Giants' Hunter Pence not afraid to use his imagination

ByEddie Matz ESPN logo
Sunday, August 21, 2016

Did you know Hunter Pence was a big Harry Potter fan? Find out what else the San Francisco Giants outfielder thinks about his teammates, the media and performance-enhancing drugs in the latest Burning Questions.

Who was your favorite player growing up?

Pence:I had several. I liked the fast guys. Rickey Henderson, Kenny Lofton, Devon White. And Jim Thome -- he was the one non-fast guy.

Who is your favorite player to watch today -- not a teammate?

Pence:Shoot, there's a lot of really good players. I like [Josh] Donaldson. He's so powerful. He's just such a good hitter. He's got power to all fields. He's got speed. He makes crazy defensive plays.

Who is your most underrated teammate?

Pence:Aw, man. All of 'em. They're all underrated. They're all way better than people realize. Except for me.

What's the most annoying question you are asked by the media?

Pence:None of 'em. Every question is important because it's important to that reporter. Really, we're kind of like poets. We just gotta write a story, because you saw what happened. When y'all come in and ask us, we just gotta re-explain something that happened that we can't really explain. So we're just storytellers.

One rule you would change?

Pence:I think it's pretty good the way it is. I like the way they have it. I don't want them to change the strike zone. I think they should keep the strike zone the way it is. I'm not so happy about all the clocks. It's weird. They want to speed up the game, but then they want more offense. A lot of the drama is in the time in between, the thinking and the process and the chess match. So there's a lot of that buildup that, if you're rushing the game, you don't get the magnificence. I understand the time in between innings, but between pitches and stuff, there's a lot of process, especially in big moments. There's something special about the time in between.

Who is ultimately responsible for policing the game? Players, manager, umpires, the league?

Pence:All of the above. Little bit of everything. I just let it police itself. I don't try to do any policing. Just play the game and not worry about how anybody else is playing the game. Just worry about competing to win.

How big of a problem are PEDs in today's game?

Pence:I think we've progressed a lot. There's a tremendous amount of testing, and I'm all for it. The more testing, the merrier. Keep it clean. It's good for the health of all of us. I'm very grateful that they're doing that.

What is something that people don't know about you or have wrong about you?

Pence:I enjoy Harry Potter, card games and all that stuff. Magic gathering, Dungeons & Dragons. I love the imagination. I prefer the Potter movies over the book because most of my reading is self-help stuff, like psychology and philosophy and all that stuff. But we did buy the new book. My favorite movie scene is when Voldemort and Dumbledore battle. I don't remember which one it's in, but that was my favorite scene by far.