Josh Hamilton

[livinthedream]

I know we have some fans on this board. If you haven't done so already, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this week's Sports Illustrated*, which features Josh on the cover as well as the featured article. Four full pages from his glory days at Athens Drive to his battles with drug and alcohol addiction, and now back at the top of his game with the Texas Rangers and a threat for several MLB titles. Truly an inspiring story. Way to go Josh!!!

http://i.cnn.net/si/si_online/covers/images/2008/0602_large.jpg



* And SI, no cover jinx this time please! Kthanks.

[hyena]

is it out yet?

[livinthedream]

Here's the link to the story on SI.com. We subscribe and got ours on Thursday, I'd assume the newsstands would have it this weekend or no later than Monday.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/albert_chen/05/27/hamilton0602/index.html

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't realized he was having such a great year!

[nccanes]

Saw this on the news last night and think it's awesome. I might make me tune in (or record) the Home Run Derby.

71 Year Old to pitch to Hamilton in HR Derby (http://www.wral.com/sports/story/3186918/)

[Canesluver]

I saw that last night, too, and had the same thought!

I thought it was so cool, that of all the games in history, the only other time he was ever in Yankee stadium was to see Don Larson's no-hitter in 1956. I've heard my Dad and husband both talk about that game.

I have to remember to watch. Pretty neat story.

[car3hur]

I know we have some fans on this board. If you haven't done so already, do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this week's Sports Illustrated*, which features Josh on the cover as well as the featured article. Four full pages from his glory days at Athens Drive to his battles with drug and alcohol addiction, and now back at the top of his game with the Texas Rangers and a threat for several MLB titles. Truly an inspiring story. Way to go Josh!!!

http://i.cnn.net/si/si_online/covers/images/2008/0602_large.jpg



* And SI, no cover jinx this time please! Kthanks.

Can't WAIT to see him in that Home Run Derby on Monday....I hope he wins!!!

[Canesluver]

Don't forget that tonight's the Home Run Derby! I hope Clay Council pitches lots of good ones for Josh.

8PM on ESPN

[hyena]

holy crap Josh is KILLING the ball. 2 blasts over 500 ft so far and he still only has 7 outs in the first round. :crazy:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Holy sh*t. This is awesome. We may be here all night long watching him hit homers. All the other players are absolutely dumbfounded. Up to freaking 15 and he's got 3 outs left!!!

And this dude is pitching PERFECTLY!!


Hate to hear he doesn't like his tatoos, though. I like them.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

518 feet. Damn.

[Serendipity]

Wow!!! Unbelievable! What an inspiring story this guy is. It is so awesome to just sit there and watch this guy hit and realize what he has gone through.

This is so much exciting to watch! :)

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Un-freaking-believable. 28 in the first round.

[Canesluver]

WOW! I'm so excited for him.

And I'm having to watch this on-line, but at least the feed is crisp & clear. Dishnetwork is here switching-over our satellite to HD, so I don't have TV right at the moment. . :D The guy didn't get here until 8:00, and he's still at it. Our trees that we've planted 10 years ago have grown so much that he's having to give us 2 dishes to be able to hit all the satellites. Husband got up on a ladder to redirect some of the flood lights on our house to help the guy out a little. He said he was way behind schedule because of all the rain today. if we'd known how behind he was, my poor husband could have gone to work today, instead of waiting... and waiting.... and waiting...

Oh well... at least we'll be upgraded to HD.... maybe by dawn!! :lol:

[VandyCane]

That was amazing to watch. I felt for the guy pitching though, you could tell it was tiring him out at the end. The best part was seeing that huge smile on Josh's face--he was definitely enjoying every moment out there.

[livinthedream]

*** kicking myself without DVR ***

Somebody - PLEASE - tell me you got that round on DVR. That was freaking awesome.

You could just tell when he walked up to the plate with that relaxed smile that he was ready to enjoy the moment. I started getting tears in my eyes once the crowd started chanting his name. And the reactions from the other players was just priceless.

