josh hamilton sasso sports/society
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Josh Hamilton Sasso 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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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¬ebook_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?