I wrote this a couple Octobers ago about Josh Hamilton. Might be even more relevant this year.

"I'm watching the Yankees vs. Rangers in the ALCS tonight. Once again the Rangers have managed to come back on the road vs. the mighty Yankees. This kind of reminds me of the '01 World Series against the Diamondbacks, but obviously not as dramatic. The Rangers have been the better team in every game but lead 2-1 due to one bad inning. It is the 8th now and the Rangers have a 4 run lead, and seem to be in command. Never count out the Yankees though."

It is 2012 now, and he has come off one of the great weeks a hitter has ever had. A 4 Homer Game, 9 HR total, with 18 RBI. I'm pretty sure that is better than the SF Giants or SD Padres entire team stats for the year.

Whenever I see Josh Hamilton play I am amazed. He was the 1st overall pick out of high school in 1999 and was expected to be a star. He got into trouble with drugs & alcohol in 2001 and next thing you know he was out of baseball. Now, all sports are hard, but baseball especially takes ability that is learned over time. You cannot just show up one day and be a stud. But in 2007 after he got is life on track he came back to the Big Leagues through the Rule 5 draft (little known draft where players can be taken by another team if they have yet to reach the majors after their rights with their original team have expired... boring stuff blah blah blah). Next thing you know he is a .300 hitter with power who can drive in runs. He gets traded to the Rangers from the Reds for a stud pitcher and is in the All Star game next thing you know. His career stats are .311 BA, 93 HR, and 331 RBI (***note it is 2012 now and he is .317 BA, 136 HR, 469 RBI, so he has more than kept pace). If he plays at a productive level until he is 40 he is a potential HOFer and could be a .300/400HR/1500 RBI kind of guy which is extremely rare (look it up, it is).

Roy Hobbs was a fictional character in a movie from the 80s set in the 30s... But are we seeing the modern day Natural in Josh Hamilton...


THE NATURAL (cue music)