When Hamilton was just 12 years old, he was the MVP of three games of a national tournament—as a lefthanded catcher.

"I also played shortstop for five years in Little League," Josh said.

Besides being a fine outfielder, Josh pitched in high school, throwing a 94-96 mph fastball from the left side!

Both of Josh'es parents had jobs in Raleigh. Tony worked at a dealership for Ditch Witch, a company that manufactures construction equipment. Linda was with the bridge maintenance unit of the No. Carolina Department of Transportation. But with their other son grown and gone, they pulled up stakes and followed Josh's teams.

But when Josh signed with the Devil Rays, his parents moved up to pro ball too, taking up residence wherever he went. All through amateur ball, his parents, and grandmother went to virtually every game. 

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Mrs. Hamilton said. "As long as he's having fun, we're all right." Josh has breakfast with his parents before home games, then gets dropped off at the stadium in an SUV he bought for them. "Most kids don't want their parents around," Tony Hamilton said. "He wants us here."

Josh and his parents escaped serious injury after a dump truck struck their vehicle early in 2001 spring training. The accident was near the family's home in Bradenton, Florida. The dump truck ran a red light and struck the Hamilton's vehicle, a Chevy Silverado. Josh only had sore knees and back, but no apparent real damage. His father suffered a minor skull fracture. And his mother was sore for a few days.

Not many days after the accident, Josh's back began hurting.

During 2003 spring training, then-D'Rays Manager Lou Piniella was impressed with the way the ball jumps off Hamilton's bat. He was also impressed with Hamilton's 26 tattoos.

"If he can hit me 40 home runs, I'll put 26 on me, too,'' Piniella said. "Albeit real small ones.''

DISAPPEARING ACT

On April 28, 2003, after the media hadn't heard from him for a month, the D'Rays issued a statement from Hamilton: "I needed to take some time away from the game to address some personal issues and problems I have been dealing with for the past several months. Fortunately, the Devil Rays allowed me the opportunity I needed in dealing with those issues, and I now have a better support system in place to move forward with my professional career. I'm excited to get back on the field and resume my career.''

He was assigned to the Orlando Rays (SL). Within a few days of his return, Josh spoke pubicly, saying it wasn't drug, alcohol, or legal problems that led him to leave the Devil Rays organization for six weeks, but depression caused by family problems and professional pressures. He said he spent most of the time around his North Carolina home, and that counseling helped him learn to deal with his problems.

He said his problem built up because of a number of issues: a serious illness in the family that he did not want to discuss, pressure he put on himself to catch up with former minor league teammates who had made it to the Majors (such as Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli), and continued problems learning to deal mentally with the setbacks caused by repeated injuries.

"I'll put it this way to you," Hamilton said. "I got some help I needed because I was in a bad place, not with any kind of substances or anything like that, just as far as mentally, the mental part of the game. I went with my family and got some help, too, as far as understanding things and what's going on there."

Hamilton said he is not on any medication and does not need to attend further counseling sessions, but "I've got the numbers of people I can call." Hamilton did not provide many other specifics, though he did say he is having two of his 26 tattoos removed and may do the same with the others on his forearms.

During the winter before 2004 spring training, Hamilton lived with his parents in a spectacular estate—six bedrooms on 27 acres—on the outskirts of a Raleigh suburb. But, Josh said his parents, Tony and Linda, who have no other children living at home, are looking to downsize and didn't want to say any more about their situation. Josh bought the house in January 2001 for $950,000 and has listed it at $1.2-million.

Hamilton also has been dealing with the issue of a canceled wedding and questions of fatherhood. Hamilton said he had planned in December, 2003 to marry a North Carolina woman who told him she was pregnant with his baby, but he called off the wedding when she refused to sign a prenuptial agreement. Hamilton said he hasn't heard from the woman and may pursue DNA testing if necessary. "I haven't heard anything from her, so I don't know," he said in January 2004.

He had been running and throwing, hitting at the local Grand Slam USA batting cages and working out regularly with his own Bowflex machine. (Marc Topkin, St. Petersburg Times-1/23/04)

Late one night in September 2003, for reasons he still doesn't understand, Hamilton found himself on the doorstep of Michael Dean Chadwick, a Raleigh homebuilder who frequently spoke to Christian groups about his successful battle against drug addiction. Chadwick also had a daughter, Katie, whom Josh had dated a few times a few years previously.

"I took one look at him," Chadwick said (a few years later), and I knew exactly what I was looking at."

Though it was the middle of the night, Chadwick took Hamilton out to his back porch, where they talked for hours. "I told him there is no middle ground. You either die, or you get well."

Josh got married in November 2004, to Michael Chadwick's daughter, Katie. At the time he was clean. "I thought (his drug problem) was over," Katie said. He became father to a 3-year-old stepdaughter. He moved away from his parents and found tremendous support and kinship in a father-in-law who also runs a ministry that counsels teens and athletes on the dangers of drug abuse. He attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and private counseling sessions on a regular basis. He also gives hitting lessons to little kids and speaks to youth groups.

In February 2005, Josh told Baseball America reporter Marc Topkin that he had not used drugs or had alcohol since September 21, 2004. And that he understands the concept of taking things one day at a time. His father-in-law said Hamilton understands that his transgressions are his responsibility.

"He has adapted to this whole concept of, 'I've got a problem, and I'm going to deal with it. I'm not going to hde from it and run from it,'" said Michael Dean Chadwick, president of nonprofit Mike Chadwick Ministries and owner of 1st American Land, a North Carolina real estate, building and development company.

Josh took up golf to channel his competitiveness, but baseball remains his primary focus. And he works out feverishly in anticipation of getting back in the game.

Josh knew Chadwick's daughter, Katie, from going to school together at Athens Drive High in Raleigh, NC, but Chadwick said he isn't sure exactly what led Hamliton to knock on his door late one night.

"I don't know how he heard about me," Chadwick said. "He showed up at my house (around June 2004). It was late, I don't know, 11:00 p.m., midnight, 2:00 in the morning. I was in bed. I looked at his face and I saw a broken boy who was lost, lonely and desperate for someone who knew where he was. We sat out on my deck most of that night and talked about life and stuff, about, 'What do I ought to do?' I told him, 'It's not about Can you? It's about, Will you?' We've spent a lot of time together between then and today."

Chadwick speaks to teams, students and business groups about the influence God has had in his life and delivers a strong anti-drug message. (Marc Topkin-Baseball America-2/14/05)

IN TROUBLE AGAIN

On May 21, 2005, Hamilton was arrested in North Carolina and charged with misdemeanor damage to property after tearing off a rearview mirror and using his fist to shatter the windshield of a friend's pickup truck.