I'm still absolutely dumbfounded by what I just saw.

[livinthedream]

LOL Now I kind of feel sorry for the other hitters.

Actually.....I feel sorry for all of us having to listen to Chris Berman while we wait for the final round. Ugh.

[nccanes]

Simply amazing. Glad I tuned in for sure. I LOVED hearing the crowd's reaction every time he really connected and the chants were awesome.

[Canesluver]

Woooo!! The Dish guy is finally finished.

I'm watching the ending in HD. :nanner:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

Awww, I was afraid he might not be able to win it after that unbelievable first round. Awesome performance, though. Something amazing to witness.

[livinthedream]

Well, Justin Morneau walked away with the trophy at the end of the night (and not to take away anything from his win), but Josh Hamilton walked away with the hearts of everyone watching that contest tonight.

[Canesluver]

^Well said.

I'm so glad I got to watch (so much for Saving Grace... :lol:)

[Mona2006]

So nice to see a hometown boy do so well after all he has struggled with. It is awesome and thrilling to see him pull himself up and thrive.

Go Josh!! :spin:

[sparkyzsportz]

Absolutely amazing performance! Loved the sign that flashed calling him "The Great Hammbino"

[livinthedream]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/50/fullj.1391a6e47098ad1b2d1bb5cb4c9562d7/1391a6e47098ad1b2d1bb5cb4c9562d7-getty-78877437ed063_state_farm_ho.jpg

One day this story will be purged off the internets so I'm posting here for posterity.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AtGCR1QHDdNW1YiJZFXH.Ck5nYcB?slug=jp-derbyhamilton071508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

NEW YORK – Since what Josh Hamilton (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6679/;_ylt=ArTy.lG_jp4t9OAF2Ktz1PEHU84F) did in the Home Run Derby on Monday night couldn’t have been real, let’s imagine for a moment that he swung in the batter’s box of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and Reggie Jackson, their private launching pad, the most sacred side of a home plate in baseball.

And let’s imagine that a 71-year-old man named Claybon Counsil, one who had been to Yankee Stadium only once before, and that was for Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series on Oct. 8, 1956, threw one himself.

And let’s imagine that one of those perfect pitches he threw to Hamilton, the second one, in fact, flew deep into the Bronx night Monday, so high and far that every player on the field lost track of it and thought it disappeared – like magic.

And let’s imagine it bounced off the Bank of America sign in right field 502 feet away, about 10 short of clearing the entire stadium, and that Hamilton was only getting started, as he would hit another 504 feet and another 518.

And let’s imagine that after he slugged his 15th home run Hamilton kept going and reeled off 13 straight without a single miss, his round ending with 28 balls soaring 12,458 feet.

And let’s imagine that during this he turned toward the catcher, a guy he didn’t know, and said, “This is awesome.”

And let’s imagine the crowd thought so, too, that they serenaded a 27-year-old in his second major-league season with ovations reserved for kings, or the Babe and Lou and the Mick and Rog and Mr. October, by chanting his last name: “Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton.”

And let’s imagine Ha-mil-ton worked the fans into such a frenzy that when he hit his 17th into the stadium’s famed black seats in center field, 497 feet from home plate, two fans leapt a barrier, wrestled one another down 20 rows of seats for control of the ball and wound up in handcuffs with misdemeanor trespassing charges, which were well worth it, because years from now, when tens of thousands of people say they saw the night Josh Hamilton went off, those two can prove it.

And let’s imagine Hamilton was a recovering junkie.

And let’s imagine that no one, not even a superman like Josh Hamilton, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound specimen, picked No. 1 in the 1999 draft by Tampa Bay ahead of Josh Beckett (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6403/;_ylt=ArVtQE_DqDoy4jtznvbopF0HU84F), could come back from a crack addiction that wilted his body and his will.

And let’s imagine that Hamilton did, and returned to the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/cin/;_ylt=Ak7.2_q4w3nX_HDamC0hB7EHU84F), who believed in him even though all that separated him from five straight years of inactivity was 50 at-bats in the low minor leagues.

