On The List of Terry's Heros

Josh Hamilton is pretty near the top.

Josh was selected as the #1 overall pick in the 1999 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Josh was selected on spot ahead of Red Sox Ace Josh Beckett.

Hamilton signed a 4 million dollar contract with the Rays out of high school. He performed well in the Minors for the Rays, but injuries and off field issues halted his progress.

In 2002 Josh was suspended for violation of the MLB drug testing policy. Josh's life spiralled out of control. He became addicted to Crack Cocaine, Meth, and Heroin.

After spending over a year out of baseball, Josh was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Cincinnati Reds. The rules of the Rule 5 Draft allow teams to take selected players from other teams, but they must remain on the active major league roster in order to be retained, otherwise they have to be sent back to the original team.

Hamilton was considered a long shot heading into spring training in 07 with the Reds. He proceeded to lead the Majors in batting in Spring Training, hitting over .400.

Josh was a Rookie of the Year candidate last season when he hurt his wrist (a bad injury for a baseball player) and missed too much of the season to garner much attention for ROY.

Josh was traded to the Texas Rangers in the offseason, a move which has greatly benefitted both teams.

Josh is leading the Majors in RBI and has an impressive line of

.303 7 HR 39 RBI .354 OBP .548 SLUG

Josh is now married with a young child. He has completely turned his life around. In a world where the worst stories, and worst people are given the most attention, to me, Josh's story is the kind that I want to hear. Josh's story is the kind I want to tell my daughter about.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/080508

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201312.html