Hamilton, who turned 24 on the day of his arrest, is on the restricted list, serving his second consecutive one-year suspension for violating baseball's substance abuse policy. He had hoped to gain early reinstatement at some point in 2005, but that seemed unlikely after he told Cary, N.C., police he had been drinking alcohol at a party before his arrest.

"He's sick about it,'' said Hamilton's father-in-law, Michael Dean Chadwick, when reached by phone at his home in Cary. "We're all sick about it.''

Cary police said Hamilton left the party with his wife, Katie, but she stopped the car and he began walking down U.S. 1. Hamilton told police he and Katie had argued at the party.

Police received a call at about 7:20 p.m. about a man, presumably Hamilton, who allegedly was harassing customers at a gas station, Cary Police Lt. Michael Williams said. Hamilton left the gas station as a passenger in a friend's Jeep. Police stopped the Jeep shortly afterward, Williams said.

Police contacted Chadwick, who came with a friend in a pickup truck to get Hamilton. On the way to a residence in Cary, Hamilton used his fist to shatter the windshield of the pickup truck, ripped off the rearview mirror, and broke a baseball bat over his knee, authorities said. Hamilton was released on a promise to appear in court. (Carter Gaddis-Tampa Tribune-5/22/05)

Within six months of being married, Josh and Katie were separated. When Katie Hamilton brought their baby daughter Sierra home from the hospital in September 2005, Josh was out getting high.

"That was the worst of the worst," Katie said. "Bringing your baby home is supposed to be such a joyous time—and it wasn't that way. Just to know he was out using drugs and missing those precious moments—it was just so hard and so sad. I was devastated."

One day, Hamilton wrote a check to a crack dealer for $2,000, when he knew he didn't have the funds in the bank to cover it. He begged Katie to put some money in their account, but she refused.

When the check bounced and Josh started to feel the singular heat of a vengeful crack dealer, it was Mike Chadwick who asked Josh for the guy's name and phone number.

"I called to tell the guy I was coming," Chadwick said. "He said, 'Are you going to be packing heat?' I said, 'Do I need to?' When I got there, I told him, 'Look, I understand, business is business. Here's your money. But if you ever sell Josh crack again, I'll be back here, and it won't be pretty. I'm not scared or intimidated by you or your pals. And I'm just a little bit crazy." (David Sheinin-Washington Post-March, 2007)

In November 2005, The St. Petersburg Times reported that Hamilton's suspension for multiple failures of baseball's drug policy had been extended through the 2006 season and that his reinstatement would be at the discretion of commissioner Bud Selig.

On the back of Hamilton's right leg, the last of his 26 tattoos has the face of Jesus Christ superimposed over an enormous cross.

"I don't even know why I got that one," Josh said in 2007. "See, I didn't realize it at the time, but I think it was like spiritual warfare—the devil/Christ. I have tattoos of demons with no eyes. And I didn't realize it at the time, but no eyes means, 'no soul.' That's what I was at the time time: a man with no soul."

His first tattoo was tame enough: HAMMER, his nickname, on his right arm. But then came the blue flames on his forearms, tribal systems that Josh had no idea of the meaning, assorted demons, then the face of the devil himself.

The tattoo parlor became a hangout, and Josh would spend eight hours in the chair at a time, watching the needle squirt the ink under his skin. Afterward, they'd all go out, get drunk, then score some blow.

"They weren't bad people," Josh said during the 2007 season. "They just did bad things." (Dave Sheinin-Washington Post-April 2007)

Josh's wife Katie "wanted Josh out of their house. Not because she didn't love him, but because his lifestyle was affecting the marriage and his relationship with the kids.

'I was shocked,' Katie said. 'I just couldn't believe it, because I just couldn't imagine how you could be there for the birth of your child and your wife and then just not follow through. It just didn't make sense to me.'

She sought refuge at her parents' house because the one she and Josh owned made her feel unsettled and alone when she was in it. She also turned to her pastor and his wife for spiritual guidance.

Katie prayed God might help her and halt the misery of seeing a husband 'completely throwing his life away.'

'Honestly, I didn't even care,' Josh said, 'because I was doing what I wanted to do—get high.'

Faith transformed Katie and provided the grace necessary to call Josh one day and forgive him.

'It did so much for me,' she said. 'God took all those feelings of bitterness and resentment and anger away from me instantly.'" (Kevin Kelly, Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/13/07)

February 2006: Hamilton was invited to Clearwater by Roy Silver, a former Rays and Cardinals minor league coach and manager who had met Hamilton a few times. Silver is co-owner of the Winning Inning Academy based at Jack Russell Stadium. Hamilton worked out, worked on his game, and did chores around the baseball academy.

June 2006: Hamilton received permission to work out with the Rays' extended spring program. Hamilton called the opportunity his "last chance" when it comes to professional baseball.

"That's the way I want it because that's what is going to give me that drive to do it," Hamilton said. "The past three years have been a real struggle, real frustrating."

Hamilton said the biggest challenge ahead is not on the ballfield, but the continuing battle with his addiction.

"It's a constant struggle," he said. "Everybody has got their own demons. You've got to come to grips with it and know that's the thing that's keeping you from living a productive life."

The turning point came about after he became a father.

"I got pretty bad for a while," Hamilton said. "I got to the point, I had my little girl, and the more time I spent with her, the light bulb just started going off. It's not about me anymore. It's about my family and doing the right thing no matter if baseball is involved or not. Actually, I never thought I would be back out here. It's exciting for me."

June 30, 2006: Major League Baseball cleared the Rays to allow Josh to play games for the rest of the season. He had been granted limited privileges starting June 2 that allowed him to begin working out at the Devil Rays' minor league complex with the extended spring training team. He didn't appear in any extended games, but did take part in simulated games.

On suspension since February of 2002, Hamilton looks forward to restarting his baseball career. Josh will join the Class A Hudson Valley Renegades and could play as soon as July 4, 2006. After such a long time away from the game, Hamilton is ready and willing to go anywhere.

"I told them I'd go back to Little League if they'd let me play," Hamilton said.

Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon believes that the second chance is warranted, and he expects Hamilton to do everything he can to make good on it.

"From what I could perceive, my 'thin slicing' when I met him, is that this is a good guy, and he ran into some problems," Maddon said. "I really believe that all of us deserve a second chance in different situations. I really believe he's going to give a sincere effort to work his way through this. Hopefully, it's going to benefit him, and it's going to benefit us if it works out that way."