And let’s imagine the Texas Rangers (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/tex/;_ylt=AkBWgXL2GJ8SjqDwMLLuxYoHU84F) coveted Hamilton enough to trade their top pitching prospect to acquire him this offseason, commit to him their center field job, allow him to play every day and watch him lead the major leagues in RBIs and get voted by fans to start the All-Star Game.

And let’s imagine soon after he laid down the crack pipe Oct. 5, 2005, he actually dreamt that he participated in a Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium.

And let’s imagine he’s here, setting a record for home runs in a single round, sapping his energy by giving it all to a crowd that wants more, and that he ended up losing the thing, getting outhomered 5-3 in the final round by Justin Morneau (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7063/;_ylt=AqLMSqTYv_6WODXSWpZaGlMHU84F), even though, cumulatively, he hit 13 more.

And let’s imagine Morneau walked into the clubhouse with the trophy and almost felt guilty enough to give it to Hamilton, because everyone knew who really won.

And let’s imagine Milton Bradley (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6406/;_ylt=Aja9xe4lD8LyBzyL.HhQd0sHU84F), Hamilton’s teammate, a hardened soul and media pinata for years, turned into a Hallmark card and say, “Morneau took home the trophy, but Hamilton took home the hearts.”

And let’s imagine Claybon Counsil, the batting-practice pitcher, the one who has thrown at least a million pitches for his American Legion team in rural North Carolina, Cary Post 67, was standing there still tingly from the whole thing, not willing to slip off his jersey, telling Hamilton he had his second wind, in case he wanted one more go at it.

And let’s imagine Hamilton heard about how many homers he hit in a row and asked, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, “Is that a record, too?” and then proceeded to keep talking, because he was trying to piece together his night as well.

And let’s imagine Johnny Narron walked into the room and kept his eye on Hamilton, like he always does, as his full-time job is to ensure there’s no relapse, and that he shrugged off the whole evening, like it was nothing,
“Because we’ve seen him do it so long, we’re used to it. People look at us like we’re crazy when we say that, but it’s true.”

And let’s imagine Narron is telling the truth.

Unreal, right?

[nccanes]

Amazing article for an amazing night. That photo shows what was so cool about it -- the fans reaction. I loved all the crowd shots (and 'dugout' shots) where you could read their lips saying stuff like "UNbelievable".

I have to admit that I got pretty teary when I heard them playing the music from The Natural in the stadium during the 1st round.

(on an unrelated note, did y'all catch when the guy from the National league - forget who- was introduced and the crowd had some boos. The guy said "Boo? F*ck you" that was clearly picked up on the mics. I'd say he can now eclipse Ray's usage.)

[VandyCane]

Thanks for posting LTD. It gave me chills watching it last night and again reading about it.

[car3hur]

Simply amazing. Glad I tuned in for sure. I LOVED hearing the crowd's reaction every time he really connected and the chants were awesome.

Who says Yankee fans aren't great?! ;)

I know whatcha mean though...the ROAR every single time he connected...made my heart race some! I haven't heard the crowd that excited in QUITE some time...thanks Josh. :)

[livinthedream]

Okay, y'all are going to grow weary of my posting all these articles, but I figure if you're in this thread you're interested in Josh Hamilton and his story. On the plane today I read another great commentary, this one from Mike Lopresti, USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2008-07-14-rangers-hamilton_N.htm

NEW YORK — An All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium is a mighty stage, and Josh Hamilton has the most important story to tell. That he spares no undignified detail is what makes him so valuable.

It has not been that long. Thirty-three months since the last drug binge, when baseball seemed light years away. Not that he could see that far.

But perhaps you noticed where Hamilton was Monday night?

Swinging for the fences, while the entire All-Star community watched in awe. Ruth built this house, but he never hit 28 balls out in the first round of the Home Run Derby. So what if he lost to Justin Morneau.

