Hamilton feels blessed to be in baseball

[HMFFL]

Josh Hamilton can and does put on a show when the Rangers take batting practice. There are prodigious shots, one after another, clearing fences in all directions. His remarkably quick and powerful stroke wows even his teammates.

This is what the Rays envisioned when they selected Hamilton with the first overall pick in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft.

"That's my favorite part of playing baseball," Hamilton said. "I love it more than anything, when I'm taking batting practice and other teams come out and start stretching by the cage. You get hold of a couple, then you're picking balls up and you hear them chirping over there. That's a good feeling. I'm not going to lie to you.

"I feel extremely blessed to be in the situation where I am. I try not to think about where I was."

Where Hamilton was was literally purgatory on earth, a crack cocaine addict and alcoholic, squandering away nearly all the $3.96 million bonus he received from the Devil Rays. He was suspended from baseball for his repeated drug test failures.

"I didn't care about anybody, about anything else but using drugs," Hamilton said Wednesday in a press conference. "No matter what I had to do to get it as far as pawning stuff or other things.

Link

[catalyst]

Fortunately for him he is in a low pressure situation. This team is doomed to go nowhere, and he can hopefully grow in a pressure free environment. However, I have feared if and when he hits a cold streak, and cannot deal with the pressure he places on himself. I have been around addicts who were doing great until they hit a slump, and backsliding is very easy to fall into.

Good Luck to Hamilton, but he has to prove his ability and self control to himself, his team, and Ranger fans.