Hamilton was thankful for the support system the Reds gave him. And he liked being around manager Jerry Narron, because of the deep Christian faith they share, and the way they also believe in each other.

There were specific rules to limit the temptations, such as Hamilton not carrying much cash, not having his own car in spring training and having his wife, Katie, taking around half the road trips.

"It's not that I need to be babysat, but it's just things I need put in place to make sure I can do it," Hamilton said. "To not be tempted. I trust myself, but at the same time I want that in place."

He said he has been sober since October 6, 2005, and can maintain it no matter what situations he faces, such as teammates drinking in front of him. When listing his priorities, he says he now has dropped Recovery a slot to third, behind God and Family.

"I know there's temptations," he said. "The devil's going to come at me hard. I don't know from where yet. But we'll handle it when it comes." (Marc Topkin-St. Petersburg Times-2/20/07)

People think Hamilton either gulped down his throat or snorted up his nose all of his $3.96 million bonus, but that is not so.

"No, I didn't. I supported my parents for six years. When I was 12, I told my Mom and Dad if I made it in baseball. I'd pay off all their debts and buy them each a new car. I did that," Josh said.

During 2007 spring training, Josh was asked if he was nervous about getting this chance.

"Scared?" Hamilton asked. "Nah. I'm at peace with my life right now and nothing frightens me. I tore my body down for three years, but I'm still able to play. That's not me. That's the Lord."

Bradenton, Florida is where everything went "south" for Hamilton.

"My first drink—my first drink ever—was at a strip club in Bradenton, with the tattoo guys. Pretty soon, I started using. First the powder, then crack. I was 20. I wasn't playing. I was hurt. My parents left and went back home. I was by myself for the first time," Josh said.

Before long, he was guzzling a 750-ml bottle of Crown Royal every day, and snorting a whole lot of cocaine. Contrary to popular opinion, Josh had a purpose . . . to overdose and end the suffering. But for some reason, he couldn't kill his body.

"There is no reason I shouldn't be dead or crippled," Hamilton said in 2007. "The fact I still have all my brain function—I did things to where I shouldn't be right today. It just lets me know there are bigger things out there for me to do."

In Clearwater, Florida, Jack Russell Stadium, the former spring training home of the Phillies, is now the site of a Christian baseball academy called "Winning Inning." It is the kind of place where instructors hit fungoes in the morning and provide spiritual counseling in the afternoon, the kind of place where "J. Christ" has his own locker.

Reds Manager Jerry Narron said in 2007:  "I think we may take it for granted with what he's done. We shouldn't," Narron said. "We don't realize what he's been able to do after all of that time off. We've come to maybe where we expect more than we should sometimes. We expect this guy to come in and perform like a 10-year veteran, but he's not. It's pretty amazing."

2008: Three times a week, Hamilton's past and future intersect when he urinates into a cup and waits for confirmation that tells the baseball world what he has known for 27 months: He is clean, sober and drug-free.

"I think he looks forward to the tests," Johnny Narron, his friend and mentor, says. "He knows he's an addict. He knows he has to be accountable. He looks at those tests as a way to reassure people around him who had faith."

The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant asked Josh about his TV watching during 2008 spring training.

Hamilton: I like Smallville. I like to think about what Superman was like as a teenager.

Grant: Can you identify with any of his problems?

Not really. Except for Kryptonite. I know something about that.

Have you been keeping up with it out here?

I can't tell what time anything is on out here (in Arizona). Seems to be kind of a weird schedule.

Yeah, one year we waited through three different time zones for Monk and still never saw it. Then we figured out we were watching on the wrong day. Anyhow, how much TV do you watch?

I usually watch about an hour a day. I also like Dancing With the Stars, 24 and House.

Dancing With the Stars?

Yeah. I like watching that kind of dancing, and the progression of those people as they go through the show is pretty awesome.

Want to be on it?

No. Don't get me wrong, I can dance. I'd just rather watch it than do it. And the show has the worst looking trophy in the world. I'd rather not win it just so I don't have to take home that trophy.

You a cartoon guy as a kid?

Yep. Scooby-Doo.

Who was your favorite character?

Scooby and Shaggy, c'mon.

But what about Daphne?

Why, because she was hot?

Well, you said that. And what was up with Allan with the ascot?

Allan? Who was Allan? There was no Allan. C'mon man, you mean Fred. I can't believe you called him "Allan."

Well, he looks like an "Allan." Hey, enough about that. You watch any other reality shows besides Dancing? What about ESPN stuff?

My wife is into the reality stuff, and I almost got hooked because I had to watch stuff like The Hills, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette with her. But no, I don't watch any of that stuff. And besides NFL Preview on Sunday, I really don't watch anything on ESPN besides games. I'm more of a Discovery, FX, and USA fan. And I'll watch movies. I still can't believe you called the guy "Allan."

"I'd get really tired of praying for him, but the Lord was really faithful in renewing my strength," Katie said. "I'd go to bed, I'd swear that was the last time I was going to pray for him. I'm moving on and the next day I'd wake up with a new desire and strength to pray for him.

"The toughest part is being so frustrated and wanting so badly for them (an addict) to have a productive and wonderful life and them not having the same desire for themselves."

Listen to Hamilton long enough and you get the feeling his roughest days are behind him, because he seems so at ease talking about his addiction. He's an addict. Always will be. That's how the disease works.

But he doesn't run from it. He embraces it. He talks about it. Laughs about it. Hamilton gives his addiction no power because he doesn't shirk it. He confronts it because it no longer controls his life.

And when Katie talks about the hurt it caused in their life, he stares deep into her eyes in a way that lets you know he truly understands the pain he caused. And when he's talking about the times he used or damage he caused in their relationship, she looks at him with a love that says she understands how Satan had control of his life.

"I kept having flashbacks of things I put her through and how she handled them," Hamilton said. "That was God's way of telling me he could help get through it." (Dallas Morning News-6/02/08)

Interesting sidelight: Every plane flight, Hamilton had two peanut butter sandwiches and a bag of M&M's waiting at his seat. This was during the 2008 season.

HOMERUN DERBY

His own pitcher, Clay Council, a 71-year-old volunteer high school coach who tutored Hamilton's brother, Jason, in American Legion ball in North Carolina. And an attitude that participating in the Home Run Derby can't do anything to mess up this season's hottest swing.

The 27-year-old is excited about the Derby and starting in center for the American League squad, but was more interested in talking about Council, who has thrown batting practice to him since Hamilton was in high school at Athens Drive High in Raleigh, N.C. Hamilton said Council, who coached at a rival high school, has been throwing batting practice to local kids for more than 30 years.