Tonight, Hamilton will start in center field in the All-Star Game; an unadulterated epic of survival and revival. But something must be understood.

It is not just being here that moves him, but the chance to explain why. Here is an exemplar on the healing power of family and spirituality. A flawed man willing to discuss every wrong turn he took, hoping he can teach someone a lesson from an open book.

Ask him what he was doing three years ago during the All-Star Game, and he wants you to understand. He was probably either drunk, or searching the streets for drugs, or in one of his 24-hour sleeping stupors.

He wants you to know that his addiction led to eight trips to rehab, 26 tattoos, three years away from baseball, and a heartbroken family.

He wants you to see what changed when he found purpose and God, and now owns 11 more RBI than anyone else in the game at the All-Star break.

If you have a loved one in the grips, he hopes you were watching Monday night when he sent a dizzying series of missiles toward Queens. And he hopes you're watching tonight.

An ironic request, because Hamilton mentioned that he had never watched an All-Star Game in his life. But he is thrilled enough to be playing in one that he planned to grab a scoop of Yankee Stadium warning track dirt as a keepsake.

"I pray the more successful I am," he said, "the more people will listen."

It's not like Hamilton is the only American Leaguer here with personal problems. Alex Rodriguez' messy divorce is to New York tabloids what rare prime rib would be to a tank of sharks.

But that is still no match for Hamilton's brush with self-destruction, or his readiness to discuss it.

"When I got drafted (No. 1 in 1999, by the way) I was a golden boy, never did anything wrong," he said. "Now I've got tattoos, I've got addiction problems. But by sharing my story, maybe I can help even more."

Request a baseball memory, Hamilton won't give you a home run but the day a kid shouted to him at the end of batting practice, "You're my savior."

Ask why people gravitate to his story and he'll show a grasp for a reality of human nature that Pete Rose and Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds would have been better off understanding.

People want to forgive. But you have to give them a reason.

"I've been honest about everything," he said. "I've taken responsibility. I haven't made excuses. I made
mistakes. I don't know many people who haven't."

Monday's fireworks display came with a story from the past. This was 2006. Hamilton had been sober only a few months. But he went to bed one night, and dreamed.

"I was in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium," he said. "I'm not making this stuff up. I didn't see how I did. I just saw the microphones stuck in my face after I was finished hitting, and I got to share with the people the reasons I was back."

The dream turned real Monday night in the Bronx, with a New York night that goes in the All-Star scrapbook.
Really, can this comeback become any more of a Hollywood production?

What thrilled him most was his family was here to watch. "Everything I went through," he said, "they went through."

But the consequences of the dark days are not over. He has to take a drug test today. Three times a week, All-Star Game or not.

[livinthedream]

Here's a really cute, sweet, funny (and appropriately titled ;)) article about Clay Council from yesterday's Cary News.

http://www.carynews.com/sports/story/9763.html

Living the dream
Clay Council’s trip to Yankee Stadium was the highlight of decades of service to area baseball players
By Tim Candon, Sports Editor

A little more than two weeks ago, Clay Council was the toast of the town.

“There I was rubbing elbows with the rich and the famous,” he said during an hour-long conversation in his Cary living room recently. “I can’t believe it. Did I really do that? Was I really in Yankee Stadium?”

Indeed he was.

Not only was Council at Yankee Stadium during the festivities for the 79th annual MLB All-Star Game earlier this month, he and Josh Hamilton stole the show.

Council went to serve as Hamilton’s pitcher for the Home Run Derby. Though Hamilton was the contest’s runner-up, he and Council were the story of the night. Hamilton belted a first-round record 28 home runs, including 13 in a row at one point, while the 71-year-old Council wowed the crowd with his elastic arm and folksy charm.

“It was just unreal, beyond my dreams,” Council said. “Imagine me up there in Yankee Stadium?”

It was a dream come true for Council, who harbored Major League dreams as a youngster growing up on a tobacco farm in Morrisville. But his youth wasn’t spent on sandlots or on Little League diamonds.

