Josh Hamilton

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I know the Doctor has already written about him, and this may come a little late. I haven't really been able to fulfill my blogging duties and for that I am sorry. With my first entry in a while, I find it appropriate to give my respect and write about Josh Hamilton, on a night where he broke...actually where he obliterated several barriers, and not just the right field fences of Yankee Stadium. First and foremost, I think you deserve to see one of the many moments that brought Yankee Stadium up to its feet, a feat...if you will...that seems impossible to achieve if you do not wear the pinstripes.

Yes, Josh Hamilton did not "officially" hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium, an accomplishment only one person may have achieved in the past, a story that many consider to be somewhat of a myth as well. If you look carefully, and stop the video at exactly 26 seconds, you will see the ball trajectory is taking it right in between the BudLight sign and the Bank of American sign. The ONLY reason that ball did not go out, is because that area of the "white fance" that decorates the top of Yankee Stadium is what looks to be a solid pillar that holds one of the flags. A few inches to the right or left, that ball would have definitely been out. The thing is...that ball wasn't the "farthest" one hit. That ball was measured at 502 feet, where one of the longer ones was measured in at 518, a bomb that reached (reached is actually an understatement) the "black hole" and seemed reminiscent of a familiar player who was only a few feet away, watching Josh do his thing: Reggie Jackson.

Josh hit some of the farthest and most powerful balls Yankee Stadium has ever seen. As he swung his bat, with "The Dream" inscribed on it, hitting home-run after home-run, he finally took a moment at around his 17th, and looked around, smiling and absorbing the moment. Almost as a tribute, Yankee Stadium started playing music from The Natural. Yankee faithful who had no home-town favorite, quickly adopted Hamilton, as everyone else in the stadium did. Hamilton didn't take long to make all 50,000 fans stand up, as by his second home-run the stadium exploded (and I remember him laughing and humbly saying "that's only two, that's only two"), and by the third most fans had stood up to get a better glimpse of the balls he was hitting.

Josh has certainly come a long way since his days as a drug addict. To all of the skeptics out there, Hamilton is subject to three drug tests a week. But Josh doesn't subject himself to the standards enforced by MLB. He is active in his own way to make sure he stays clean. When he first signed on to the Cincinnati Reds, in an effort to re-launch his career, he made it a point that the only way he would play for them, would be to have a close friend to look after him and make sure he was keeping clean. Johnny Narron, brother of then manager of the Reds Jerry Narron, was Hamilton's high school coach, and joined the Reds staff helping with scouting and hitting instruction, but most importantly helping Josh take the necessary steps to remain clean. Narron's help went as far as literally managing Josh's money, to prove to the Red's front office, MLB, and himself that he was in fact staying clean.

Some may look at it and say, "You know, if he really needs a babysitter for that, then he shouldn't even be playing in the first place".
In response to that, I consider Josh's proactivity in finding a trusting figure to help him out through the difficult and exhausting process of fighting an addiction to be quite admirable. Few people find the will power, let alone fight through the judgements and to some degree embarassment, to have what some may call a "babysitter" to look after them.

Anyway, I write this because I think Josh deserves the respect after showcasing what he can do. He can certainly be one of the top players in MLB. He can certainly hit balls as far as anyone has ever seen. He can certainly fight through the obstacles of a drug addiction. And in a stadium where I've witnessed grown men yell terrible terrible things at 8 year-olds wearing the away team's colors, Josh can certainly make 50,000+ people stand up from their seats, and chant his name.

I remember sitting next to the Doctor, patiently waiting for Josh to come up, as he kept saying "yeah, I think Sizemore has a good chance, I like him". Honestly, I expected Josh to give some competiton. But no-one, except for maybe him, was expecting the display of raw power and ability he gave. I was up and out of my seat after his second home-run. To put it simply, only because I'm starting to sound redundant, I couldn't believe what was happening that night. I still get chills when I watch the clips, and hear the chants. It seemed as though the night was his from the very beginning. Yankee Stadium, as of that night, had 32 home games left and it was being clearly displayed in deep center field. (Josh's number for the Rangers). They had placed Josh in the last spot of the batting order, a detail I noted to the Doctor as we were sitting there watching the batters go through, to which he responded semi-jokingly, "yep they always save the best for last". Derek Jeter (America's Captain as many call him) was asked who he thought would win the contest, and he responded with Hamilton's name (he may not have won the tropy, but like the Doctor pointed out, everyone will forget Morneau's win). This was the 23rd installment of the Home Run Derby, and although now I may be playing a bit of numerology, 23 is 32 backgrounds...and nevertheless 23 is a phenomenal number as both the Doctor and I will attest to that. It was the first and last Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium...Hamilton had a dream, years ago, before he re-launched his career and way before Yankee stadium had been designated as the All-Star game for 2008, in which he was being interviewed at Yankee Stadium during the Midsummer Classic. And finally, he is one of very few players, who have managed to get all 50,000 seats in Yankee Stadium to stand and cheer his name.

Josh Hamilton will cruusssshh you.