"He's money," Hamilton said. "I hold the bat out and he'll hit it."

Hamilton said he called up Council two weeks ago and asked him how he would feel about pitching to him with 50,000 fans at Yankee Stadium in the final All-Star Game at "The House that Babe built."

"He said, 'That would be great,'" Hamilton said.

February 2009: Hamilton reported to spring training having rid himself of another vice: smokeless tobacco. He had quit on Christmas Day 2008.

"You  know it's bad when your 3-year-old holds up a water bottle, and asks if daddy spit in this before she drinks out of it," said Hamilton, referring to his daughter Sierra. "That's when you know it's a problem."

During an interview with The Sporting News in 2010, Josh was asked if baseball is hard for him.

"It's hard when I make it hard," Hamilton said. "When I try to do too much, try to make things happen, it becomes hard for me. When I just let my skills play, my talent that God gave me play, and don't try to do more, then it's fun, and yeah, it's easy."

When the Rangers celebrated their victory in the AL Division Series, beating the Rays, Josh avoided the clubhouse celebration. But after several minutes, he went into the clubhouse to find his teammates with bottles of Canada Dry ginger ale.

"Everybody yelled ‘Ginger ale!’ and I just jumped in the middle of the pile and they doused me with it,” Hamilton said, according to the ESPNDallas.com report. “It was the coolest thing for my teammates to understand why I can’t be a part of the celebration, and for them to adapt it for me to be a part of it says a lot about my teammates.”

Hamilton was named the 2010 American MVP Award winner, after he led the Majors with a .359 batting average and a .633 slugging percentage.

He was also in the top six among AL leaders in on-base percentage (.411, second), total bases (328, fourth), hits (186, T-sixth), multihit games (53, T-fifth), extra-base hits (75, fifth) and home runs (32, T-fifth). He was the first AL player with a minimum of a .359 average, 40 doubles, 30 home runs, and 100 RBIs since Lou Gehrig in 1934. And he wins the MVP despite missing most of the final month of the regular season with two fractured ribs.

A lot of scouts will tell you that Josh Hamilton is the best baseball player they have ever seen.

On September 10, 2011, Josh's wife, Katie, gave birth to their fourth child, Stella Faith.

February 1, 2012: A source revealed that Hamilton had a relapse with alcohol. Hamilton acknowledged that he had a "moment of weakness" at two Dallas bar/restaurants Monday night because of a "personal reason with a family member." He apologized to his family, fans and the team during a 12-minute news conference at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Friday, when he spoke without a script and did not take questions.

"You guys all know how hard I play on the field and I give it everything I absolutely have," said Hamilton, who expressed appreciation for the Rangers continuing to support him. "When I don't do that off the field, I leave myself open for a weak moment. I had a weak moment on Monday night in Dallas."

Hamilton added: "It was just wrong. That's all it comes down to. I needed to be at a different place. I needed to be responsible. I was not responsible. Those actions of mine have hurt a lot of people I'm very close to. Any time I drink, there's a point that comes where a switch flips and you never know when that point's going to be reached, whether it's the first three or four, or the 15th," Hamilton said. "And that's what's so dangerous about it."

Hamilton's struggles seem to be mostly with alcohol; there's never been a positive result on his thrice-weekly drug tests. But his last two relapses were also jarringly social. He didn't buy a bottle and slip alone into some basement. Both times, before any booze entered his bloodstream, he found places with music, noise, people laughing. He went to find a party.

For a few hours, liquor can make the four kids at home, the errands, the everyday grind that can make life seem small fade away. Doesn't liquor make you feel funnier, make people like you more, make even a ordinary dull night feel huge? Sure, you can say or do something stupid; sometimes you swing and go Aggghhh. But everyone's so happy. And what with cellphone cameras and the Web, humiliation is all but assured.

"I want to get caught," Hamilton says. "Because I don't want to do it. I know it's not good for me; I know I don't act the way I'm supposed to act [when drinking]. There's nothing good that comes from it. Obviously I don't ever want to get to that point again. And I want the red flashing light to go off before it comes close to that point of happening. So it's a blessing in disguise that I was out in the middle of everybody."

"Every time Josh has had a relapse, it's what the enemy has used to mess us up, destroy our lives, destroy our marriage, destroy our testimony-and it's the very thing that has catapulted me and Josh even more in love with Jesus. I don't understand why the devil keeps trying it. It's not working at all. I'd have thought he got the memo by now."

Josh worked to please strangers and took his family for granted. Now, "I'm taking control and telling people who love me what I'm thinking-not hiding," he says. "Telling 'em what's going on in my head right now, so they can help me with it.

"Feeling condemnation and guilt and things like that—it doesn't come from God." (March, 2012)

With the Texas Rangers, Josh found talking to manager Ron Washington to be healing. The two would talk occasionally, early in the day, before most other players had gotten to the field.

"Sometimes he can't sleep at night," Washington says. "This is when the demons start to come out of him, and he needs someone to talk to."

Washington will shut his office door. They'll talk then about temptation, the game, people, what it means to be a man, with Hamilton flipping through his Bible for a relevant verse. "He finds it," Washington says with a snap of his fingers, "like that."

With small crowds Hamilton can hear every taunt leveled at him about his kids, his grandma, his wife, his drugs. For five years, he felt them dig under his skin. "You just got to stand there and wear it," he says. In April, though, Hamilton was standing in left field in Minneapolis during a game, worrying it again, when the Holy Spirit asked him a question. What did Christ do to those who persecuted him?

"And I said, 'Well, he prayed for 'em,'" Hamilton says. "And it just changed the way I looked at all of it. I did a 180 flip."

That's why now, if you watch out in the field, you'll sometimes see Hamilton's lips moving between pitches. He heard what you said. He's praying that you'll get better soon.  (S.L. Price-Sports Illustrated-6/11/12)

Josh and Katie listened and depended on God to show them what to do about his free agency in 2013.

"Fans and reporters are so far off base with where we are," Katie said in June 2012. "They'll say, 'Oh, Josh doesn't care about the money.' No, we don't really care about the money so much for us, but we have huge plans for this money and, no, it's not strictly for our bank account. It is for a hurting world. The other thing they keep saying is, 'Josh needs Texas; he needs the comfort of this team.' Uh, we need Jesus. We need God. He goes with us wherever we are. Yes, we're comfortable in Texas. But maybe God hasn't called us to comfort. I mean, he didn't call Jesus to comfort."