“I was an old farmboy,” he said. “I had to be out there in the [tobacco] field.”

When he got to Apex High, he tried out for the team and made it. He played three years before graduating in 1955.

A three-year professional career followed. He played in the San Francisco Giants farm system, with stops in the Nebraska, Minnesota and California before he was released in 1959.

With his chosen career over, he joined the Army and was shipped off to Korea for two years. His stint in the service afforded him the opportunity to continue playing, though. He played or coached Army teams throughout the course of his service.

When he was discharged in 1962, he returned to the Triangle and went to work for Eastern Air Lines. He remained with the company until it went bankrupt in 1991.

After Eastern went out of business, Council took three years off before going to work for the RDU Airport Authority, where he stayed until he retired three years ago.

While at Eastern, he had to give up his playing aspirations. But he couldn’t stay away from the game. When his son Dean was old enough to play Little League, Council volunteered as a coach. As Dean got older and rose through the various playing levels, Council followed along as a volunteer coach.

When Dean stopped playing after high school, Council continued to volunteer as a coach.

In the early 1980s, Don Staley, then the coach at Cary High, asked him to throw regular batting practice. Soon after, Staley handed Council a uniform and asked him to dress with the team.

“I was just tickled to death,” Council said. “It was like making the team again.”

In the mid-1980s, he started volunteering with Cary Post 67 for the American Legion season, a job he still holds today. And it’s because of Council’s devotion to the game and area players that Hamilton invited him to pitch in the Home Run Derby.

“He’s done so much for so many kids and probably hasn’t got a lot of thank yous for it. This is a big thank you,” Hamilton told The News & Observer earlier this month. “There are so many people like Clay that give and give and give and never expect anything in return.”

After the Home Run Derby, Council was suddenly a hot commodity. The next day he was walking down 42nd Street in New York, and a pedestrian stopped him and asked for a picture. He was approached by several people during the All-Star Game and even more as he walked through the airport on his way home. When he got home, his answering machine was full. During a Post 67 playoff game, he signed autographs.

“It’s exciting to be in the spotlight,” he said. “I may could learn to like it.”

Though the baseball season’s gone quiet for Council, he still gets his fill. He considers himself an on-call instructor. If someone wants to take batting practice, they’ve just got call him and ask.

Just don’t call on a Sunday morning. Those are reserved for his mother, whom he picks up each week for church and then breakfast at Bojangles.

Every year he thinks will be his last on the baseball field. But then spring rolls around and he gets on the mound again, just to see how the right arm feels.

If his arm remains as sharp as his wit, he has a number of years to go.

On his days of playing football at Apex High, he said: “I wasn’t too good. They used me for a dummy all week. The easiest time I had in football was on Friday night. It was game night, so I took a rest.”

On his selection to his first American Legion team: “They kept 22, and I must have been 22nd.”

On his age: “I’m so old when I eat a restaurant, I have to pay in advance.”

On the field is where Council feels most at peace. He jokes (sort of) that maybe one will serve as his final resting place. “I’ll probably die right there,” he said.

“But I’ll die happy.”

[livinthedream]

FYI Josh Hamilton fans, his autobiography has been recently released and is available through most book retailers.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Belief-Finding-Strength-Come/dp/1599951614

http://www.rotorob.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/josh-hamilton-book-cover.jpg

Product Description
Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.

BEYOND BELIEF details the events that led up to the derailment. Josh explains how a young man destined for fame and wealth could allow his life to be taken over by drugs and alcohol. But it is also the memoir of a spiritual journey that breaks through pain and heartbreak and leads to the rebirth of his major-league career.

Josh Hamilton makes no excuses and places no blame on anyone other than himself. He takes responsibility for his poor decisions and believes his story can help millions who battle the same demons. "I have been given a platform to tell my story" he says. "I pray every night I am a good messenger."

About the Author
Josh Hamilton is currently the 27-year-old Center Fielder for the Texas Rangers. In the offseason he lives in North Carolina with his wife Katie and their two daughters.