If you want to hear some of Josh's story...read here (or search online!). If you know it or don't feel like reading...skip down to the next paragraph...
JOsh was the #1 draft pick in Major League Baseball in 1999 right out of high school, my high school. :) He spent the next few years at the minor league level with his parents by his side. In 2001, Josh was involved in a car accident. His mother was also injured in the accident, and she went home with her husband to rehab her injuries. The 2001 season was also when he began experimenting with drugs. He played a little off and on over the next 2 years and battled injuries. At the start of the 2003 season, he showed up late several times during spring training and was reassigned to the team's minor league camp. He left the team and resurfaced several times, but eventually took the rest of the season off for personal reasons. Josh was hoping to return to spring training with the Devil Rays in 2004, but he was suspended 30 days and fined for violating the drug policy put in place by MLB. Because of the length of his suspension, and the terms of the drug policy, He must have failed two or more drug tests after being put into the program. A 'failed' test is a positive result for a drug more severe than marijuana. This suspension was increased several times after repeated violations of the terms of the program. From 2002 until 2006, Hamilton did not play baseball at all. Josh was selected third overall in the MLB portion of the 2006 Rule 5 Draft by the Chicago Cubs, as the Rays had not placed him on their 40-man roster. The Cubs then traded Hamilton to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money. Hamilton made his long-awaited Major League debut on April 2, 2007 against the Chicago Cubs in a pinch-hit appearance, receiving a 22-second standing ovation. In Decemeber 2007, Josh was traded to the Texas Rangers where he is experiencing an AMAZING year in the Majors! Josh is required to have 3 drugs tests a week in order to stay in baseball. The most exciting part of the whole story is that Josh gives all the credit to God. I get excited following him and his story! (Exerts taken from Wikipedia...my version would have been much, much longer!)
...We left at 6:30am in hopes to get the DC in time to catch BP...no such luck! We got there about hour & fifteen prior to game time...I will blame it on a stupid tractor trailor turned over on 95 & the LARGE amounts of traffic on 95 around Richmond on a Sunday morning! We had seats in center/right out by Josh and our seats started out under the overhang in the shade. About an hour into the game, we were in the sun but still managed to enjoy a Sunday at the ballpark. Nationals Stadium is pretty sweet. Josh went 0-4, had several plays in right & one great catch! :)
Last summer, Josh was on the DL and played in a series in Durham against the Durham Bulls! :)
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