for Texarkana College for a year and was a designated hitter on the baseball team.

He migrated to Arlington (UTA) where he rejoined the UT Arlington Mavericks outfield. He was ranked as a sophomore in 2003 and was named as the first-team all-conference outfielder. Despite missing 15 of UTA's 30 Southland Conference games the following year due to an injury, he was still named the 2004 Southland Conference player of the year, leading the league with a.395 batting average. Pence also holds the conference record for doubles in a single series, with 5.

Personal life

Pence stuck to a strict Paleolithic diet throughout the 2013 season. Since he was kept on this diet, there have been conflicting reports.

He was also diagnosed with Scheuermann's disease, a spinal disorder that normally occurs in adolescence, in 2013. It was not discovered in Pence until his physical exam before he agreed to a five-year deal with the San Francisco Giants in September.

Pence revealed on December 3, 2015, that he was engaged to Alexis Cozombolidis, to whom he had invited at Walt Disney World. They married on November 26, 2016, and they now live in San Francisco.

Pence appeared in an episode of the television sitcom Fuller House in 2016. In 2017, Pence appeared as a guest on a Bill Nye Saves the World episode.

Pence is the San Francisco host of Big League Impact, an eight-city fantasy football network conceived and led by longtime St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright. The charity raised more than $1 million for several charitable charities in 2015.

Pence is also a Twitch video game streamer.

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Professional career

Pence was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 40th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign. He was drafted by the Houston Astros out of the University of Texas at Arlington in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft (64th overall). He was a member of the Troy, New York, single A Tri-City ValleyCats during the 2004 season. Pence and future big leaguer Ben Zobrist helped lead the 'Cats to a 50-win season in the New York–Penn League, the second-most in ValleyCats history. The 'Cats won the first round over the Brooklyn Cyclones in the first round, but lost to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the league championship this year.

Pence hit 28 home runs with 95 RBIs in 2006 with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks. He had 17 stolen bases, but he was arrested only four times, but was caught stealing only four times. He was one of three outfielders selected to the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team in 2006. Pence was the AAA Round Rock Express' center fielder in the 2007 season, but he made the big league team's front fielder push back to spring training.

Pence made his first major league appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28, 2007 and scored his first run. Pence's first home run in the majors came against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 5. In the bottom of the 13th inning at Minute Maid Park on July 3, Pence defeated José Mesa of the Philadelphia Phillies by a convincing walk-off home run against Pence in the 15th inning. It was Mesa's only pitch of the game. Pence was named National League co-Player of the Week for May 14-20 after averaging a 1.091 slugging percentage and.625 on-base percentage with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

Pence will be out with a tiny chipped bone fracture in his right wrist, according to general manager Tim Purpura on July 23. Pence was enabled from the disabled list on August 21, 2001. Despite being out of a month for the fourth month among NL rookies in at bats, at this point. Pence led NL rookies in triples (9), came in second second to Ryan Braun in batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.549), and OPS (.899).

Pence was unanimously selected to the 2007 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team. The result of the 49th annual Topps balloting of Major League managers, the selection was made. Pence (15 points) came in third, but defeated Braun (128 points) in the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award by 488 major league players and 30 managers. In the 2007 Baseball America Rookie of the Year Award, he also lost out to Braun in the competition for the 2007 Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie by their fellow major league players, as well as the 2007 Internet Baseball NL Rookie of the Year Award, receiving 16 first place votes over Braun.

Pence moved to right field after Michael Bourn was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Astros, while Bourn took center field. Pence set new personal single-season records in home runs (25), batted in (83), hits (160), and at bats (595). His batting average dropped to.269, on-base percentage fell to.388, and his slugging percentage dropped to.466. Pence led the league in outfield assists with 16, made one mistake, and had a field percentage of.997.

Pence was named an All-Star for the first time in his third season (2009).

Pence batted.282 with 25 home runs, drove in 91 RBIs, and appeared in 156 games in his fourth season. For the second time in his career, Pence was named National League Player of the Week (11-for-22) and slugging.909 with two home runs.

