Torii Hunter: “A Real Pain In The Adductor”

This is the time of year when every major league baseball player's got on of two of things on his mind: The All-Star Game or the log jam on his DVR.  If you're Torii Hunter, it's a little bit of both. In his most recent blog entry, entitled "A Real Pain In The Adductor," Torii writes about his disappointment over having to sit this one out because of a recent injury:

Man, this really hurts. And I'm not just talking about the adductor strain, which I'm learning all about from our medical staff. The timing of it really hurts. There's no good time to get injured, of course, but I was really looking forward to playing in the All-Star Game in St. Louis. Nobody would have had a better time than me and my family and friends.

And Torii knows this because there are no bigger fans of the Cardinals than the people from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Obviously.

Where I grew up, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the Cardinals were everybody's team.  I learned the game from my granddad, who watched baseball every day. I had family and friends coming to St. Louis to enjoy the whole show with me, and now I can't play. It's disappointing. Very disappointing. I really wanted to be in my first All-Star Game representing the Angels, representing Arkansas, and I'm on the DL.

The real takeaway here is that this was apparently a stunning upset for Arkansans.

Ultimately, Torii says, all he cares about is being healthy enough to play out the remainder of the season:

The big thing, the most important thing, is being healthy for the final two months. I don't want to miss a game, an inning, down the stretch. We're in a race for this division, and that's what matters most to all of us.

Torii, something of a gamer, confesses that he might need to stop being so aggressive in ways that are apt to get him hurt:

I know I have to be smarter sometimes about going after balls and running into walls, but it's in my blood. I'm a competitor. I've run into a wall in a 10-zero game. The one in San Francisco on June 15, when we were leading 8-zero, I probably should have played that one off the wall.

True, running into walls with a 10-0 lead may not be the smartest play in the universe, but you still really have to admire a ballplayer who's willing to do it.  That's what you call loving your work.

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