The couple say that this is what January's relapse changed most. Josh and Katie have had a foundation, Triple Play Ministries, since 2008; they've built an orphanage in Uganda and given funds for relief in Haiti.

In August 2012, Josh once again tried to quit dipping and chewing smokeless tobacco.

"I understand that tobacco is just another addiction and another way to mask feelings," Hamilton said. "I don't want to do anything that can mask feelings. It's only going to make me a better teammate, family man, father ... growing in that area is something I want to do.

"I wanted to have some time of success 'under my belt' before addressing it again publicly, but feel I haven't been given that option with all of the speculating out there as to what the 'mystery issue' was. But there you have it—discipline. Hebrews 12:4-5 and John 3:30."

March 22, 2013: Josh was asked about his return to Texas to play the Rangers in anticipation of his return the first week of the new season.

"I loved Texas while I was there," said Hamilton. "I live in Texas. Texas is my home. Fans were great when I was there. It was a chapter in my life, and this is a new chapter."

Hamilton's five-year stint in Texas included five straight All-Star Game starts, two consecutive trips to the World Series and a .305/.363/.549 slash line. But it ended on a sour note. Hamilton batted .259 with 86 strikeouts in 69 second-half games in 2012, dropped a critical fly ball in the regular season finale, and went 0-for-4 in a Wild Card loss to the Orioles, capping a season in which the Rangers blew a five-game division lead with nine to play.

Hamilton was asked if he believes in fate.  "Hmm," he says, rubbing his right hand on his chin, staring down at the clubhouse floor and swaying. "Good question."  And then the God-fearing, enigmatic outfielder finds his answer.

"It's like this," Hamilton starts, "God's got a perfect plan for you. And along the way, you'll take a detour here or there. But ultimately, if you know Him, if you have a relationship with Him, you'll end up where you're supposed to be. I hate using the word 'fate,' but I don't believe in coincidences."

This is a guy who noted that he "started out as a Devil Ray, and now I'm an Angel" in his opening news conference. This is a guy who believes everything that happens was pre-determined by a higher power.

"It's not a coincidence," he says.  (Alden Gonzalez-MLB.com-3/26/13)

Record-making Hamilton is a coconut water brand’s spokesperson in the company's new 2013 advertising and marketing campaign.

The Angels had an off-day on August 26, 2013, so Josh Hamilton, his wife, Katie Chadwick, and his two oldest daughters, Julia and Sierra, made the 35-minute drive to Clearwater, Fla., for some fishing off the Gulf of Mexico.

After they packed up the rods, they had one more destination: Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, home to "The Winning Inning Baseball Academy" that's run by Roy Silver and Randy Holland, two of the most instrumental people in Hamilton's storybook return to baseball.

"Grace and mercy" are the emotions Hamilton feels every time he goes back there.

"Just having the opportunity for God to put me in a place and put me in a relationship with two guys that love the game that I love, and understand life and that things happen," Hamilton said of the experience. "It just brings back those memories of where I was and the place in my life where I was still struggling."

It was January 2006. Hamilton had worked his way back from the four-year, harrowing drug-and-alcohol addiction that prompted him to receive six suspensions and get banned from baseball for three full seasons. He was staying at his grandmother's house in Raleigh, N.C., when he told a local reporter he was ready to play baseball again.

Silver, formerly a Rays Minor League coach, and Holland, an ex-trainer for the Blue Jays, saw the story, invited Hamilton to their facility and for two months gave him the structure he had been missing. If he didn't memorize his Bible verses, he couldn't hit in the batting cages. If he didn't finish his chores—be it scrubbing toilets or taking out garbage or raking the field—he couldn't be, as he put it, "rewarded by doing something that I love."

"It gave me a sense of what my priorities should be," Hamilton said. "I do well with structure. Obviously, that was one thing when I was out of baseball that hindered me—there was no structure there. So I was just always looking, trying to fill it with something."

The short stint at the facility kick-started Hamilton's return to baseball. He played 15 games for the Rays' Class A affiliate that season, was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft later that winter, had a successful rookie season with the Reds in 2007—eight years after the Rays made him the first overall pick. And then he went on the five-year run in Texas that earned him a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels.

Hamilton, still trying to prove his value in Anaheim, has "mixed feelings" every time the baseball schedule takes him to Central Florida. Bad ones, of the tattoo parlor in Bradenton where his drug addiction began. Good ones, of the Clearwater baseball facility that gave him a chance.

"I always remember details, but I try not to harp on them or think about them," Hamilton said. "You just realize they're there and help make up some of the story." (Alden Gonzalez - 8/27/13)

On June 22, 2012, Hamilton agreed with Casey Affleck to create a movie based on Hamilton's life story.

2014: Jack Reynor will play Josh Hamilton, the baseball star who recovered from drug addiction to become one of the most celebrated players for the Los Angeles Angels in the true-to-life tale. The still unnamed film is an adaption of Hamilton's autobiography and will be produced by Relativity Media, who acquired the rights to his life story in 2012.

During the winter before 2014 spring training, Josh gained an additional 20 pounds, putting him at nearly 240 pounds.

"I've never lifted heavy, heavy weight before, so that's what I'm doing this offseason," Hamilton said on MLB Network. "Just trying to put muscle on, trying to have a couple of cheat days here and there, pizzas, burgers every once in a while. But for the most part trying to stay gluten-free, because that makes my joints feel better. So overall I'm feeling better."A poor 2013 season, his first with the Angels, inspired some new methods.

"I'm as real as it gets when it comes to talking about faith and my relationship with the Lord," Hamilton told Vasgersian and Reynolds, "and He told me, 'You've struggled in areas of your life, and this is one spot you've never struggled before.' And so I had a couple different options—I could be really [ticked] off and have a bad attitude, or I could stay positive, work hard, encourage my teammates, and try to come to the park every day and help them win. That's what I chose."

The Gehrig Award plaque remains in Cooperstown and has every winner's name etched into it. Albert Pujols won the award in 2009 with St. Louis. (8/27/14)

Hamilton spent February 25, 2015 in New York, meeting with the Commissioner's Office regarding a disciplinary issue, the Angels confirmed.  

Hamilton wasn't assigned a locker during Spring Training and has spent the spring in Houston, working with a physical therapist while rehabbing from surgery to his right AC joint. The Angels haven't been certain when he'll report to Spring Training, and they haven't been able to guarantee that he'd even report to Spring Training at all.  Hamilton's agent, Michael Moye, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. An MLB spokesman said the league has no comment.  A new report says Josh confessed to having a relapse with cocaine. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported the news via Twitter: Hear hamilton had relapse. Believe occurred a couple months back. Involved at least cocaine. Honorably, he confessed. There's no word of a failed test. Word is, Hamilton told MLB about relapse. He'd be put in program as 1st time offender.