Pence was named a reserve for 2011 by the second time in his career, his second appearance on the All-Star team. He was brought into the game, knocked out José Bautista from the outfield, and scored his 5th run of the National League. Pence was batting.321 with 10 home runs and 59 RBIs at the All-Star break.

Pence was traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor-league players, including right-hander Jarred Cosart and Josh Zeid, and a third baseman named later. Domingo Santana was determined to be outfielder Domingo Santana. Pence defeated Madison Bumgarner in his first home run as a Phillie on August 4.

Pence came in fourth in batting average (.314; behind Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, and Matt Kemp) and eighth in RBI with 97. Pence made the playoffs for the first time in his career; however, the Philadelphia Phillies lost the 2011 National League Division Series to the eventual World Series-champion St. Louis Cardinals in 5 games.

In a deadline agreement with the San Francisco Giants, the Phillies sent Pence on July 31, 2012. Nate Schierholtz, Tommy Joseph, and Seth Rosin were among the Phillies' gifts in exchange. Pence's relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt of the Rockies scored his first home run as a Giant on August 12, the first home run for the Giants. Despite Pence no longer being on the team, the Phillies went forward with a previously scheduled Hunter Pence bobblehead trade on August 21, despite Pence's absence.

Pence gave his teammates a fiery pregame speech in the dugout shortly before Game 3 of the 2012 NLDS, with the Giants down 2–0 and facing elimination against the Cincinnati Reds. In three straight games, the Giants advanced to the NLCS after defeating the Reds in three straight games. His inspirational speeches have been lauded by his coworkers for assisting them in the Giants' postseason and eventually winning the 2012 World Series. His speeches have also spawned a good deal of good-natured ribbing among Giants teammates.

In a 9-0 Giants victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on July 13, 2013, Pence had a five-RBI game. Pence robbed Jedd Gyorko of a run off the 8th inning with a diving catch to save Tim Lincecum's no-hitter. Pence's longest home run of the season to date occurred on August 27. At Coors Field, the ball collided with a wall above the left field bleacher seats. According to ESPN Tracking, the ball traveled an estimated 476 feet.

Pence was named NL Player of the Month for September, with a.393 on-base percentage and 11 home runs and 32 RBIs. Pence became the 7th San Francisco Giants player to reach 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season and the first since Barry Bonds in 1998. (Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, Jeffrey Leonard, Orlando Cepeda, and Glenallen Hill are among the others.) Pence slammed the center-field wall at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles on September 14, earning the Giants' first grand slam over the Los Angeles Dodgers' center-field wall and driving in a career-high 7 RBIs, leading to the Giants' historic 19–3 victory over their longtime rival the Dodgers. They earned the most runs in Dodger Stadium history with Brandon Belt's first career five-hit game. For the third time in his career, Pence was named National League Player of the Week on September 16, 2008, after hitting.448 with 6 home runs and 19 RBIs.

Pence received the Willie Mac Award on September 27, 1997. Pence agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract extension with the Giants through the 2018 season.

Pence played all 162 games during the 2013 season, becoming the first Giants player to do so since Alvin Dark in 1954, when the season was 154 games long. He batted.283/.439/.483 for 91 runs (th in the NL), 27 home runs (4th), 99 RBIs (7th), and 22 stolen bases (9th) in 629 at bats (3rd).

Pence was elected to his third All-Star Game on July 6, 2009. Pence was kept out of the starting lineup for the second game of the season, snaping his streak of consecutive starts at 331. Pence pinch-hit in the seventh inning to snap his games-played streak.

Pence made a leaping catch against the right field wall in Game 4 of the 2014 NLDS against the favored Washington Nationals on October 7, denying Jayson Werth an extra-base hit. The Giants led by a 2–1 lead on this dramatic play, assisting the Giants in their eventual 3–2 victory.

Pence went 3–5 in Game 4 of the 2014 World Series, scored two runs, three RBIs, including one by beating out a double play in the first leading to a run, scored on a fly by Jarrod Dyson in shallow center field, and had a nice sliding catch of a bloop hit by Lorenzo Cain in the ninth.

