Do you know what the Most Interesting Man in the World wears to bed? Josh Hamilton pajamas.
Chuck Norris has only cried once in his life. That was while watching Josh Hamilton hit during the 2008 All-Star Game Home Run Derby.
Jack Bauer has only truly feared for his life once. He stood in an empty alley, fully armed. And Josh Hamilton stood at the other end with just his bat.
After watching Josh Hamilton this season, I understand why Tampa Bay made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 1999 draft. He is a true all-tools talent. He's fast, he's powerful, he's graceful, and his baseball IQ is high. Very few baseball players have ever played the game with his supreme combination of talents.
We also all know the story. What should have been a Babe-like career was derailed by powerful drug and alcohol addictions, and injuries. Tampa Bay got so fed up with him they left him unprotected in the 2006 Rule 5 draft, and he was sent to the Reds for $100,000. Imagine that. One of the best athletes ever to put on a baseball uniform basically given away because of personal issues.
He broke through in 2007 with the Reds, amassing 337 PAs, a 292/368/554 line and 2.5 WAR. In a sense, he had arrived. Finally clean, Hamilton put together a very good partial season and established himself as a potentially legitimate major leaguer. And then the Reds traded him to the Texas Rangers for Edison Volquez and Danny Herrera. The Reds were selling high.
2008 was the dream. Hamilton made the All-Star team, finishing first among American League outfielders. In the first round of the Home Run Derby, he hit 28 home runs, though he lost the contest to Minnesota's Justin Morneau. He finished the season with a 304/371/540 line and 3.8 WAR. He was a legitimate All-Star.
If 2008 was the dream, 2009 was the nightmare. Hamilton was dogged by injuries and only had 365 PAs. His 268/315/426 line was a shadow of his previous two seasons. And his personal life was again in the spotlight, as it became public that he slipped back into alcohol for at least one night.
This past weekend I was again amazed by Hamilton. At full strength again this season and with a couple years under his belt, Hamilton has become a force, a one-man wrecking crew. The play of the series was during Game 1 on Friday night. With Boston flamethrower Daniel Bard on the mound and the Rangers behind 9-8 in the bottom of the 8th, Hamilton doubled with two outs. Vlad Guerrero then hit a weak ground to second. Jed Lowrie made the play, but his throw to first pulled Mike Lowell off the bag.
Where was Hamilton? Almost to home, all the way from second. Lowell's reaction was a little slow, he turned and gunned it home, but the tag was too late. Hamilton had scored, and the Rangers had tied the game. Texas would go on to win the game in the 11th on a Nelson Cruz no-doubt bomb.
My brief description does the play no justice whatsoever. You can watch video highlights of Hamilton's big night at MLB.com.
Do you know who's been the most valuable player in the AL this season? Josh Hamilton, and it's not particularly close. Is this an aberration? Is this his true talent? Is this the Hamilton we've been missing? Jack Moore at Fangraphs pointed out last weeks that Hamilton's BABIP is a little high (and likely unsustainable), but even so, he's mashing.
I hated watching Hamilton decimate the Red Sox this weekend, further dampening the team's postseason dreams. But he is currently my favorite player to watch, joining a rarefied group that includes Rickey Henderson, young Barry Bonds, and young Griffey Jr. Unfortunately his career won't likely hit the true legend status of any of those Hall of Famers (or should be HOFers).
But however long he players, and wherever his career lands, Josh Hamilton has arrived and is the most exciting player in the bigs.
No comments:
Post a Comment