Observation of the Day!
The thing I like most about baseball is its history. Our National past time has been played well over a hundred years. Fenway Park was built in 1912 and Wrigley field was opened in 1914, and they are still the homes of the Red Sox and the Cubs. Baseball is a game of statistics. Sooner or later everything comes almost full circle. However, there is always room for something to happen in a game that has never happened before. This not only happens to fans, but to the players who play everyday.
Baseball is full of legends, characters and stories. Last night at the exhibition of home run hitting the day before the 2008 All Star game, another legend was born in a place where legends are born.
I was not going to watch the show, but there was nothing else on. My opinion before the show was that the event was over-hyped and frankly boring. I was thinking about surfing, when Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers stood at the plate to take his cuts. I knew he was the RBI leader with 95. I decided to watch. On the mound was an old (71) pitcher, Claybon Counsil,Josh's Legion Ball batting practice pitcher in North Carolina. Counsil had only been in Yankee Stadium once before. Would you believe that the game he witnessed was Don Larson's perfect no-hitter in the World Series.
Hamilton proceeded bash out thirteen home runs in a row, and then went on to finish with a record setting twenty-eight, Even the sound of the ball off the bat was different because they all caught the absolute sweet spot of the bat. His home runs were not fence skimmers, they were long and towering. It was the greatest exhibition on home run hitting in this format that anyone has ever witnessed. That was the story of the evening, but the real story was Josh's life.
Josh Hamilton was a number one overall draft choice, He was a complete five tool player. He received a $4 million dollar signing bonus and started a quick climb to the major leagues. He got side tracked with an extreme addiction to drugs and alcohol. His arms carry the rock star like tattoos., most of which were applied when he was high on heroin. Today he is ashamed of them. He was suspended from baseball. Hamilton went to rehab eight times before he began the long journey to recovery and along the way became a devout Christian. I am not much for professional athletes praising the lord after a game, but Josh's testimony was real. The Lord gave Josh Hamilton the ability to get back his life, and through his own efforts made it back to the game he loved. He was finally re-instated and after the long layoff from the game his superstar skills returned and he was back in the big leagues.
Then there was the "dream". When he was still suspended he had a dream that he was in Yankee Stadium and hitting in the Home Run Derby. At that time it was strictly one of those crazy dreams. Last night it came true. What a story.
The finals were between Justin Morneau of the Twins and Hamilton. The slate is wiped clean for the finals. Josh lost his rhythm and ironically did not win the Derby. But for sure it was his night, and it will always be his Derby. Another legend is born in the place where so many baseball stories originated, Yankee Stadium in the last All Star event to be staged at the grand old ball park.
Have a nice day and enjoy the game!
Sam
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