JOSH HAMILTONSASSO

SPORTS/SOCIETY

1999 Josh Hamilton was considered

a baseball prodigy from the time he was 6 years old

Hamilton was widely considered the best high school player in the country…possibly ever

Considered a superior prospect to Alex Rodriguez at that stage of their career (Rodriguez was the 1st pick in the 1993 draft)

Much debate about whether or not Hamilton would be drafted as an outfielder or a pitcher

18 years old, 6’4”, 190 lbs- 97 mph fastball

1999 After a lot of debate, Hamilton goes

#1 overall (Tampa Bay) Other notable players in the draft:

Josh Beckett (#2), Barry Zito, Brett Myers, Carl Crawford, Justin Morneau

Out of all the players drafted, Hamilton was considered “Can’t miss”

"I think character may have been the final determining factor. You read so many bad things about professional athletes these days, but I don't think you ever will about Josh.“ – Mark McKnight, Rays regional scout

Received a gigantic $3.96 million signing bonus

1999 First professional stop is

Princeton, WV Appalachian League-

Designed to eliminate the weak

Both of his parents quit their jobs to come on the road

This doesn’t sit well with many people in the Rays organization

Feel as though he is not getting the space to grow

1999 Hamilton has a monster

season at Princeton Earns a promotion to

Hudson Valley for the NY-Penn League Championship run

Struggles a bit, but team wins league championship

It’s the only championship that he has won at any level of baseball

2000 2000 is a breakout year Playing for Class A Charleston

Hamilton puts up huge numbers He is chosen as Tampa’s Minor

League Player of the Year Chosen as the top overall Minor

League Player by Baseball America (biggest honor you can receive in the minors)

Selected to represent the US in the All Star Futures game

Invited to Major League Spring Training for the 2001 season, with a shot to make the Rays

2001 Hamilton had set a goal

to be on the Rays within 3 years of the draft

Had an excellent shot to make the team in 2001

Manager Larry Rothschild wanted to keep Hamilton, but the Front Office didn’t think he was ready

He was slated to start the season at AA Orlando

2001 Driving home from a

Spring Training game, Hamilton and his parents are involved in a car accident

Dump truck ran through a stop sign/red light

Father suffers a fractured skull, Josh injures his back, mother (driver) is unhurt

Parents return to North Carolina

2001 20 years old For the first time ever, he is truly on his own First time he is dealing with injury, though the team is

not convinced his injury is physical (several doctors could not find anything wrong with his back)

Unable to play- has a terrible, injury shortened season Whether real or imagined, there is a bit of a

disconnect between Hamilton and his teammates Nearly $4 million in the bank He will be spending a lot of time away from the

ballpark

2001 Hamilton had always wanted a tattoo, frequent topic of discussion with

Carl Crawford Shortly after they played together at Princeton, Hamilton got his

nickname tattooed on his bicep He very quickly got 5 more- Mom was not real happy about that In 2001, Hamilton begins to enter a pretty dark period Begins simply hanging out at a local tattoo shop Would sit in the chair for hours at a time letting the artists work on him Will end up with 26 tattoos Doesn’t really hang around with teammates, so he decides to go out

with the tattoo guys Has his first drink and snorts his first line of cocaine on the same night Convinced himself that it was a one-time deal, then used again within

the next week

2001-2002 Hamilton pretty quickly becomes a

changed man Very paranoid, shows many of the

characteristics of a cocaine abuser Rays are worried that he is

depressed over his injury (he is an “investment”, remember?)

Decide to send him to a sports psychologist

While there, he informs the doctor that he had been experimenting with drugs

Doctor informs the Rays Hamilton is sent to Betty Ford

Clinic Leaves after 8 days

2002-2003 Hamilton will return to the field in

2002, but this is not the same player

Still struggled with injury as well as his addictions to drugs and alcohol

Very distant from teammates Struggles heavily on the field MLB baseball was not enforcing

random drug testing at the time, but MiLB was

Hamilton is selected, and knew he was going to fail his test

He failed and was subjected to a 15 day suspension

Suspended on July 10, 2002 He would not play again until 2006

2004 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/n

ews/040218hamilton.html

2004-2005 Hamilton will play almost no baseball Returns home to NC, where he begins

to hang out with both addicts and dealers

Will be consuming nearly a bottle of Crown Royal a day

Will use an unbelievable amount of cocaine

Will also begin to smoke crack Will continue to test positive enough

times that MLB baseball will ultimately suspend him for the entire 2006 season

Alienates himself from parents, wife/children, in-laws

Only person he has left is his grandmother

It becomes a team effort to get between Grandmother and Grandson to get him healthy