There was little information given about Hamilton’s meeting with MLB, but this provides some context. So did the report from FOX’s Ken Rosenthal which said the issue was “worse than PEDs.” 

Because of Hamilton’s background as a drug addict, having a cocaine relapse could be considered worse than cheating the game. Hamilton was thought to have been clean for several years since being suspended by MLB from 2003-2005, but he did have an infamous alcohol relapse in 2012. (Brown - msn.com - 2/25/15)

For a drug of abuse, a four-member advisory board—comprised of a physician and a lawyer for both MLB and the MLBPA—determines whether a player failed to comply with his treatment program. That board deadlocked, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times, so an arbitrator will decide whether Hamilton should enter a rehabilitation program.

The first failure to comply with the program results in a suspension of 15-25 games, with a second being 25-50 games, a third being 50-75 games and a fourth being at least a full season. As stated in Section 7D of the current Joint Drug Agreement, "Any subsequent failure to comply by a player shall result in the Commissioner imposing further discipline."

Hamilton was on the Rays' 40-man roster when he failed his first drug test in 2003, so he would be considered a multiple offender. The length of his potential suspension was Rob Manfred's first big test as the new Commissioner, and the MLBPA would have the right to appeal if it believes the punishment is too severe.

"I'm not going to get into the details," Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark said, "but will simply suggest that that process is underway."  (Gonzalez - mlb.com - 3/4/15)

The Angels were told Hamilton would not be punished—largely because he self-reported the issue before a failed drug test—and they weren't necessarily in a celebratory mood.  In a statement, Angels president John Carpino said, "It defies logic that Josh's reported behavior is not a violation of his current program."

Earlier, general manager Jerry Dipoto issued his own statement, saying the Angels "have serious concerns about Josh's conduct, health and behavior, and we are disappointed that he has broken an important commitment, which he made to himself, his family, his teammates and our fans."

Dipoto finished the statement by saying the team will do "everything possible" to ensure Hamilton receives "proper help for himself and for the well-being of his family."

Carpino said in a subsequent phone call that the Angels' focus is "to get Josh the help he needs, for himself and for his family."   (Gonzalez - mlb.com - 4/3/15)

The divorce petition was filed in late February in Tarrant County, Texas, where Hamilton played five seasons with the Texas Rangers before moving to LA, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Hamilton, 33, married his wife Katie in 2004. Katie, who will appear on the 10th season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County," has a daughter from a previous relationship and three more daughters with Hamilton.

The petition doesn't detail the reasons for the split and only cites "conflict." (Lydia Warren For Dailymail.com - 4/19/15)

April 25, 2015: The Rangers are eager to insert Hamilton into their struggling lineup. The Rangers and the Angels have a deal in place that would bring outfielder Josh Hamilton back to Texas.

The deal is still pending all the necessary approval from the Commissioner's office and the Players Association because of the financial complexity involved. The Rangers will pick up approximately $2 million to $3 million per season over the remaining three years of the deal, an arrangement that requires approval from New York. Sources said nothing has arisen to make the Rangers think the deal won't go through.

Aug 17, 2019: Josh Hamilton returned to Globe Life Park to be inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame, and it was almost like he had never left.

The reception was overwhelmingly positive as Hamilton and former Arlington Mayor Richard Greene took their rightful place among the best to ever play for or be associated with the Rangers. When it was over, Hamilton admitted he probably shouldn’t have left the first time and Texas was always the place he truly belonged.

He was a five-time All-Star for the Rangers and led them to the World Series in 2010 and ’11. But he left after the 2012 season and signed a five-year contract with the Angels.

“It’s a blessing that I went to the Angels and took care of my kids,” Hamilton said. “Yeah, I got paid, but it’s not all about that. I really should have prayed more and harder before I made any kind of decision.”

Hamilton ended up coming back to Texas. He played two mediocre seasons with the Angels and dealt with injuries and personal issues before he was traded back to the Rangers. The Rangers reacquired him on April 27, 2015, and in his first at-bat back in Arlington, he ripped a double off of Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.

“My first game back against Boston, I didn’t know what to expect, and it was nothing but cheers, fired up,” Hamilton said. “There was some lefty throwing 95, and I ripped one down the line, double, just being on second and I remembered how awesome it was to play here -- the stadium, the atmosphere. It was pretty special.”

There was always a special relationship between Hamilton and Rangers fans, almost from the time he was acquired from the Reds just before Christmas in 2007. Fans were in awe of his ability, loved the way he played the game and had great respect for how he overcame the addiction to drugs and alcohol that almost ruined him early in his career.

“The Hall is an honor, the Hall of Fame here in Texas,” Hamilton said. “But the fans ... I don’t have a job if the fans aren’t here. I don’t get paid. In all actuality, you play for fans. Every night, somebody who was here, I wanted to show them something exciting. Didn’t always happen, but I tried to make it happen the best I could. It was a lot of fun.” (TR Sullivan - MLB.com - Aug 17, 2019)

April 6, 2020: Former Texas Rangers star and 2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton was indicted on a felony charge for injury to a minor, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Hamilton turned himself in to police and was arrested in October for hitting and scratching his daughter.

Jozelyn Escobedo of ABC 8 WFAA reports that Hamilton told his daughter to tell the judge "what a terrible dad I am" to ensure she would never have to visit his home again. Here is more from Escobedo:

When interviewed by Child Protective Services, his daughter told the interviewer that Hamilton started to assault and throw things at her after she made a comment that upset him, records show.

The former baseball player is accused of throwing a full water bottle that hit his daughter in the chest. Hamilton then pulled a chair from under his daughter and threw it at her, a warrant says.

Hamilton then allegedly took his daughter to a room, pinned her to a bed and repeatedly hit her on the back and legs, according to an arrest warrant.

Hamilton has three children and court records show he is accused of assaulting the oldest. His ex-wife, Katie, has filed for a temporary restraining order on her daughter's behalf.

Hamilton, 38, hasn't appeared in the majors since 2015. In addition to the Rangers, he played for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels over parts of a nine-season career. The No. 1 pick in 1999 draft, Hamilton's career was delayed and at times overshadowed by substance abuse and addiction issues -- including at least one reported relapse back in 2015.

