ARLINGTON, Texas — Josh Hamilton knew he finally had to take a break when he got of bed after more than 17 hours and still didn’t feel right.
The slugger was out of the Texas Rangers’ lineup Monday night against Seattle because of what the team called an upper respiratory problem. Hamilton said he hasn’t felt right for more than a week and called manager Ron Washington when he finally got up earlier in the afternoon before coming to the ballpark.
“The last couple of days have been a little weird. Any time you’ve got inner-ear stuff or sinus stuff or chest stuff, it all goes back to not feeling quite right as far as your equilibrium, just feeling off,” Hamilton said. “Just when I got up I still felt off. Called Wash and told him I problem needed a day just to be sure and try to get some more rest.”
Hamilton, who leads the majors with 20 homers and 53 RBIs in 45 games, said he started feeling bad during a series in Houston that began 10 days earlier.
Instead of attending a team charity event Sunday night, Hamilton stayed home and went to bed at 8:15 p.m. He said he “rolled over twice maybe” before getting up at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
Washington described Hamilton as “exhausted.”
Hamilton hit a game-ending homer in the 13th inning Saturday against Toronto, then went 0 for 4 in another day game Sunday.
“Throughout the whole game yesterday I was getting oxygen trying to keep my head clear. It’d feel good when I had it on and then I’d take it off and go start running around again and it was back to where it was. Just feeling off,” he said. “You can’t play like that and be productive. We’ve got plenty of guys who can jump in there.”
Craig Gentry played center field Monday night and David Murphy was in left for the series opener against the Mariners on Monday night. Michael Young was the designated hitter in Hamilton’s normal No. 3 spot in the batting order.
Hamilton said he has been doing everything he can since the Houston series to get fully healthy, and wasn’t sure when he might be back in the lineup.
The outfielder started 44 of the previous 48 games this season. He was held out of three games on the artificial turf in Toronto with back stiffness and out of the starting lineup another game, which he finished, during a stretch when Washington was giving all of his regulars a break.
“I’ve been on about everything I can be on to try and get better quicker. It just seems like it’s one of those things that’s just going to have to run its course,” he said. “I think coming back and being in the heat on top of feeling like I do it kind of snowballed on me a little bit. It made it worse than it probably is.
“It’s just a day at a time,” he said. “Obviously I’d like to play no matter what but if I’m running out there and getting dizzy and stuff I probably don’t need to do it.”
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