If you play baseball for a living, here's the guy you want to be right now: Luke Scott.
Forget the 0-for-3 he took in the Orioles' 3-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. Scott is dialed in at the plate.
Look at all he's been through. Last week, he's on the disabled list with a badly bruised left shoulder. He can't move his arm without wanting to scream.
Now he's Babe Ruth, only without the hot dog habit, since he's a health nut.
Here's the guy's numbers since coming off the DL: 8-for-18 with six homers, seven runs scored, 14 RBIs.
Hitters talk about seeing the ball well when they're in a groove. Scott is seeing beach balls from opposing pitchers, even guys like Justin Verlander, the Tigers' ace who throws 100 mph and whom he roped for a two-run blast in the Orioles' 6-3 loss to the Tigers on Saturday night.
Even after the 0-for-3 against the Tigers and hard-throwing Edwin Jackson on Sunday, Scott was buoyed by his great week.
"I felt all right at the plate," he said. "You just tip your hat to the pitcher. Dominant stuff. Credit Edwin Jackson.
"This is what makes the game fun. You're not always going to hit home runs and rake."
Two weeks ago, Scott was wondering when he would be able to grip a bat without pain.
The shoulder's still not 100 percent, not even close. But he found a way to compensate. It's the method favored by arthritic old-guy golfers everywhere: Shorten the swing.
"Yeah, it's been a blessing in disguise, this shoulder injury," Scott said. "Because I can't let my shoulder get away from my body too far.
"I have to let the ball get deep [into the batter's box] and I can see it better."
If that's the case, he should bruise his other shoulder.
And as far as Scott's old-guy golfer swing, the team is all for it.
"He's got a great swing," hitting coach Terry Crowley said. "He's one of the strongest guys in baseball. All great hitters try to wait on the ball and have it come to us, stay short [with the swing] and be aggressive late."
Look, the fact is Scott is having so much fun hitting a baseball now, it's almost criminal.
Watch him in the seconds after he hits a homer.
Watch him skip around the bases like a schoolboy. Watch him point joyfully to the heavens. Watch him flash that 10,000-watt smile.
Then watch him as, jacked to the max, he high-fives his teammates so enthusiastically that it leaves their hands numb.
