Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who has battled drug and alcohol addictions, admitted Friday that he drank on Monday night.
Hamilton said that he went to a restaurant and had three or four beers. He then called teammate Ian Kinsler, who met him. He did not admit to Kinsler that he had been drinking.
He said that the restaurant closed and the decided to go to another place across the street that stayed open. Hamilton said that they talked about baseball and family and Kinsler then drove him home. Kinsler asked Hamilton if he was going back out and he responded that he would stay home. But he did go back to the place they had just left and drank more.
Hamilton said that no drugs were involved in the evening. He said that a personal matter spurred him to drink but did not elaborate.
“It was just wrong. That’s what it comes down to,” Hamilton said. “I needed to be in a different place. I needed to be responsible and I wasn’t responsible.”
Hamilton’s wife Katie posted a couple of messages on her Twitter account earlier in the day.
“Truly appreciate all the encouraging & supportive tweets we’ve been getting,” one tweet said. “God is Faithful and forgives — so thankful that you all are.”
Another read: “Showing us such love and encouragement during this time.”
Hamilton has battled to stay sober since an incident in a Tempe, Ariz., bar a little more than three years ago.
Then, he was photographed drinking with several women and those pictures went viral about seven months later. Hamilton spoke to the media about it at that time and apologized, saying: “I hate that this happened.”
When that occurred, Hamilton immediately called the Rangers and Major League Baseball. He passed a drug test shortly thereafter and went through league-sanctioned counseling. Hamilton also made sure his support system was fully in place, including having Johnny Narron, his “accountability partner” at the time, with him at spring training and through the rest of the season.
Hamilton, 30, was banned from baseball in 2003 for drug and alcohol use while in the Tampa Bay organization. He was reinstated in 2006 and is drug tested three times a week.
Right now, Hamilton and the Rangers are still in the process of finding a new “accountability partner” after Narron left the club to become the Milwaukee Brewers’ hitting coach. Hamilton’s father-in-law, Michael Dean Chadwick, was planning on assuming that role for Narron but didn’t want to leave his teenage daughter as she gets closer to finishing high school.
The Rangers have expressed an interest in signing Hamilton to a long-term extension, though both sides agreed that if a deal wasn’t in place by the time spring training starts later this month, that they wouldn’t talk during the season to avoid potential distraction.
Hamilton, the 2010 American League MVP, has worked to avoid even the smell of alcohol, something his teammates have respected. They have even catered their postseason celebrations for him (and former teammate C.J. Wilson, who also did not want to be around alcohol) by having ginger ale and water showers before breaking out the champagne after winning a playoff series.
When discussing his last relapse in August 2009, Hamilton said it was the first drink he’d had since Oct. 6, 2005, the day he vowed to stay sober. Drugs and alcohol helped delay Hamilton’s track to the big leagues despite being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1999 by the Tampa Bay Rays. He did not make his major league debut until 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds.
The Rangers traded for Hamilton before the 2008 season, sending right-handed pitcher Edinson Volquez and left-handed pitcher Danny Ray Herrera to the Reds for the outfielder.
WRITTEN BY Richard Durrett covers the Rangers for ESPNDallas.com. Information from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick contributed to this report & FULL STORY HERE