Hamilton: Making Most of a Situation during a time of Adversity

Hamilton:  Making Most of a Situation during a time of Adversity

Josh Hamilton, outfielder for the Texas Rangers, is a very special player with a unique story. Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, Hamilton tied a record for Home runs (video) by a player in a single game and broke the record for total bases in a game with 18. This is an incredible feat, but even more incredible if you know Josh Hamilton's story.

Josh Hamilton hitting one of his four
home runs against the Baltimore Orioles.  

Hamilton was a first overall draft pick in the 1999 MLB draft. He was plagued with injuries and became addicted to drugs during his time in the minor leagues. Hamilton's failed drug test suspended him and he did not play again until 2007. He went to rehab and became clean from drugs and eventually began to play minor league baseball.

Hamilton bounced around through trades and wound up playing for the Texas Rangers where he has been named to four consecutive all-star games and won the 2010 American League MVP award. The past four seasons for Hamilton have been stellar but this past off-season brought warning signs to the organization and the rest of the MLB. This past February, Hamilton relapsed at a night club when he went out with teammate Ian Kinsler. Some analysts thought that this was a sign for Hamilton's game to drop and even thought the Rangers organization could let Hamilton go.

The response to the negative sayings in the media have been amazing. Hamilton leads the league in batting average with a whopping .395, 15 home runs and 38 runs batted in. Josh Hamilton is a star and has showed that he knows how to handle adversity. He has showed since he was originally drafted that he does not give up and back down.