In baseball, like most sports, numbers are a big part of the game. Hoy many homers did Barry Juiced hit last night? How many RBI’s does Alex Rodriguez have? It was just yesterday that the Phillies recorded their 10,000 loss as a franchise. Numbers, in baseball, are important.
For Josh Hamilton, life and baseball, are ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS.
Take, for instance, the number 1999. That’s the year Josh graduated high school from Athens Drive in Raleigh, NC and was named Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year.
Number 1 - the Devil Rays first draft pick in 1999.
The number .302 was Josh’s batting average in 2000, his first as professional. 13 was the number of homers Josh hit that year. He was also the youngest player in the All-Star futures game that year where he went 3-4.
2/28/2001 is another number that is important. That’s the day that Josh was in a motorcycle accident in Bradenton, Florida. It’s also that day he that led to him becoming addicted to pain killers and A LOT more…
2/18/2004 - that’s the day that Josh was suspended from Major League Baseball for violating the league’s joint drug treatment and prevention program.
The number 15 is the number of baseball games Josh played in 2004-2006, because of failed drug tests. Baseball has counted him out. He was down to his last strike. Two outs, bottom of the ninth.
But then, more numbers…
10/2005 - Josh’s first week of sobriety in 5 years.
3 - the number of times a day Josh begins working out.
12/2006 - Josh is picked up by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft and the traded to the Reds.
.400 - Josh’s batting average in spring training this year.
4/2/2007 - Josh makes his Major League Debut…about six years later than he had originally expected.
5/6 - Josh hits two homers against the Rockies.
26 - Josh’s age, pretty old for a major league rookie.
26 is also the number of tattoos Josh acquired in the those five drug-filled years, reminders of a life gone all too wrong for a guy with such promise. But, now josh is fulfilling those promises and proving everyone wrong who said he would never make it back.
2 and 6 - the ages of Josh’s daughters, Sierra and Julia.
.279, 14, and 30 - batting average, HR’s , and RBI’s for Josh this year.
And 1 - truly remarkable story of a guy who had it all, lost it all, found God, found his way back to the majors, and found his way back to the top of his game.
And 1 is also the number of new fans he has, after knowing more about his story.
756 may be the number that captures Baseball’s imagination in the second half of the season, but 33 has captured mine. That’s Josh Hamilton’s jersey number.
--Brian Eaves
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