Hitting The Wall

Lately, Torii Hunter has been hitting the wall -- in every way imaginable. He discusses the experience  in yesterday's blog entry:

I've banged into some walls lately, but I hit a different kind of wall after we beat the Diamondbacks, 2-1, in Saturday's game when big Mike Napoli hit that bomb to center field. I came out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist and sat there at my locker for, I don't know, maybe 30 minutes. Didn't move. Couldn't move. My legs were killing me...

The fatigue ran through my whole body, but I felt it most in my legs. Mike Scioscia gave me today off, so I could get ready for the big series in Texas and play this team we need to run away from.

Torii has run into so many walls in recent weeks that he can't even give an official count -- three or four by his estimate.  I'd say a day off was in order.

Torii goes on to reflect on the upcoming All-Star Game:

We'll find out soon how the All-Star Game voting turns out. It would be a great honor to be there in St. Louis, with all the great players. Even if I'm not voted in, I think I have a pretty good shot at making it as a reserve. I'm having a good year, and I honestly think I'm getting better.

What people don't realize is I was raw when I came into professional baseball. I didn't even know what a slider was. I was also a late bloomer physically. In some ways, I'm just coming into my own.

Ever-humble, Torii always makes a point to attribute tip give a tip of his hat to fellow teammates. In this instance, Bobby Abreu, who he credits with helping him in the batter's box:

Having Bobby Abreu here has been big for me. I'm more disciplined at the plate than I've ever been, and I can thank Bobby for that. He's a master up there, and he's a great guy to play with, because he's so willing to share his knowledge. He's also a really funny guy, helping keep things loose.

Torii is typically fairly on top of his blog, but this might be the last we hear of him for a few days.  As the Angels prepare for their series against the Rangers, he plans to get into the zone -- acoustic style:

I live in Texas in the off-season, but I'm going to be Torii unplugged the next few days during our series with the Rangers. I can't be dealing with all those outside distractions, so I'll unplug all the phones and turn off the lights and just get my rest.

Hey, Torii, play Free Bird!