During Hamilton's career, he hit .290/.349/.516 (129 OPS+) with 200 home runs and 50 steals. He made five All-Star Games, won three Silver Sluggers, and was the 2010 Most Valuable Player. (CBS Sports .com - Mike Axisa - April 9, 2020)

Feb. 22, 2022: Hamilton pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in a dase arising from an altercation with his teen-aged daughter. He pleaded guilt to unlawful restraint under a plea deal that dismisses a felony indictment for injury to a child, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office said in a media posting.

State District Judge Mike Thomas sentenced Josh to one year f deferred probation, fined him $500, ordered him to pay court costs, do community service and attend parenting and anger management classes. Thomas  ordered him not to consume alcohol, be subje3ct to random urine drug tests and have no contact with the daughter he restrained. If he satisfies the probation's requirements, the charge will be dismissed.

TRANSACTIONS

June 1999: Hamilton was the #1 overall pick of the entire draft, out of Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, NC. Two days later, he signed with the Devil Rays for a bonus of $3.95 million

February 17, 2004: Major League Baseball announced it had fined and suspended Hamilton until March 19 for violating the league's drug treatment and prevention program.

The drug problems might have started when he had to take a lot of pain-killers for his back, and other injuries.

December 7, 2006: The Reds acquired Hamilton from the Cubs, for cash, right after the Cubs had chosen Josh in the Rule 5 Draft out of the D'Rays organization.

December 21, 2007: The Rangers sent pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera to the Reds, acquiring Hamilton.

Why did the Reds trade this tremendous talent? Wayne Krivsky, the Cincy G.M. at the time insisted the trade merely was made because the Reds were desperate for starting pitchers and Volquez, who had a very high ceiling, had worn his welcome out in Texas.

But, some players on the Reds resented the fact Josh received special attention, including a babysitter on the road in the person of Johnny Narron, a brother to then-manager Jerry Narron. Brandon Phillips spoke out against Hamilton's special treatme, while others expressed resentment, too.

January 19, 2010: Josh and the Rangers avoided salary arbitration, agreeing on a $3.25 million contract for 2010.

February 2011: Hamilton and the Rangers were far apart when they exchanged figures in advance of a salary arbitration hearing. Texas was offering $8.7 million for the 2011 season, while Josh and his agent came up with $12 million.

But on February 11, 2011, Josh and the Rangers avoided his last two years of arbitration, agreeing to a two-year contract worth a total of $24 million.

December 13, 2012: Josh Hamilton signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Rangers.

Shayne Kelley, who worked in a support role for Hamilton in Texas, will be a daily presence with the team, according to Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto.

April 27, 2015: Hamilton was dealt from the Angels to the Rangers.

Josh was less than halfway through a five-year, $125 million contract, Hamilton was traded by the Angels to their American League West rival for a player to be named or cash. The Angels and owner Arte Moreno, wanting to be rid of Hamilton, agreed to pay most of the remaining $80 million Hamilton is owed under the contract, which runs through 2017.

August 23, 2016: The Rangers released Josh Hamilton. The Rangers still have interest in outfielder Josh Hamilton coming to 2017 Spring Training on a Minor League contract, which is why they placed him on unconditional release waivers.

Major League rules dictated the move be made before the end of August. Players released after Aug. 31 can re-sign with their former team, but can't play for them in the Major Leagues until May 15 of the following season.

Hamilton has made it clear he wants to play next season and is willing to return to the Rangers on a Minor League contract. But if he clears waivers, as expected, he will be a free agent in the offseason and able to sign with any team.

Jan 17, 2017: The Rangers organization signed free agent Hamilton.

A five-tool player, Josh hits for both good average and with excellent power. That power projects as an 80 on the scouting scale of 20–80!

He hits tape-measure home runs.

Hamilton has a mature hitting approach, recognizes pitches well, but could stand to accept a base on ball more often.

Hamilton loses his grip on a whole lot of bats. They go flying into the stands quite frequently, and he knows why:

"My middle finger on my right hand is not right," Hamilton said. "I hurt it my senior year [in high school]. I broke it and had surgery on it. I don't have full flexibility and extension on it. So when I try to get a little more extension on my swing because it's a changeup or something, it's hard to keep hold of the bat."

He does try to prevent it from happening.

"I use a lot of pine tar," Hamilton said. "I use sticky stuff under my batting gloves, put them on and put the pine tar on. It happens way more in Texas because it's so hot there."

Hamilton does get his bats back. He sends somebody into the stands with another bat and asks them to trade out. The fans usually comply.

Before the 2012 season, Josh switched to a Louisville Slugger bat. A change in bats represents a major step that can be caused by reasons ranging from a desire to get better wood to a company's willingness to meet special specifications. Hamilton has worked with Louisville Slugger in search of an ideal bat for several years. As part of an exclusive deal with Hamilton, the market the H359 in his honor.

August 2014: "The toe tap" occurs just before Hamilton kicks his right leg up and gets ready to uncork his swing, an additional component to a complex timing mechanism that often requires maintenance.

Hamilton said he abandoned the toe tap in May 2010, but he reintroduced it and incorporated it into games in St. Petersburg and finally started hitting for power.

During batting practice prior to the Aug. 18, 2014 Freeway Series opener, the 33-year-old blasted a ball out of Dodger Stadium. Then, in that night's sixth inning, he hit a towering home run off Zack Greinke, giving him three long balls in seven games after managing only two in his previous 46.

Josh broke his thumb before his senior season of high school.

June 1999: Upon arriving in Princeton, West Virginia to start his pro career, Hamilton had to be hospitalized with a stomach ailment.

August 7, 2000: Hamilton had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. He originally injured it during a misstep in pursuit of a fly ball.

July 2001: He went back on the D.L. with a left quadriceps.

October 2001: Hamilton was pulled out of the Arizona Fall League with a back injury. Back specialist Volker Sonntag recommended a steroid injection, rest and rehabilitation to alleviate the lower back pain. The source of the pain was enflamed nerve endings near the left hip and lower spine.

July 10, 2002: Hamilton suffered a subluxation (a dislocation that pops back into place on its own) to his left shoulder. On July 18, 2002, Dr. James Andrews performed exploratory arthroscopic surgery on Josh's left shoulder. He cleaned up fraying in the labrum and removed a bone spur from his left elbow. There was no significant damage in the shoulder.

July 29, 2006: Josh was put on the D.L. with an injured knee.

August 11, 2006: Hamilton had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Deemed a success, Josh will rehab at the D-Ray's minor league facilty in St. Petersburg, Florida.

