Josh Hamilton

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Full Name: Joshua Holt Hamilton Position: OF Height/Weight: 6'4'/235 Team: Texas Rangers Birthdate: May 21, 1981 Drafted By: Tampa Bay Rays Birthplace: Raleigh, North Carolina Selection: 1st Overall, 1999 MLB Draft Bats/Throws: L/L Uniform Number: 32 Major League Debut: April 2, 2007 Nicknames: Hammer, Hambone, The Natural, or Hobbs

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Early minor league career (1999-2000)

Hamilton attended Athens Drive High School in southwestern Raleigh, North Carolina, where he played outfield and pitched for the high school team. As a pitcher, Hamilton's fastball was consistently clocked at 95 miles per hour; due to his arm strength in the outfield, Baseball Prospectus said that he would also have the ability to pitch in the major leagues. As a teenager, Hamilton was coached by current Cincinnati Reds video coordinator, Johnny Narron, brother of Hamilton's future manager of the Reds, Jerry Narron.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected Hamilton first overall in the 1999 MLB draft; he was the first #1 pick in franchise history and received a $4 million signing bonus after the draft. He signed with the Devil Rays in time to play for the rookie-level Princeton Devil Rays and the short-season Hudson Valley Renegades; he led the Renegades to their first and only New York-Penn League championship. In 2000, he was promoted to the Charleston RiverDogs of the full-season Class A South Atlantic League.

Injuries and suspensions (2001-05)

Hamilton was injured in a car accident the following offseason. His parents were not hurt in the crash, and returned to North Carolina; Hamilton remained in Bradenton, Florida, for rehabilitation. He played in only 27 games in the 2001 season.

Hamilton began the 2002 season with the Bakersfield Blaze, batting .303 with 9 HR and 44 RBI in 56 games before his season came to an end due to lingering back and shoulder injuries. He was suspended for violating MLB's substance abuse policy on July 15, 2002. According to the rules of MLB's substance abuse policy, a player suspended for 25 or more days has failed at least two drug tests after being entered into the program, and has been using substances considered more severe than marijuana (such as cocaine, heroin, or LSD). Under the rules of the drug program, players cannot be suspended for use or possession of marijuana. Hamilton said in a 2006 interview that he never considered using anabolic steroids because he considers it to be "cheating the game".

While in Bradenton, he became addicted to drugs, which he took at the local tattoo parlor where he got 26 tattoos. In 2003, he disappeared from spring training for six weeks after being reassigned to minor-league camp; when he returned, the Devil Rays then-manager, Lou Piniella, sent Hamilton home from spring training, telling him to get his life straight. He remained away from the team for most of the remainder of the season due to "undisclosed off-field problems". He then checked himself into a drug rehabilitation facility, but did not complete the program. His drug problems became more public knowledge when Major League Baseball suspended him for 30 days, later extended indefinitely, on February 18, 2004, for failing a drug test.

Although he was originally eligible to be reinstated in March 2005, Major League Baseball extended his suspension through the 2005 season due to additional violations. He stopped using drugs on October 6, 2005; in 2006, Hamilton said that he had been in drug rehabilitation eight times since 2003, and had attempted suicide at least three times.

Return to the field (2006)

As part of his comeback, Hamilton wanted to play baseball in an independent league while waiting for his suspension to be overturned; the Devil Rays intervened, and MLB overturned his suspension on June 1, 2006.

Hamilton participated in extended spring training drills until he was fully reinstated on June 30, and began play on July 4 with the Hudson Valley Renegades against the Brooklyn Cyclones. In his first minor-league game in almost four years, Hamilton served as the designated hitter and went 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored. He played 15 games with Hudson Valley in 2006, batting .260 (13-for-50) with three doubles, a triple, and five runs batted in. He did not play after July 29 due to a season-ending left knee injury, for which he underwent arthroscopic surgery on August 11.

Hamilton was featured in the July 2006 edition of the HBO series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, where his drug problems and once-promising career were profiled.

Cincinnati Reds (2006-2007)

2006 Hamilton was selected third overall in the MLB portion of the 2006 Rule 5 Draft by the Chicago Cubs, as the Devil Rays did not place him on their 40-man roster. The Cubs then traded Hamilton to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money. In their coverage of the draft, Chris Kline and John Manuel of Baseball America called Hamilton "the biggest name in the Rule 5 in years." In order to retain the rights to Hamilton, the Reds had to keep him on their major league 25-man roster for the entire 2007 season.

2007 Hamilton was one of the Reds' best hitters in spring training in 2007, finishing camp with a .403 batting average. As a result, he won a spot on the Reds' Opening Day roster; the Reds planned to use him as a fourth outfielder. He has also received starts due to injuries to Chris Denorfia and Norris Hopper. He started most of the time in center field after an injury to Ryan Freel.

Hamilton finally made his major league debut against the Chicago Cubs to a 22-second standing ovation on April 2, 2007, as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Kirk Saarloos, and was later moved to left field. In his first at-bat, he lined out to left fielder Matt Murton, who made a sliding catch. He made his first major league start on April 10 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and batted leadoff; he also recorded his first regular-season hit in the majors, a home run off Édgar González, in the same game. The next night, April 11th, he hit another. Hamilton was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April.

On May 22, the Reds placed Hamilton on the 15-day disabled list with gastroenteritis; they activated him on June 5 after he batted .333 (8-for-24) with four home runs and six RBI in a six-game minor league rehabilitation assignment. Hamilton went back on the disabled list on July 12 with a sprained wrist.

NL Rookie of the Year Race. In 2007, Hamilton was 2nd behind Ryan Braun in slugging percentage (.554), and 4th in home runs (19; behind Braun, Chris Young, and Troy Tulowitzki, of all NL rookies with at least 325 plate appearances). He lost out to Braun in the vote for the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award by 488 major league players and 30 managers. He also lost out to Braun in the competition for the 2007 Baseball America Rookie of the Year Award, and in the Baseball Prospectus 2007 Internet Baseball NL Rookie of the Year Award race in which he came in 6th, with 2 first place votes, versus 666 for Braun. Hamilton's Walk-up song before he bats is Boomin'/Opera Trip Interlude by tobyMac

Texas Rangers (2008-present)

On December 21, 2007, the Reds agreed to trade Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for Edinson Volquez and Daniel Herrera. In 2008 Hamilton locked up the Rangers starting center fielder position with a stellar spring training, and has continued hitting for average and power in the regular season. Hamilton, usually slotted third in the Texas batting order, appears to be finally fulfilling his great potential, although it appears unlikely the Rangers will be a contender in 2008. Hamilton lead all major league players in RBIs for the month of April

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