Josh Hamilton

Celebrity

User Rating:

(34 ratings)
Add Your Rating:

Josh Hamilton Fast Facts:

Named USA Baseball's Amateur Player of the Year and Baseball America's High-School Player of the Year after his senior year in 1999.
Was drafted No. 1 in 1999 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and signed for a then record $3.96 million signing bonus.
Suspended on February 18, 2004 for violating Major League Baseball's substance-abuse policy. His addiction and recovery are well documented and he speaks frequently on the subject.
Was reinstated by MLB and allowed to participate in extended spring training in 2006 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Called up for his MLB debut on April 2, 2007 for the Cincinnati Reds.
Named to the 2008 All-Star Game for the Texas Rangers.
Participated in the 2008 Home Run Derby and set a single-round record with 28 homers in the first round, appropriately enough in Yankee Stadium, the home of the Bronx Bombers. (He ultimately lost to Minnesota's Justin Morneau 5-3 in the final round.)
Was intentionally walked with the bases loaded---a rarely used strategy and a nod to the type of feared hitter he had become---in the ninth inning on August 17, 2008, by the Rays, who were leading his Rangers 7-3.
Won a 2008 Silver Slugger Award for an outfielder in the American League.