May 19-June 5, 2007: Hamilton was rushed to a hospital by ambulance at 5:45 a.m. with gastroenteritis, an inflammation or infection of the gastrointestinal tract. He went on the D.L. for a couple of weeks.

"I've been having a little pain [in the wrist] the last week," Hamilton said. "On deck before the first at-bat, I was just taking some dry swings and it popped."

Hamilton said he felt sharp pain immediately.

"It's just like a rush of fire going up my pinky," he said. "It went numb, went up into my forearm. I went to the first at-bat, and it just got worse and worse. I tried to swing in my second at-bat and I couldn't swing."

September 12, 2007: An MRI showed a strained right hamstring.

June 24, 2008: Josh was sidelined for a few games after diving for a ball in center field and having to leave the game with inflammation in his left knee.

March 1, 2009: Hamilton had to leave an exhibition game with a strained left Achilles tendon. He felt the tendon grab after getting a lead off third base.

April 26-May 12, 2009: Josh suffered a strained intercostal muscle in his left rib cage and went on the D.L. The pain was localized in his back.

June 1-July 7, 2009: Hamilton was on the D.L. with an abdominal strain—an injury a lot like a sports hernia. Two weeks of rest and anti-inflammatories were prescribed for Josh.

But then, on June 9, Hamilton underwent surgery by Dr. William Meyer to repair a partially torn abdominal wall muscle that sidelined him over a month.

September 3, 2009: Josh took himself out of a game. He was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his back. He received a root nerve injection to reduce the inflammation.

February 23, 2010: Hamilton suffered a bruised left shoulder and neck after he lost his balance and fell while stretching for a popup during drills.

August 1, 2010: Josh received a cortisone shot for patella tendinitis in his right knee. He only missed three games.

September 4, 2010: Hamilton injured his rib cage while crashing into a wall at Minnesota. He missed over two weeks of action.

Further tests showed that Josh has small fractures to the 7th and 8th ribs. On September 19, Dr. Robert Watkins, a renowned back specialist in the Los Angeles area, gave him an anti-inflammatory injection and an epidural to help numb the nerves and give him some pain relief.

January 10, 2011: Josh was hospitalized with an early case of pneumonia.

April 12-May 23, 2011: Hamilton suffered a small non-displaced fracture of the humerus bone just below his right shoulder. Hamilton injured himself sliding into home plate in the first inning of a Rangers' 5-4 loss to the Tigers.

The fracture did not show up on the X-rays, but did show up on an MRI image that was examined by Dr. Keith Meister, the Rangers' team physician. Hamilton was put on the D.L. and expected to miss six to eight weeks.

November 11, 2011: Josh underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia, an injury he played through during the entire postseason. Dr. William Meyers performed the surgery in Philadelphia, the second similar one he's done on Hamilton the past three years. In 2009, Hamilton suffered a partial tear of the abdominal muscle. This injury was on his left side.

He also had surgery because three of his adductors, which help pull the knees and thighs together, were detached in his left leg.

"My fourth one was about to pop and I had a torn abdominal muscle," Hamilton said on ESPN radio as he made an appearance at the Texas Rangers Award Show. "I was hurting pretty bad. I was doing everything I could do to play the best I could, save my bullets as far as if I hit a ball hard or got a hit, do the best I could to run. If I had to score from first, just suck it up."

"I was in pain there at the end of the season, more than people realize. But we get paid to play, especially in the playoffs."

September 18-23, 2012: Josh was out of the lineup for five straight games because of ocular keratitis, a condition that impacts the cornea and the vision. The cause was Hamilton taking in too much caffeine, energy drinks, and medications for other ailments.

"All of those things compounded and made it worse," Hamilton said. "My vision was great. It wasn't impacting my vision, it was impacting my ability to play."

February 26, 2014: Hamilton was sidelined for the first three weeks of exhibition games because of a strained calf muscle.

April 9-June 3, 2014: Hamilton's attempt to beat out an infield grounder with a headfirst slide into first base landed him on the bench for about two months.

The 2010 AL MVP was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. And he was throw out.

April 11, 2014:  Josh had surgery on his left thumb to repair a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament and a torn capsule.  He is expected to need 6-8 weeks to recover.

September, 2014: Hamiton missedmore than 20 late-season games last year with shoulder and other upper-body injuries.

The shoulder injury, along with pain in his ribs and back, likely contributed to Hamilton's 0-for-13 postseason performance. The Angels were swept out of the division series by Kansas City after finishing the regular season with the majors' best record.

February 4-May 24, 2015: Hamilton underwent surgery to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder.

June 3-30, 2015: Hamilton was to be sidelined for approx. four weeks because of a strained left hamstring muscle, the team announced.

August 16-Sept. 1, 2015: Josh was on the D.L. with left knee inflammation.And on Sept. 10, 2015: Hamilton underwent arthroscopic surgery on the left knee, repairing the meniscus.Hamilton underwent a second surgery in late October on the troublesome left knee that had kept him out of action for a month late in the season.

January 23, 2016: General manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers will have to help outfielder Josh Hamilton "manage" his surgically-repaired left knee through the 2016 season.

Hamilton had surgery on the knee both on Sept. 11 and again in October after the season was over. His health was the first subject brought up to Daniels in a question and answer session with fans at FanFest and again with the media afterwards.

Hamilton said he had been feeling pain for much of the past two months before getting a cortisone shot from Dr. Keith Meister. The shot was meant to reduce inflammation in a capsule behind the knee, and Hamilton felt strong enough afterward that he started taking batting practice.

"I know, structurally speaking, Dr. Meister feels the knee is in as good of shape as it's been recently and as good of shape as it's going to be," Daniels said. "It's something we're going to have to manage. 

"Listen, he had two surgeries in six weeks. He's 35-36 years old. He has had multiple knee surgeries on that knee in the past. He is a 240-pound man. It's additional stress when you're a bigger person on your lower half. It's just the reality. The way Keith described it to me is it's just an older, beat-up knee. There is nothing to fix. We're just going to have to manage it." (TR Sullivan - MLB.com - January 23, 2016)

2016: Josh began the season on the D.L. He received a stem cell and platelet rich plasma injection late in February, 2016 to his sore left knee.

May 23, 2016: Hamilton was scheduled to undergo surgery on June 8 to repair cartilage in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the season. The surgery will be done by Dr. Walt Lowe in Houston

.June 8, 2016:  When Hamilton underwent surgery on the knee in Houston, Dr. Lowe discovered that the ligament had also been damaged -a torn ACL, necessitating a full reconstruction. Hamilton will begin rehabbing in Houston. The team did not have an update on his timetable for return.