How about this for some unexpected news? According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Aubrey Huff is attempting a comeback.
Huff turns 39 in December and hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2012 as a member of the Giants. He batted just .192 with a .608 OPS in 52 games that season. What most people didn’t know was that he was battling depression and anxiety during that time. He’s fully aware that people will think this comeback idea is “crazy,” but he has been training for the past two months and hopes to go out on his own terms.“The swing is there,’' Huff said. “Now it’s a matter of having someone give me a shot.’'
Huff said the anxiety and depression became such an issue during his final season with the Giants that he found no joy in the game, even in winning a second championship ring.
“Everyone else was celebrating, I had a belly full of Xanax, I was miserable, I couldn’t care less, I was the first one out of the clubhouse,’' Huff said.
“I hated myself. I hated baseball.’'
With treatment and a commitment to faith, Huff said he worked past his issues, realizing it wasn’t baseball he hated but the person he had become.
And now?
“I couldn’t be happier,’' he said.
It’s good to hear that he’s in a better place, at the very least. Huff hopes to showcase himself in winter ball and land a spring training invite somewhere. In an ideal world, he hopes to go out with the Rays, who originally drafted him in 1998. The odds are long, but here’s hoping he gets a shot.