How Could You Not Root For Josh Hamilton?

By Banzay on 01:58

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Part of the reason why I enjoy sports so much is the feeling I get witnessing someone achieve their goal. When someone has been working their whole life at something, and you get to see them reach the pinnacle of their dream, it gives you goosebumps and sends chills down your spine.
Josh Hamilton is 4 games away from his pinnacle.
Hamilton is different than most though. His road to glory has been a dark one. His story has been told a dozen times over but in case you don’t know it, I will let him tell it to you….
Josh Hamilton has owned up to everything he has ever did. He has never made excuses for his past. He is an extremely religious man who believes God allowed him to hold on to his baseball abilities for a higher purpose. He believes that his tattoos, all 24 of them, and the fact that he has gone through such hell, will allow him to reach out to more people than if he was just some straight laced kid.
It is hard not to root for someone like that. We are a forgiving society, we respond better to the truth. And the truth is, even after losing his prime years to drugs, not picking up a bat for 3 years, Josh Hamilton is arguably the most talented player in the game.
At age 30, with a body that has been broken down from years of abuse, there is still nothing he can’t do on a baseball field. Just ask his teammates who are in awe of him everyday.

OF Julio Borbon- “Pitch up and in. I remember coming to the realization that there’s no way a human can drive a pitch like that. And he hit it to the opposite field.”
OF David Murphy- “It was a head-high line drive from the wall to second base. There can’t be too many throws in the history of the game that were better.”
Hamilton missed 30 games this year due to injuries, something that will most likely be an every year ordeal. Still, he led all of baseball with a .359AVG, led the AL in slugging at .633 and OPS at 1.044. He hit 32HR and drove in 100 runs for the Texas Rangers who just knocked off the Yankees to advance to their first ever World Series.
In the 6 game series, Josh was 7-20 (.350) with 4HR 7RBI 6R and was walked 8 times.
Josh Hamilton once had a dream during one of his drug induced nights. He dreamed that he would win the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. That dream happened sometime around 2005 when the thought of him playing in the majors again was inconceivable. In 2008, Hamilton set the Home Run Derby record with 28 HR in the first round….at Yankee Stadium.
Here he is hitting one completely out of the ballpark….an estimated 502ft….with relative ease.

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