The Best in the Game

Lately Ive been blogging about my time here in Europe. I was looking at Rangers stuff and this just kinda hit me so here it goes.......

Josh Hamilton is quite an amazing baseball player i think we all see this , he is an amazing person as well. What an amazing story he has , Growing up in North Carolina being a freaky athlete growing up , playing in 11 year old baseball leauges as a 7 year old!!! No.1 Overall Pick out of High School , Most People said would have been a first round pick as a pitcher if he would have came out as that. He was looked at as a future superstar and quite possibly a future transcendent baseball player. He could do it all , Run, Hit , Throw , Hit for Average and Power. He was without doubt what baseball people refer to as a 5 tool player.
Fast Forward a couple of years and he is quickly making his way up the minor leauge ranks then injury hits....... He falls into the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use. Goes in and out of rehab multiple times , is such an addict that he hawks his wife's wedding ring to get money to buy drugs!!!!! After Multiple years of living this way he rediscovers the Lord puts his life back together and gets to playing baseball again.
The Legend goes that he stepped out just to see if he could still play again and he completely Mashed or was hitting great. Had not touched a bat or played for over 3 years!!!

He gets back in the Majors has an ok year for the Cincinatti Reds but it gets cut short by injury. Then he is traded to the Texas Rangers.......
Being a lifelong Ranger fan and a sports geek , I knew a little about his story at least the drug side of it. I was completely unaware of his Faith though. How through shear faith in the Lord he rebuilt his life and himself , restored his relationships with family first and foremost and the Lord rewarded him by not taking away his baseball abilities.
Josh had an amazing first year here , was the media darling and the new superstar on the block. His second year injuries struck again , He had a hickup , he fell short one night and went out and had some drinks , We have all had these nights and we all sin , but his was magnified because of his status as athlete. In his third season here a new season brought new hope and kind of a chance at redemption once again.....
Josh has been nothing short of amazing this year again, Leading the Leauge in Several Categories , being close in others , playing great defense just being the superstar athlete he is. in my opinion (i admit it could be biased but i can make a pretty good case against anyone!) he is the best ALL Around player in the Game , he may not be the very best at any one thing , but His combination of Hitting both for Average and Power , his Ability to Play defense both with his Arm and the Ground he can Cover and He is a great baserunner also, always taking an extra base or getting a key steal. I think you would be hardpressed to find anyone person who has a better combination of skills than Josh.
Josh is a true testament of what can happen when giving your life truly and completely to the Lord , Sure the road may not be easy every day for the rest of your life , but if you trust in the Lord he will take care of you. I truly love the fact that a guy not just with that baseball ability but with that character and that faith plays for my Hometown Team. He is a truly a guy that realizes that he shouldnt be here but the only reason he is here is because the Lord wants him to be.
I think its really awesome to have the best player in the game on my favorite team. I think its even cooler to have such an Ambassador for Christ and what the Power of Christ can do playing for my favorite team!! Im proud to say that Josh Hamilton is without a doubt my favorite baseball player and someone i really hope to meet some day. Keep up the goodwork my man and I hope to be watching you in the stands in the playoffs in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!