As San Francisco went on to defeat the Royals 3–2 in Game 7, his performance aided the Giants to their third World Series title in five years. Pence finished the series batting.444 with 5 RBIs and 7 runs scored. He had 12 hits in the series and, along with teammate Brandon Belt, had at least one hit in every game of the 7-game series. In terms of unusual statistical production, Pence's results garnered some media comparisons to Barry Bonds.

Pence sustained a fractured left forearm after being struck by a pitch during a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs on March 5, 2015. He started the regular season on the disabled list, snapping his league-leading iron man streak of consecutive games played at 383. Pence began a rehabilitation program with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats on May 8 and was activated from the disabled list on May 16. Pence batted.282 with two home runs and 13 RBIs in 18 games before returning to the disabled list on June 11 with left wrist tendinitis.

Pence was activated on July 7 and drove in two runs and started a double play after scoring a diving catch in a 3–0 victory over the New York Mets. Pence beat former teammate Cole Hamels on July 10, a former teammate of mine, who was out of the Philadelphia Phillies by 15–2. Pence returned to the hospital on August 20 with a left oblique strain and missed the remainder of the season.

Pence was named National League Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career after batting.421 (8-for-19) with two home runs and 10 RBIs on April 25, 2016. In a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 14, Pence made his 200th home run in his career. Pence sustained a torn hamstring tendon while running to first base on June 1, and was expected to miss at least eight weeks. Pence scored four runs in consecutive games on September 9th and 10th over the Arizona Diamondbacks, defeating them 7-6 and 11-3, making him the first Giant to score at least four runs in a row in Major League history in more than 100 years. He batted.289/.357/.451 in 2016 with 13 home runs in 395 at bats.

Pence was placed on the 10-day disabled list on May 15, 2017 due to a troubling left hamstring strain. He had the lowest line drive percentage of all major league hitters (13.4%) for the season. With 13 home runs in 493 at bats, he batted.260/.385 in 2017.

Pence strained his thumb while diving to make a play on April 3, 2018. Pence was placed on the 10-day hospitalization list due to the illness. He batted.226/.332 in 235 at bats in 2018.

Pence agreed to a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on February 7, 2019. Pence was the Rangers' first selection on the Opening Day roster on March 21, which was confirmed. In the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Pence was named as the starting designated hitter for the American League. Pence batted for 358/.560/.910 in 83 games, his highest slash line, with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs over 286 at bats.

Pence re-signed with the Giants on a one-year, $3 million contract on February 7, 2020. Pence was designated for assignment on August 23, 2020, following the team's acquisition of Daniel Robertson, who hit.096/.161/.250 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs in 56 plate appearances. The Giants released him the next day.

Pence officially announced his retirement from professional baseball on September 26, 2020.

Broadcast career

Pence debuted as a Giants color analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area on July 18, 2021.

Pence joined MLB Network in March 2022 as an analyst.

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Awards

• 2003 – Summer League First-Team All-American DH
• 2003 – Southland Conference All-Star OF
• 2004 – Southland Conference Player of the Year
• 2004 – Southland Conference All-Star OF
• 2004 – Southland Conference Hitter of the Year
• 2005 – Low A All-Star OF
• 2005 – Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year
• 2005 – South Atlantic League All-Star OF
• 2005 – South Atlantic League Most Outstanding Prospect
• 2006 – Future Games selection
• 2006 – Baseball America Minor League All-Star
• 2006 – Arizona Fall League All-Prospect Team
• 2007 – National League Player of the Week (May 14–20, 2007), along with José Valverde of the Arizona Diamondbacks
• 2007 – National League Rookie of the Month- for the month of May.
• 2009 – National League All-Star
• 2010 – National League Player of the Week (August 29 – September 5, 2010)
• 2011 – National League All-Star
• 2012 – World Series Champion
• 2013 – National League Player of the Week (September 9–15, 2013)
• 2013 – National League Player of the Month (September)
• 2013 – Willie Mac Award
• 2014 – National League All-Star
• 2014 – World Series Champion
• 2016 – National League Player of the Week (April 25 – May 1, 2016)
• 2019 – American League All-Star
• 2022 - San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame