Josh Hamilton drove in a run in the bottom of the ninth to help the Angels score four that inning to tie the Red Sox, then hit a two-run homer in the 11th to win the game as LAnaheim comes back to a 9-7 victory over Boston. Hamilton started an 11 game tear on June 25. At that time, he was batting .207/.262/.378. His overall numbers are still poor at .229/.289/.406. A reporter recently saw Hamilton chewing tobacco, and wonders if that helped him come out of the slump.
Is there a correlation between Hamilton’s surge and tobacco use?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hamilton said. “It could be anything. It could be one of those protein bars. Is this really a story?”
Told it was in light of his struggles last season and last week’s performance, Hamilton said, “Write what you see.”
If Hamilton does need some drug stimulation, I’d rather see him on nicotine than cocaine.
The Red Sox bullpen gets a blown save, but the tying run scored on an error, so it’s not clear that the pen really deserved it. They gave up four hits in the ninth and hit a batter, but the final ground ball should have been enough for the win. The Red Sox do seem to have their bullpen backwards, as they pitch better in the sixth and seventh innings than they do in the eighth and ninth.
You’d rather have him on the one that causes cancer? Really?
In my uninformed but reasonably cynical opinion, any former cokehead who hits 28 homers in the home run derby, including some moon shots, and who is being promoted by MLB as a tearful feel-good story in the PEDs era, simply switched drugs. And any sudden springback from a slump in this era deserves a whole lot of eye-rolling. It’s the worst thing that has ever happened to baseball, and my grandfather was a fan of the Black Sox. David Ortiz’ recent comeback rates the same cynicism, in my view. Pujols’ slump last year? Adam Dunn two years ago? Sign a huge contract and the spouse comes up to you and says “I don’t like your back acne and mood swings, stop taking that stuff!” And, whoops, the production falls off the table. It’s hard to enjoy a Mike Trout these days. Who knows? No one, unless and until they are found out. Frank Thomas is the only guy who has ever acted like an innocent man in this whole thing. God bless him, he whined like a baby at the unfairness. I prefer whininess and narking to complete and utter fraud…and worse, sentimentalizing of fraud. “Josh Hamilton…hero…role model…tearing up a little?” Not me.
Steve H » Yes, I’d rather have him on the one that might cause cancer in 20 years than the one that might stop his heart tomorrow. Or get him thrown in jail. Actually, I’d rather not have him on anything, but that seems to be impossible.
I was convinced based on the first 2 games of this series going into the 9th that Hamilton was doing drugs or drinking or both. Some awful AB and defensive misplays that made Willy Mo Pena look like an All Star.
Redeemed himself, but that was a Jekyll and Hyde performance. That pitch he hit for a HR was a joke, looked like a hanging slider right in his wheelhouse.
BTW, Pujols looks awful, that foot really must be bothering him or he has aged 5 years since signing his big deal.