If you research the 1999 MLB draft, you will see names such as Barry Zito, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Ben Sheets, Jon Lackey, Justin Morneau, Hank Blalock, J.J. Putz, and Alex Rios. These are a few of the stars of the future, some older than others, but all ring a bell to the common baseball fan. The one name that doesn't show up is the top overall pick in that draft, Josh Hamilton. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected him number one overall and gave him a singing bonus of almost 4 million dollars. He was the future, he was the cream of the draft class, he was the next big thing. But after a series of MLB struggles and then a car crash that left him and his mother hurt, Hamilton fell into a life of drugs, drinking and an addiction to not caring for anything.
Open up the stat sheet in this Sunday's paper and take a look at the American League section. You won't see A-Rod, Jeter, Manny, Big Papi, Guerrero, Cabrera, Griffey Jr. or any of the perennial all-stars that play in the AL. The name that appears is Josh Hamilton. He is at the top of Home Runs, Batting Average and RBI's. The three biggest offensive categories are lead by some 27 year old crack addict who has 26 tattoos, has a coach hold his meal money and spent most of the last 5 years wondering the streets.
His story is amazing; not just his new found glory in a sport where he used to represent the future, but also because its incredible to hear how a human being can fall so low and yet, through faith, family and friends, recover and come back to begin a life that suddenly has purpose and direction. Last season, in the midst of his rookie campaign, Hamilton wrote this article for ESPN. Give it a read, its a phenomenal account of what his life was like and how he turned his life around to get to where he is now.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2926447
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