Stop kissing Josh Hamilton’s ass. He doesn’t deserve all the praise and he certainly doesn’t deserve to be called a hero or a role model or a good influence. He was a complete f**k up, but because he’s can still play baseball better than almost anyone else alive we should praise him? No.
Yes, he was addicted to cocaine and crack for years. Yes, the fact that he seems to have made a full recovery is impressive (overcoming any addiction that overwhelms a person like that is impressive), but he’s not a great guy because of it. He should be working his way back to being an OK guy. Half a season of good baseball doesn’t clear him of all the bad sh*t he did before.
I’m not trying to take anything away from what Hamilton has done. It‘s amazing that he has cleaned himself up so well, but getting clean doesn’t make him special, and I’m upset that so many people think it does. Lots of people sober up after drug problems and lead productive lives. What makes Hamilton so noteworthy?
If he couldn’t play sports Hamilton would still be a complete f**k up today, he’d just be a poor clean and sober f**k up. Hamilton doesn’t have a college education or a degree to fall back on, he only has sports. Without his athletic ability his best bet would be going back to school and working his ass off to stay clean and to make something of himself. If that didn’t work out there’d always be motivational speaking gigs and Burger King. But Hamilton picked up a bat and glove and realized he could still play ball. His genetics bailed him out.
If Josh Hamilton was a stock broker or a chef nobody would care about him at all, but he’s an all-star athlete, and for some reason that makes him praise worthy. When teachers get involved with drugs they lose their jobs and are never allowed to teach again to protect the children. When athletes get involved with drugs they’re encouraged to talk to as many kids as possible. That makes sense…
As fans we should be furious that we’ve been missing him play this well all along. If he can play ball like this after killing himself with chemicals for a few years imagine what he could have done if he had never picked up a crack pipe. So far he’s had a great first-half of a season, but it’s only half, we don’t even know if he can keep it up for all 162 games. He’s not done proving himself.
Hamilton was the number one pick in the 1999 MLB draft and highly touted as the best amateur player in the country. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays and given a $4million signing bonus. I bet the Rays wish they could get that money back. He played in Tampa’s minor league system for a few years before his drug addiction caught up to him, and he was suspended for a failed test. Everything snowballed from there.
Hamilton was out of the game for three years following that failed test. During that time he found Jesus, got himself clean, and finally became the ball player everyone thought he could be. Now he plays for the Texas Rangers and it seems like he’s finally ready for a great career, albeit with a late start. I have my doubts though.
The drugs Hamilton did must have taken a toll. He’s playing great now, but how long can he keep this up? Through 93 games this season he’s batting .310, with 21 homers and 95 RBIs. Very impressive numbers, but can he keep that kind of pace up? I hate to say it, but I don’t think he can.
Hamilton also had the single greatest first found in homerun derby history last week with 28 homeruns, but he couldn’t keep it up. He only hit three runs in the finals and didn’t look good doing it. I think it’s a sign of what’s to come. A meteoric rise to the top followed by a sudden, drastic falling off. His body can only take so much abuse, between the drugs and professional sports it’s got to give out sooner or later and I’m predicting sooner. I just hope that when it does it’ll be from the sports and not from a relapse.
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wrong
You make some pretty valid points, but lighten up- the guy has an illness (yes addiction is a disease) and he has single handedly pulled himself out of the gutter and is playing amazing baseball right now. Yes, time will tell if he can keep himself clean and continue to perform, but if he does, a hero is exactly what he will be.
In an age of athletes who have been given every opportunity to succeed based on the fact they can hit a ball or run faster than everyone else, you’re telling me a guy that ruined his own life on the grandest possible scale before realizing he fucked up and then turned it all around without becoming the cocky douchebag that’s rampant in sports today isn’t perhaps something to admire?
Marc from Michigan State, what have you done with your life that’s so damn special that you have the right to condemn a man that hit rock bottom and propelled himself back up?
I write for COED from time-to-time and disagree with a good portion of some of the stuff written – but totally right about this. It reminds me of the South Park episode with Paris Hilton.
Is Marc being a little harsh on him, sure – but the fact is that we should not be calling him a role model – which I heard 5 times in one Sports Center segment alone, but rather a model for what not to do.
Congrats, you are a crackhead who made a come-back. Let’s see if he can fight the addiction to at least keep out of jail over the next 2 years, nonetheless Round 2 of the HR derby.
Hero? Think not! A hero are the guys and girls over in Iraq fighting for our country and freedom !!! Thats a hero. Not someone who fell victim to drugs. How does him making a comeback to baseball make him a “hero”? That word is abused way too much. You have to do a whole hell of a lot more to be a HERO than comeback from addiction and make the all star game. And I really like Hamitlton, and happy for the guy and I hope he stays clean. B/c he is a freak of an athelete to be able to do what he’s done! Just not a hero!
I’m a nurse who works with detox patients and drug addicts every day…and I see the hard work it takes to get clean…but I agree…Just because Hamilton got clean doesn’t make him someone that children should look up to or aspire to be. Good for him, he did something that’s extremely difficult. But the fact that he plays in the majors doesn’t excuse him from his past.
A couple points:
The heroes in Iraq and crack addicts are not mutually exclusive.
Anybody taking what ESPN has to say and attempting to apply meaning or value to it is wasting their time.
Different people are inspired by different things for different reasons.
What I hear people say about Hamilton is (generally) that they are happy for him kicking his habit (for now) and oh yeah, he is a pretty good hitter (for now).
I can only shake my head at people who are practically crossing their fingers in hope that successful men (or anybody at all) will fail.
Seriously? “If he couldn’t play sports Hamilton would still be a complete f**k up today…”
FIRST he was the best Baseball Player, college of High School the year he was drafted… IF he didn’t have his skills he wouldn’t have been the #1 pick, or maybe even playing. I know a bunch of guys that liked playing baseball, were pretty good, but knew they weren’t good enough to go anywhere so they just stopped. So take baseball out and you are left with a kid that was UNIVERSALLY lauded as a Salt of the Earth Type guy in high school that never even smoked a cigarette. Without his skills, does he put his obvious drive into his studdies? Does he go to college? Does he earn a good living? Does he become an addict then? You can’t make statements like you did above and expect anyone with any sort of background/experience in what you are writing about to take you seriously. You have undercut any valid points you could’ve made by writing statements like you did…
Hero? nope. great story of redemption and succeeding? yes. I wouldnt talk him up to my sons but in the real world it could have been a lot worse. The hero in this story is his wife, Katie. Never underestimate the power of a good, honest woman to civilize even the most unredeemable of us.
Your article is filled with generalized statements and far reaching, non-validated positions. The fact of the matter is that Josh Hamilton is a role model. He hit rock bottom and was able to come back from a serious drug addiction that often ruins or ends peoples lives. Why not support and praise Josh Hamilton? Maybe the writer of this article is an awful athlete hell bent on getting back at the high school baseball coach who cut him; maybe the author is poorly endowed; maybe the author is a Reds fan upset for trading a budding superstar; or maybe the author is just a poor journalist. Either way, I’m sure you get my point but at least I gave you, the author, the benefit of the doubt by saying maybe – it is only fair to do so since I do not know you or what you are all about; it would have been nice for you to do the same for Mr. Hamilton.
obviousley the dip shit who wrote that comment has no idea what it is like to go through any type of struggles, and he or she is to busy being jealous about another persons success and has nothing better to do with their time, so who ever wrote that needs to get off their fat lazy asse and pick up a baseball bat, its not the easiest job in the world!