Chone Figgins

Chone Figgins led off the first inning of a recent game against the Chicago White Sox with a wicked liner to first baseman Paul Konerko for an out. Earlier in his career, maybe even earlier this season, Figgins would have tinkered with his swing in his next at-bat or two, thinking he had to do something different to get a hit, but that thought never crossed his mind that day.

The Angels hope center fielder Torii Hunter can come off the disabled list late next week after a short rehabilitation stint in the minor leagues. Hunter's injury -- a muscle strain on his inner right thigh -- has kept him on the disabled list since July 8, and it kept him out of the All-Star game last month. But the 34-year-old Hunter, who was batting .305 when he was injured, had a "really aggressive workout" Friday and "ran very well," said Angels Manager Mike Scioscia . "He's close," Scioscia said.

Torii Hunter was just trying to do what big leaguers usually do on minor league rehabilitation assignments, pay for the postgame meals during his stint with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga last week. So how was Hunter rewarded for his good deed? With a nasty case of food poisoning that knocked him out for a day and delayed his return to the Angels until Sunday. Wednesday night's meal, from an Italian chain restaurant, left Hunter with stomach cramps, vomiting and nausea and kept him up all night.

The Angels have become the masters of the big inning this summer, scoring four or more runs in an inning 21 times in the last 37 games, but this was a little ridiculous even by their standards. After failing to score with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th and 12th innings Sunday, the Angels exploded for nine runs and eight hits in the 13th inning of a 17-8 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards. Torii Hunter, in his first game after missing five weeks because of a strained right groin, broke an 8-8 tie with a bases-loaded single, Erick Aybar had a two-run single, and Juan Rivera capped the 13th-inning rally with a three-run home run to left field.

As good as the Angels have been since June 11 -- their 41-16 record is the best in baseball in that span -- they have been unable to shake the Texas Rangers, who are 4 1/2 games back in the American League West. And that, Torii Hunter said, may not be such a bad thing. "That's good," the Angels center fielder said. "You want that push. You don't want a 20-game lead and to be so comfortable that you get to the playoffs and lose your mojo. "You want to be pushed to the end, and I tell you what, Texas is not going an-y-where.

It was easily lost amid the Angels' four home runs in Monday night's 8-5 win in Baltimore, but one of the most important at-bats of that game was the first, when Chone Figgins , after falling behind 0 and 2 in the count, worked a 10-pitch leadoff walk. "The good thing was he threw me every pitch -- fastball, curve, changeup," Figgins said of Orioles starter David Hernandez . "That shows me what his pitches are going to be like all night, what he'll be featuring. "For the guys in the dugout, I can say he's throwing back-door curves or sliders, the changeup is straight or fading away.

Shortstop Erick Aybar and third baseman Chone Figgins have emerged as leading candidates at their positions to win Gold Glove Awards this season. If they do, they would become the first left-side-infield teammates to win American League Gold Gloves since Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel and third baseman Travis Fryman in 2000. "There is not a third baseman in our league playing at a higher level than Figgy right now," Manager Mike Scioscia said. Does the same hold true for the Angels shortstop?

Bobby Abreu had an off day Saturday, going 0 for 5 with three strikeouts, but the veteran right fielder's impact this season has been far-reaching in terms of plate discipline and patience. In the previous five seasons, the Angels averaged 3.65 pitches per plate appearance, ranking 12th, 13th or last in the American League in that category each year. This season, the Angels rank fourth in the AL with an average of 3.88 pitches per plate appearance, and they have had their most productive offense in years, leading the major leagues in average, runs and hits and ranking second in the AL in on-base percentage.

Darren Oliver got this question from his wife the other day: "Hey, honey, are you going to play again next year?" The Angels' left-handed reliever knew better than to tell his wife he had made that decision by himself. His wife and two sons have returned home to Texas for the start of the school year and the football season, and he'll sit down with the family this fall to discuss whether to extend his professional career into a fourth decade. "I'm leaning more toward playing than retiring," Oliver said.

Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus are long gone. So are David Eckstein and Darin Erstad. Garret Anderson and Francisco Rodriguez bid farewell last year. Of the 25 men who won the World Series in 2002, the ones who turned Anaheim into a baseball town, three remain. Scot Shields is signed through next season. John Lackey is bound for free agency, and a payday so big he'll probably play elsewhere next year. And that leaves us with Chone Figgins, who scored one of the most memorable runs in club history.