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Josh Hamilton situation a reminder of the frailty of man

Josh Hamilton’s story was told with a beginning, a middle and an end. It was told neat like that. He was the gifted young ballplayer who fell about as hard as a man can fall and still get up, and then he did get up. Hooray for Josh Hamilton. Hooray for the human spirit.

That was his story. It was worth telling. With every home run, every day spent sober, every moment he held his wife and four daughters, it was worth re-telling, because none of that was guaranteed after he fell. And fell. And fell.

Josh Hamilton's Angels career hasn't exactly gone as planned. (USAT)
Josh Hamilton's Angels career hasn't exactly gone as planned. (USAT)

Through a clear lens, it was impossible not to root for Josh Hamilton, who woke up every morning expecting to do the right thing by himself and his family, and then getting through most days.

But not all of them. The story wasn’t that neat. It wouldn’t ever be.

I don’t know if drugs and alcohol chased Hamilton or he chased them. The result is the same. By Thursday, Major League Baseball was believed to be considering what to do now with Hamilton, who, according to reports, had backslid in his recovery. He could be suspended. Hamilton signed with the Los Angeles Angels two seasons ago for $125 million over five years. He’s owed $83 million in the next three seasons. A suspension would be unpaid.

When he was in his early 20s, several years after being the first overall pick in the 1999 draft, Hamilton spent three seasons on baseball’s suspended list because of his addiction. As a condition of his return in 2006, Hamilton was to be tested three times a week. He was known to have fallen off the wagon twice, once in 2009 and again in 2012, when he was with the Texas Rangers.

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In 2014, his second season with the Angels, Hamilton struggled through injuries, most related to his shoulder. He played in only 89 games, did not have a hit in the Angels’ division series loss to the Kansas City Royals, and was roundly booed in Anaheim. This month, weeks before spring training was to start, Hamilton underwent shoulder surgery and was expected to miss a month or more of the regular season. He did not report to spring training, an unusual arrangement that apparently came with the blessing of the club.

So, the Angels could be without Hamilton for a while, even longer than they’d suspected. There is no telling if Hamilton, at 33 years old, recovering from shoulder surgery and coming off a poor season, will be anything like a productive player, much less one due $30 million next season and the one after that. These were the risks the industry feared when Hamilton became a free agent following the 2012 season. He is not one of the better hitters in the league any longer. His body has broken down. Now, apparently, so too has his sobriety.

It would be difficult not to think first of the story. It’s not really about a ballplayer, though those are the clothes he wore. Had Hamilton pulled himself from the gutter to become a decent husband and father, it would be enough. That he was an MVP too, and twice led the Rangers to the World Series, and became rich doing it, that was merely a recovering addict’s distraction. His life – his real life – came in the other 21 hours.

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A year ago, Hamilton fired his accountability coach. Johnny Narron had stuck with Hamilton in Texas, and a man named Shayne Kelley followed Narron. They wore the uniform. Their role was to catch Hamilton when he wobbled. For a time, they even carried his money. Hamilton could be trusted, but the addiction could not be. It wasn’t even a fair fight.

He struck out on his own, leaned on his family, believed he was strong enough.

Maybe this has something to do with the baseball, how far he’d moved from his home in Dallas to play it, how hard it had become, the injuries, and the frustration of it all. Probably, it’s far bigger than that, always was, and always will be.

The story is mostly the same. It’s sad. It can be good again. And it really isn’t about the baseball. Only the end changes.

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