Reds' Hamilton a Real-life Hobbs
Tanner Munroe
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: Sports
The movie "The Natural" follows the controversial life of the fictional baseball player Roy Hobbs. Hobbs is a baseball prodigy whose career gets sidetracked when he is shot by a crazed fan. Then, after a long hiatus from the game, Hobbs reappears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league. Although some might already know and love the story of Hobbs, I bring it up because this year baseball fans might see the legend of "The Natural" come to life.
A man by the name of Josh Hamilton could be the player that could quite literally turn this timeless story into a reality. Hamilton, who is playing this year for the Cincinnati Reds, has made a controversial return to baseball, just like Hobbs.
Hamilton was the top pick in the 1999 draft, and was predicted by almost all experts to explode onto the major league scene in gargantuan fashion. As a 19-year-old getting drafted that early he would have years to develop into a great MLB player, but it was predicted that he would make all-star teams and break records early in his career.
However, Hamilton was not able to last like everyone thought that he would. Right away Hamilton suffered from injuries and the pressure of not being able to play caused him to turn to drugs as an answer to his problems. With his new vice, he was unable to produce like he was expected to. After spending two years in the minors trudging along in a constant blur of drugs and addiction, Hamilton was suspended by MLB for violating substance abuse policies, and eventually disappeared from the game and fell off the face of the earth.
Left for dead and forgotten about, just like Hobbs, Hamilton made no effort to try to clean-up and get back into the game. Hamilton had gone from the most talented player to someone who would go unrecognized.
However, in 2005 Hamilton decided to clean-up his act, and had been sober for nearly eight months when he decided to celebrate his 24th birthday by having a few drinks with his wife and friends. He became violent and argued with his wife. By the end of the evening he had shattered the windshield of a friend's pickup, tore off a rearview mirror and was arrested by police.
A man by the name of Josh Hamilton could be the player that could quite literally turn this timeless story into a reality. Hamilton, who is playing this year for the Cincinnati Reds, has made a controversial return to baseball, just like Hobbs.
Hamilton was the top pick in the 1999 draft, and was predicted by almost all experts to explode onto the major league scene in gargantuan fashion. As a 19-year-old getting drafted that early he would have years to develop into a great MLB player, but it was predicted that he would make all-star teams and break records early in his career.
However, Hamilton was not able to last like everyone thought that he would. Right away Hamilton suffered from injuries and the pressure of not being able to play caused him to turn to drugs as an answer to his problems. With his new vice, he was unable to produce like he was expected to. After spending two years in the minors trudging along in a constant blur of drugs and addiction, Hamilton was suspended by MLB for violating substance abuse policies, and eventually disappeared from the game and fell off the face of the earth.
Left for dead and forgotten about, just like Hobbs, Hamilton made no effort to try to clean-up and get back into the game. Hamilton had gone from the most talented player to someone who would go unrecognized.
However, in 2005 Hamilton decided to clean-up his act, and had been sober for nearly eight months when he decided to celebrate his 24th birthday by having a few drinks with his wife and friends. He became violent and argued with his wife. By the end of the evening he had shattered the windshield of a friend's pickup, tore off a rearview mirror and was arrested by police.
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