#Josh hamilton writer full

He was the first high school player to be No. Tampa Bay made Hamilton the first choice in the 1999 draft. He had instincts, athleticism, passion and compassion.' 'Every skill was above average some were off the charts. 'I've seen some really special amateur players - Kirk Gibson and Bo Jackson - but Josh is the most talented kid I've ever seen,' says Jax Robertson, special assistant to the Pittsburgh Pirates' general manager whose son was a teammate of Hamilton's at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, N.C. When he hit, everybody gasped at the power. When he played the outfield, nobody ran on him. But coaches were too protective of his arm, because when he pitched, he hit 95-96 mph. Left-handed, he was so gifted that he occasionally played shortstop and even hoped to be a catcher. He was that rarest of finds, a true five-tool baseball player. When he was barely 15, Hamilton was already a North Carolina sports legend. To understand how far Hamilton has come, it's important to understand how far he fell.

#Josh hamilton writer full

The full story can't be captured in an hour. And the crowd, whether it's one or 500, sits engrossed. When Katie is involved, they almost always involve tears. On this particular January weekend, Josh tells the story to a reporter, to an audience of 500 at Apex Baptist Church and to a rescue mission. It's not by accident that all the things that have happened in our lives have happened.' He was going to give Josh a platform to help others. 'It was going to be for something much bigger. 'God told me he was going to give Josh baseball back, but it wasn't going to be for baseball,' Katie says. The reason came to his wife, Katie, more than two years ago in a dream while Hamiltonwas serving a yearlong suspension ordered by Major League Baseball for multiple failed drug tests. If Hamilton could shake his habit - it included downing a bottle of Crown Royal almost daily and cocaine and crack cravings so strong he burned through a $3.96 million signing bonus - and finally get to the big leagues last season, there had to be a reason.