Hunter back atop the mound
His grandmother bought little Tommy a judo club membership, and he went on to become a Junior Olympic judo champion at 11 and 12 years of age.
"The judo place was right down the street from where I grew up (in Indianapolis)," Hunter said. "We just walked there every day. You had to be a certain age to compete, so I waited around until then and did it."
After winning those two Junior Olympic titles, Hunter gave up competitive judo to concentrate on baseball. He starred at Indianapolis Cathedral High School and, for two years, the University of Alabama.
The Texas Rangers drafted him in 2003, in the supplemental first round. He was the 54th overall pick in that draft.
The 6-foot-3, 280-pound righthander was expected to be Texas' No. 4 starter this year, after going 9-6 with a 4.10 ERA in 19 big league starts last year. He won eight games after the all-star break, tied with the Cubs' Randy Wells for No. 1 among all major league rookies.
But a strained oblique muscle near Hunter's left rib cage sidelined him in March, after just five spring training innings.
He came off the disabled list and was sent to Oklahoma City on April 28. He has thrown seven scoreless innings in two abbreviated starts for the RedHawks. His next start is scheduled for Friday at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.
Hunter, 23, was limited to three innings and 38 pitches May 3, and four innings and 54 pitches May 8.
"I don't know until game time what my inning or pitch limit is. We'll find out Friday," Hunter said. "Hopefully I can go out there sometime soon and throw nine."
So, when does Hunter expect to return to the Rangers' rotation?
"That's a good question," he said. "It's one of those things where everybody and anybody in this atmosphere (with the RedHawks) wants to be up there. So, only time will tell and I'll do everything I can to get back up there."
He won't be doing any judo moves anytime soon, though.
"I'm not allowed to anymore," said Hunter, whose older sister Megan is a black belt. "It's just one of those things. It's not in my contract, but if you get hurt you've got to give a lot of money back, so I guess you could say it basically is."
Either way, Hunter knows his judo experience - which started with birthday present from Grandma - has helped him in baseball as well.
"It's helped me in the mind part of it," Hunter said. "Judo's a big mental game and baseball's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. So you could say judo's contributed a big part for me.
"It's helped me keep my wits about me and when things aren't going my way. That's what judo is - keeping focused and being able maintain in stressful situations, and being able to get out of them."