Josh Hamilton, born Joshua Holt Hamilton on May 21st 1981 in Raleigh North Carolina, was regarded as a gifted athlete from a very young age. His natural left handed swing, quick wrists, and growing muscle mass made him a top prospect, admired by scouts all over the country. In 1999 Josh was the number one overall draft pick selected by the Tampa Bay Rays. He received a four million dollar signing bonus with the Rays and began his ascent to the Majors. His first stop was the Single A Hudson Valley Renegades in June of 2000. During his time in upstate New York Josh began experimenting with drugs and alcohol. A combination of injuries and isolation from friends and family back home, lead Josh down a path of self-abuse. By spring of 2004 Josh was frequently absent from Rays training camp, failing drug tests, and broke. He would leave the game altogether in 2004. A direct quote from Josh himself is, “I was doing everything within my power to kill myself”. Homeless, and addicted to crack and alcohol, Hamilton had hit rock bottom. Josh sought out refuge at his grandmother’s home in North Carolina. Shortly after he checked back into rehab, and stuck with a program of abstaince from substance abuse.
His long road of recovery had begun.
In 2006 Josh hopped from the Tampa Bay Rays, to the Chicago Cubs, to the Cincinnati Reds. All the while Josh kept clean while playing baseball more consistency and without injury. Just before the all-star break in 2007 Josh was called up from triple A to the Cincinnati Reds where he made his major league debut. In 90 major league games Josh hit .292 with 19 homeruns and 47 RBI’s. Josh keeps himself on a very strict schedule now. He occupies his days playing ball, praying, and raising his daughters. He keeps no more then 20 bucks in his wallet at a time, so that he is not tempted to seek out drugs.
After the 2007 season, Josh was traded to the Texas Rangers where he picked off right where he left off after the trade. As I type this Josh has a .304 average with 24 homeruns and 103 RBI’s with two months of baseball left to play! He was elected to represent the Rangers in the All-Star game in New York just two weeks ago. But his performance at Yankees Stadium during the homerun derby put Josh on the nations radar.
He hit 28 homers in the first round !!! Thirteen in a row!!!
And not one of Josh’s 34 total homeruns was a cheep shot. Josh hit one two thirds of the way up the black bleachers in centerfield, (an area that has one been hit by a handful of players in major league history). He hit several into the tier reserve sections of the right field upper deck (the only seats I can afford anymore at Yankee Stadium). He hit one into the old Yankee Bullpen in right, which bounced to the back outer wall of the house that Ruth built. He hit one into the last row of the right field bleachers!
Now I realize that the whole thing is an exhibition. Josh was hitting essentially batting practice homers. No one pitch that he launched was thrown faster then 65 miles and hour. However the scouts that sought out the young North Carolina outfielder back in 1999, finally saw Josh reach is full potential in New York at the mid summer classic.
Having shared many of the same demons in my own life that Josh has battled, I find both his comebacks so completely improbable and so remarkable that there is no way that my own words will ever do it the justice that it deserves. To me what makes Josh’s journey great is his ability to overcome the extreme challenges of sobriety and addiction, where most people die long before they can even assume normal lives and then once accomplishing that phenomenal feat, Josh climbed the minor league ladder alas reaching the majors. He overcame the skeptics, the minor leagues, and achieved the almost impossible dream to become a professional ball player. Other players have overcome injury, and substances to make MLB comebacks (Strawberry and Gooden are just a few). But Josh’s story is unique because he was at rock bottom both personally and professionally. A baseball player can’t be any lower then being banded from Single A. Josh is not just a comeback ball player, he is a comeback human being.
