The life of Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton has taken another dramatic turn following his record-breaking performance in Major League Baseball's All-Star Home Run Derby last week.
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(Photo: AP Images / LM Otero)Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton celebrates as he walks off the field after hitting a the game-winning, two-run home run in the ninth inning of the baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 9, 2008. The Rangers won 5-4.
Since he belted 28 home runs in the first round of the home run contest last Monday, the former drug addict has garnered more attention than many could have imagined.
“I didn’t think it would change so fast,” Hamilton told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“Obviously a lot of people were watching that. Tattoos give me away more than anything,” he added, referring to more than two dozen tattoos covering his body.
A few years ago, all of this would have been even more unimaginable for Hamilton. Though Hamilton was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 at the age of 18, Hamilton’s life took a turn for the worst in 2001, when he took his first drink and snorted cocaine for the first time – on the same night. He would later fall into the depths of drug addiction and find his life spiraling out of control.
"I went down this road where I never seemed to laugh or cry," he told The Associated Press.
His addiction led to eight trips to rehab, 26 tattoos, a heartbroken family, and three years away from baseball. From 2001 to 2004, the one-time No. 1 draft pick played in only a few games and was suspended by Major League Baseball for violating their drug policy.
Then, one October night in 2005, a paltry 180-pound Hamilton covered with tattoos of demons without eyes showed up on his grandmother's doorstep and asked if she would take him in - which she did.
Saddened by the appearance of a grandson who she could barely recognize, Hamilton’s grandmother challenged him that month to surrender to God – and, by grace, she got through to him.
From then on, Hamilton began reading the Bible and, with God's help, gave up drugs and alcohol.
After going to rehab and training again in 2006 under heavy watch of the MLB, Hamilton was drafted by the Chicago Cubs, placing him back on track.
"Just watching the transformation that God has made in Josh's life … I mean it's just been so awesome and such a gift from the Lord to see what He's done in him," Hamilton’s wife, Katie, told the Christian Broadcasting Network.
What’s more, in the winter of 2006, Hamilton had a dream – “the kind Joseph of the Bible had,” according to Third Coast Sports, a company that specializes in church marketing and event planning for sports teams.
Hamilton dreamed that he was taking part in a Home Run Derby in Yankee Stadium.
"I was at the plate, I saw all the guys sitting around and then I was at the plate walking toward them and actually a lady came up and interviewed me," Hamilton said, according to Third Coast. "I was able to show everybody how I was there, why I was there and that was because of God's grace."
And that’s exactly what happened nearly two years later.
During last Monday’s Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, Hamilton hit 28 home runs in the first round, eclipsing the next closest competitors’ eight.
“It’s a lousy night to be an atheist,” said famous sports journalist Rick Reilly during the broadcast of the Home Run Derby on ESPN.
Though Hamilton would eventually lose to Minnesota Twins’ Justin Morneau in the final round, his record-breaking first round was enough to snag him an interview with ESPN reporter Erin Andrews at the Home Run Derby’s conclusion.
"It's amazing in the past few years what God has done in my life and how quickly He has done it," Josh told Andrews. “I just really want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for all of this. I just want to glorify Him.”
Speaking later with the Seattle Mariners’ former All-Star second baseman, Harold Reynolds, Hamilton recalled his dream, noting that he didn’t know how many home runs he hit or if he had won in the dream.
“[A]nd you know why? It’s because God don’t care about all that stuff,” Hamilton said, according to Third Coast. “All He cares about is me being here. In my dream I got to share Christ with people and tonight that’s exactly what I did.”
Hamilton’s hope is to continue sharing his testimony to more people as the platform he stands on becomes larger.
"I pray the more successful I am, the more people will listen," he told a reporter with Gannett News Service.
On Monday, Hamilton hit a three-run homer and became only the fifth player since 2000 to have at least 98 RBI in his team’s first 100 games.
His team is currently third in the American League West division, trailing the Los Angeles Angels by 10 wins.
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*It is that kind of evidence of the transforming power of God, moving in people like Josh, that transforms other people to care for those in disaster areas. *
Moving power huh, well ok, but to me if I noticed someone needing genuine help I would not hesitate to help them, as I would prefer a society in which others help others and by do I help ensure that this stays the status quo.
* Sounds like you are blaming God for something that was taking away from you? *
No, not at all. I just think the writer, and crossfire are making WAAAAY TOO much out of some dolt hitting an extra few balls over fence which is utterly meaningless compared with the sparing of other peoples lives. That is the distinction.
* It also shows that God, the creater of the stars and planets*
What are you talking about, we see stars forming all the time and they form under natural processes like gravity, while planets form under a process known as accretion. Just b/c you do not understand the natural process of something dos not make it logically sound to say *god did it*, never mind the fact that saying *god did it* is a statement, not an explanation so it really answers nothing on the details.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accretion_(astrophysics)
* Did you ever look at the other things that were given to you by that same God? Ever been grateful for that?*
Like what, given what to me?
agentorange.
