Huff: "My Body is Ripped" from...

[SFGRTB]

Pilates!

Aubrey Huff repentant, shaping up for 2012

Aubrey Huff's employers called him out, publicly and forcefully, and he did not say a peep. He let the criticism of his conditioning hang in the air, like a curveball with no break, and refused to swing. Instead, he went to work.

"I heard it. I read it. It's warranted," Huff said of the criticism. "When you had the year I had before, finishing seventh in the league in MVP voting, and then being one of the worst players the next year, I've got to get the blame."

The Giants blamed Huff's lack of dedication in the workout room after the Giants had won it all. They conveyed that privately. Then, in a rare tongue-lashing of one of his players, Sabean gave Huff a public kick in the butt two days after the season.

On Tuesday, Huff begged to differ slightly with Sabean, saying, "I don't think I was that out of shape. I was just so mentally in the toilet. I just never turned it around. It just kept snowballing."

...in Huff's mind, he resumed the one activity he dropped after the World Series: Pilates, an aerobic stretching regimen designed to enhance flexibility and strengthen a person's core while giving the heart a workout, too.

Huff said he was "mentally fried, and my body was tired as hell" after the extended 2010 season, so he dropped Pilates - a mistake, he now admits, because he believes it contributed to his physical well-being and success in 2010.


Gotta give Huff credit. He didn't oppose the criticism, in fact faced it and has improved himself... with the addition of Pilates. Hey if he did this before the 2010 season by all means, do it again.

I like the attitude of Huff in this situation, also not taking anything for granted:

"I've got to go to spring training and prove myself and basically win a job, because I've got two young kids (Brandon Belt and Brett Pill) breathing down my neck."

Acknowledging the kids as potential replacements.

 

[Heathbar012]

Rep. Good find. Couldn't agree more.

 

[filosofy29]

Nice find sf. Yup, gotta hand it to Huff especially with "today's" athletes and the general lack of personal accountability. Looking back, it makes sense that he'd be mentally fried. He came from places where he wasn't on winning teams where there was pressure to perform. He never as long of a baseball season as he did in 2010. Emotionally he just won the ultimate trophy, was revered all around the bay area and got to share it with a best bud.....and no pilates!!! Not hard to see a let down after you put all those ingredients in.

Good for Huff.

 

[calsnowskier]

Huff has always struck me a solid, stand up guy. I am REALLY pulling for him on a personal level this year. (Obviously I want him perform as a Giants fan, I just have that extra bit of rooting because of HIM)

At the same time...

I understand on the personal level why he tanked last year, but it is his job. If any of us were to perform at our jobs for an entire year at the level that he performed last year, we would have been on our ass in a second.

I think he understands that, though, and I think he will bounce back with a good year. I hope he makes it hard on the org to move forward with the youth movement.

 

[Robotech]

Aging athletes gotta do what they gotta do in order to keep up with the young guys. Nice to see he is being professional about it, but heck, this is what he is supposed to do. As a pro athlete, he's got all the time and resources in the world to get into top shape.

I hope Panda is doing well.

 

[the_broom]

Aging athletes gotta do what they gotta do in order to keep up with the young guys. Nice to see he is being professional about it, but heck, this is what he is supposed to do. As a pro athlete, he's got all the time and resources in the world to get into top shape.

I hope Panda is doing well.

Well...according to what I saw the other day, he is supposedly working out in Arizona again and wants to come in lighter than he did last year. Bochy said that he was looking "good"...of course, I don't know when this was taped.

 

[SF11704]

What I've often wondered about is the balance between 'personal need to succeed' and the monetary reward that you are receiving in return. If you get 10M a year for a 300BA, 25HR, 90RBI line and also get 10M for a 245BA, 15HR, 60RBI line just where and for how long does the 'personal need' affect your performance? I think everyione what to succeed. That is a given. But if the reward is the same no matter what the actual performance is ...... do you lose motivation ..... sort of like Panda in 2010 .... if you are overweight and can't seem to bring it under control - do you just push it off till next year and consider it a freash start?

 

[CameronFrye]

What I've often wondered about is the balance between 'personal need to succeed' and the monetary reward that you are receiving in return. If you get 10M a year for a 300BA, 25HR, 90RBI line and also get 10M for a 245BA, 15HR, 60RBI line just where and for how long does the 'personal need' affect your performance? I think everyione what to succeed. That is a given. But if the reward is the same no matter what the actual performance is ...... do you lose motivation ..... sort of like Panda in 2010 .... if you are overweight and can't seem to bring it under control - do you just push it off till next year and consider it a freash start?

I don't think your questions can be accurately answered with a blanket statement. The correct answer is different for every player on the field. While one $10 mil per year player might not have the inspiration to correct his problems and make himself better, another might have the extra drive to push himself out of a tailspin at the earliest sign that it is beginning.

No one can force someone else to WANT something.

For the record, I do think that guaranteed contracts and large, long-term payouts definitely have more of a negative effect on struggling players. But on the other hand, those kinds of contracts can be beneficial to a team when a player outperforms his numbers. So it's never an exact science.