I’m known for having good timing, especially in center field, but it let me down for once when I got hurt and couldn’t go to St. Louis to play in the All-Star Game. That was terrible timing.

I was so excited when I was selected to the American League All-Star team. Unfortunately, my body just didn’t hold up for me after I ran into those walls at Dodger Stadium and San Francisco. I remember the day when it finally got to me, and I knew I was in trouble. It was after that game in Arizona on June 27 when I sat at my locker for the longest time, in a daze. I couldn’t move. My groin was killing me. That was the day it blew up on me. I tried to play on, but it never really was right after that.

There were several reasons why it was so disappointing not to be in St. Louis. First of all, I appreciated all the fans voting for me when I came in fourth in the balloting, just missing out on the starting lineup. And I really felt good when my fellow players put me on the team by giving me the second most votes of all the American League outfielders, behind Jason Bay. In fact, I got the fourth most votes of all the players in the league. That was tremendous, feeling all that respect from my peers.

As for the All-Star Game, the presence of Barack Obama, our first African-American President, made it something really special to me. He was in the clubhouse shaking everybody’s hand, and I was home with my family in Texas – not that there was anything wrong with that. It’s always good to have some time with the family. But I hated that I missed out on meeting Barack Obama.

When I was growing up in Arkansas, we’d be out messing around and you’d hear a kid say, “I want to grow up to be the President.” And we’d say, “Hey, you’re black. No way you’re going to be President. Are you out of your mind?”

Now here it is, happening in our lifetime. It’s an amazing thing to see. And I was supposed to be there in St. Louis, playing in front of the President and meeting him. But it didn’t happen.

I’m getting better with this adductor strain on my right side. What this does, as I recover, is make me want to get to the World Series and win it even more than ever, if that’s possible.

Now I have a double goal: win the World Series and go to the White House with my team and meet the President there. We could talk some hoops, maybe play “horse,” shoot around a little. I know basketball is his game, and I could play the game in my time.

To be there with my teammates, after winning a World Series, that would top meeting Barack Obama at the All-Star Game. That would be so cool, for all of us. So I’m looking at it as an added incentive to go out and win a World Series. That would be the best of both worlds. We win the World Series, and meet Barack Obama at the White House.

Hey, it can happen. We’ve got a ton of talent on this team. Watching how our offense came through without Vladimir Guerrero and me in the lineup, against the Yankees and in the first game after the break against the A’s, that’s impressive. We’ve got a lot of guys who can swing the bat, and if our pitching comes together the way it can . . . look out.

The Angels could rock all the way through October, to Washington, D.C. and the house of President Obama and the First Lady.