It is that kind of evidence of the transforming power of God, moving in people like Josh, that transforms other people to care for those in disaster areas. We live in a world that has and always will have disasters.It will not stop. Those kinds of disasters that remind us that we are and never will be in control. But how we, as people, care about those hurt by tragedies can change. If you study history, it is the Christians that impacted the world with their ideas of caring for the outcast and desperate. It is the love that God gives us that moves us to share our hearts and finances with those in tragedies. It also shows that God, the creater of the stars and planets, also cares about what we care about. This is not about baseball. This is about life change. Sounds like you are blaming God for something that was taking away from you? Did you ever look at the other things that were given to you by that same God? Ever been grateful for that? If there is a God, a good force, then shouldn't there be an evil force? Ever get angry with the enemy of God for death? Who are you listening to?
crossfire,
*when God's grace is so evident*
Riiiight, you equate a night when some athlete breaks an arbitrary, meaningless record and define it as a miracle, or as grace. Meanwhile, when a hurricane ravages New Orleans, or an earthquake kills 80,000 in China, somehow the grace you proclaim is gone. Where is the grace when there is such an obvious need, as opposed to say, a meaningless game, heck it was not even a game, it was a hitting contest!? Or what, are you saying god can only do the little meaningless things like helping some guy hit some balls, but can not help in advanced warnings of coming disasters? What kind of grace is that, should not your standards for a miracle be a little higher than some guy hitting a ball out of a park? It is such a trivial thing, that I find it interesting why at all you find it a miracle.
By your logic, it is grace when god intervenes or helps some schmuck hit a ball, or when tiger woods sinks some impressive golf puts, but somehow when grace is REALLY needed, as in a huge disaster, to ya know, help warn people that hey an earthquake is coming â
Thanks crossfire.
Great for Josh. We all loved him when he was with Cincinnati ! Blessings on him wherever he plays and lives as a faithful husband, etc.
(continuing)
... because the belief that there is no God is still a belief and can be tested just as any other belief could be. Because we're not all-knowing, we all hang on threads of faith - even the so-called "faithless."
I think it was a "bad night to be an atheist" because at moments like that - when God's grace is so evident - atheist may find it more difficult to hold on to their faith in a God-less world.
Thanks for that artm, I'm still not certain what he meant by "its a bad night to be an atheist" maybe it means nothing and the gentleman just got a little carried away with himself, something we all do sometimes....
steveh20, while some things can change a persons life to a degree as you have mentioned, None of the things you mentioned can save a person's soul and get him to heaven.
Only an encounter with the Life Changing Son of God mJesus Christ can do that.
I should add that I have no doubt that peoples lives do change when they give it to Jesus but at the same time I have seen peoples lives change dramatically with out Jesus etc..take psychotherapy for one example, by the way I have some take this path and it has not worked, so whats right for one is not for another.
Steve
P.s One bloke I know turned his life right around by getting a bike and discovering the countryside!!
Really asking.
Yo, Torus, your comment has a bad supposition. You do not fall from Grace without a reason. Prov 26:2 say, so a curse without a cause shall not alight. In Gal 3 we have been redeem from the curse. That ball player is a living testament to that fact. Anyone can have the same thing if they repent or turn from whatever caused them to fall from Grace. Heb 4:16 say come boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and grace in your time of need. Thank God for believing Grandmothers. Iâ
Yep, that's what I figured. Here's something to remember: A person with a *true* experience is never at the mercy of a person with a contrary argument. That's the point the announcer was making. One of the evidences of Christianity is the countless changed lives that occur when a person is born again. Many in this forum can testify to this fact including me. Paul, James, and others in the New Testament are historical examples of this as well. Heck, even former atheist Lee Strobel first considered Jesus because of the changed life he saw in his wife.
Is an experience a bottom-line test for truth? No. But a *true* experience (that's why I'm highlighting the word...) is one of many lines of evidence God provides. And it can't ever be refuted by those with an opposing argument.
Torus
I am sure that any variety of pop-psych could have whipped the unfortunate Mr. Hamilton into shape. And yes, Schumacr, this is sarcasm!
It's hard to think that, sunken in immoral behavior, amoral remedies could have any affect.
I suppose then that all the believers who suffer the reverse, who have lives which fall apart for no reason, who suffer great losses not by their own choosing, they would say "It's a great night to be an atheist", since their gods must have done such evil things to them?
It was his belief in a god, rather than any particular gods or the existence of those gods, which helped him, not to mention a strong grandmother. No doubt though he could have done the same thing with positive focus on understanding his predicament and he wouldn't have to sacrifice his rational dignity as a side effect!
steveh20 -
You really asking (!) or just being sarcastic...?
Just out of interest why is it a bad night to be an athiest? Did they all have their money on the other team? American sports commentators, don't ja just luve em.......
seedplanter, you must like Howard Hendricks too and I've shared that concept with men and in several sermons. I wish more men would see the importance of that too also include those in ministry positions.
I agree with you Believer. I would actually go so far as to say that every one needs a Paul (a mentor/discipler), a Barnabas (a friend & confidant) and a Timothy (someone that we are discipling).
By the way who changed Dodgers to the Angels?
seedplanter, I agree, but don't you think if he has a good mentor/discipler that issue to would be handled appropriately?
Believer, while I sympathize with what you are saying, what's worse is when a truly transformed life is silenced out of fear.
I remember a guy who was all excited and revved up about Jesus. About the time he mentioned something about witnessing and sharing his faith, a seasoned saint shot him down suggesting that it will take a long time before he gets to that level. With disappointment he heeded his advice and took "his place" on the pew with the nominal Christians. I don't think he even goes to church today.
Awesome, awesome story. We're going to try to get him to come speak at our church soon.
Great article except the Dodgers are not in the American League. Hopefully, he has a good Christian mentor/discipler to help him to continue to grow and mature in his walk and relationship with the Lord. Too often I've seen Christians in similar situations who were pushed into the limelight before they were spiritually ready.
That's what it's all about- baby! Saved by grace, free gift of salvation, eternity with God! Praise Jesus!