Josh Hamilton Undergoing "Makeover"

Lefty slugger Josh Hamilton has had one of the most promising Major League careers waylaid time and again by his battles with alcoholism and substance abuse. When Hamilton was drafted his was considered to be the most talented prospect since Alex Rodriguez and by now should have been chasing home run milestones. Instead he continually struggled to even make it to the Show and half of his playing days were over by the time he finally was able to put together a productive season with the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. Hamilton was traded to the Rangers the next year and has been a central facet of their potent offense which has reached the World Series each of the last 2 years.

However Hamilton has continued to struggle with his inner demons, relapsing in early 2009 and again during this past season while he was on the DL. Hamilton has shown legitimate remorse for his continued stumbles on the road to recovery and recently declared that he his undergoing a full makeover to his life in the hope of finding out what has caused his relapses.

Hamilton is a singular talent that still has 5 or 6 years of top-level ball ahead of him. It is clear that his substance abuse is something he will have to battle for the rest of his life and we can only hope that he will be able to rise above it for the rest of his playing career. For now it appears that the Rangers are supporting Hamilton and are not immediately inclined to let him walk which signals that they believe in his ability to overcome his addiction problems. I think that the team is right in this regard and hope it works out for the best. I mean who can forget the 2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium?