They have a case of All-Star fever

CHICAGO -- The event is more than two years away, but there was already a sense of anticipation among the Angels on Friday after learning the team will host the 2010 All-Star game.

“Once 2010 comes, you’re going to see so much energy, so much hype -- everyone is going to be talking about it, excited about it,” said center fielder Torii Hunter, a two-time All-Star.

“It’s going to be something special. It’s already special playing regular-season games there; imagine what it will be like having an All-Star game. The whole city will go crazy, not just the stadium.”

The Angels could not confirm The Times’ report that Major League Baseball will award the game to the Angels on Wednesday, but Tim Mead, the team’s vice president of communications, acknowledged that “MLB will make an official announcement of the awarding of the game next week.”

Manager Mike Scioscia, the former Dodgers catcher, was a National League reserve in 1989, the last time the All-Star game was in Anaheim. Bo Jackson opened the bottom of the first inning that night with a 448-foot home run.

“I was making my way down to the bullpen and all of a sudden, the first pitch, it was just crushed,” Scioscia said. “It’s exciting. It’s going to be great for Southern California, great for us. It’s a tremendous honor to get an All-Star game. It’s a great event, and it seems like it keeps getting better.”

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Jered Weaver, who did not travel to Toronto, rejoined the Angels on Friday after undergoing tests to determine the cause of a stomach ailment that has bothered him periodically since spring training.

The right-hander, who will start today against the White Sox, had an upper GI endoscopy, a visual examination of the upper intestinal tract, and said doctors cleaned out “a blockage” in his stomach. Weaver was relieved no serious problems were found.

“Everything is cool,” Weaver said. “It was a load off my shoulders, that’s for sure.

“I wanted to get to the bottom of it, see what was going on. They wanted to make sure everything was normal, and it was.”

Doctors advised Weaver “to eat more fruits and vegetables, put some good stuff back in there,” he said.

Didn’t Weaver’s mother tell him that as he was growing up?

“Yeah,” Weaver said, “but I didn’t like to listen.”

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Third baseman Chone Figgins sat out his second straight game Friday because of tendinitis in his right hamstring but said he felt better than he did Thursday. Scioscia anticipates the leadoff batter will return today or Sunday.

The tendinitis is in a different area than the hamstring strain that sent Figgins to the disabled list May 4.

Figgins was activated Wednesday and played that night in Toronto.

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Howie Kendrick, out since April 14 because of a left hamstring strain, has run and taken infield and batting practice for two straight days, and Scioscia said the second baseman could resume his minor league rehabilitation assignment by the middle of next week.

“He still has to run the bases and come out of it,” Scioscia said. “But he’s hopefully turned the corner on this thing.”

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White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko received a cortisone shot in his sore right hand Friday and could sit out the weekend series against the Angels.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com