2006 Throughout 2005-2006, Hamilton will

work hard on his recovery Religion becomes a

TREMENDOUSLY important factor in his life

He will increase his weight from 180 to 230 (he was 220 when he began using)

Slowly and surely he will begin his comeback to professional baseball

Takes a job on the staff of the Winning Inning, a faith-based baseball program

Works odd jobs around the facility which then allows him to work out later in the day

After nearly 3 ½ years away from the game, his basic skills are still extraordinary

2006 MLB will actually

reinstate him early on a special appeal at the end of 2006

He will be subject to drug testing three times a week, year round, for the rest of his career

The Rays assign him to Class A Hudson Valley, where he plays 15 games

2007 The Rays will leave Hamilton

unprotected in the Rule V draft

The Chicago Cubs will select him, and immediately trade him to the Cincinnati Reds

The Rule V draft states that the player chosen MUST stay with the big league team, or be returned to his original club

Reunites Hamilton with the Narrons- Jerry and Johnny

He is now officially a major league player

2007 Received extensive

time in Spring Training; more than most players get

Made the Reds roster as the 4th outfielder

Constantly accompanied by Johnny Narron

Pretty good things happening for him

2007

2007-2008 2007- Played in 90 games

for the Reds: .292, 19 HR, 47 RBI

Pretty solid considering he hadn't played in so long

With a lot of marketable outfielders, the Reds decided to trade Hamilton to the Rangers for pitching prospect Edinson Volquez

Works out well for both teams and players

2008 Hamilton has a monster

season Named AL Player of the

month in both April and May Voted as a starter for the

All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium

Participated in the HR Derby; interesting story to that

Finished 7th in the League MVP voting

Stats: .304, 32 HR, 130 RBI Salary: $396,000

2008 Homerun Derby Hamilton’s First

Round http://mlb.mlb.com/

media/video.jsp?content_id=3136482

2008-2009 The Hamilton

phenomenon explodes

Hamilton’s Autobiography becomes a best seller

MLB Network develops it’s first original film based on Hamilton

2009 2009 was not the year

that Hamilton would have hoped for

Tinkered with his swing in Spring Training

Injured Early in the year crashing into the outfield wall

Spent large chunks of time on the DL

After a strong finish, his final numbers were: .268, 10 HR, 54 RBI

2009 During the middle of the

season, compromising photos begin to surface of Hamilton drinking with several women in an Arizona bar

Hamilton publicly comes forward and announces that he had a lapse in sobriety, though he claims no drugs were involved

2010 To say Hamilton had a bounce-

back season in 2010 would be an understatement

Named American League MVP .359 AVG, 32 HR, 100 RBI Texas won it’s first AL West

championship since 1999 The Rangers won their first

American League Championship

They also advanced to their first World Series, losing to the San Francisco Giants in 5 games

However, he has found himself on the DL yet again: http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100919&content_id=14849214&notebook_id=14850558&vkey=notebook_tex&c_id=tex

2011 A mixture of controversy and

success Suffered a freak broken arm in

April that led to him criticizing a 3rd base coach

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6337836

Missed over a month of the season Still put up impressive numbers .298 avg, 25 HR, 94 RBI The Rangers again advanced to

the World Series, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games

After the season, Johnny Narron leaves the Rangers to take the Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach position

Early 2012 Hamilton’s issues with

dependency resurfaced Had multiple drinks at a

Dallas area bar Probably cost himself

millions of dollars, as the Rangers broke off negotiations for a long term contract

Also created a stir by saying he “didn’t owe the Rangers anything”

Where to? Lots of questions again

surround Hamilton He will turn 31 during

the 2012 season In 5 full seasons, he is

a 4-time All-Star, a 2-time Silver Slugger winner, and an MVP

But is he reliable enough for a franchise to hand him a long-term deal?

A rough end… The Rangers had an epic

collapse in 2012 Lost the AL West on the last

day of the season to Oakland

Hamilton was largely booed in the 2nd half of the season

Made a huge error in the loss to Oakland

Followed that up with a poor performance against Baltimore in the Wild Card round

…and a new beginning The Angels shocked

the baseball community by signing Hamilton to 5-year, $125 million contract

How will it all play out, now that the expectations are even greater?