New Life at the Plate - washingtonpost.com

Links (10)

Josh Hamilton
Published 2/13/2007 at Red Hot Mama
... There's an extensive, in-depth profile of the new Reds' outfielder,

References
Published 2/13/2007 at Red Hot Mama
... New Life at the Place in the Washingtonpost.com

Links on a Wednesday
Published 2/14/2007 by Dan Agonistes at Dan Agonistes
... Josh Hamilton - A very well-written piece on the Devil Rays former first round draft choice who was drafted by the Cubs in the rule 5 draft and then sold to the Reds. It will be interesting to see what Hamilton has left after eight surgeries and the punishment he's inflicted on himself in the way of drugs and alcohol.

Notes: Rocket's Return Won't Happen Before May
Published 3/8/2007 by Mark Feinsand at Blogging the Bombers - NY Daily News Blogs
... Hamilton, who is making a comeback after an awful battle with drugs and alcohol, is a great story this spring. If you haven’t seen it, check out Dave Sheinin’s piece on him from the Washington Post earlier this spring. It’s a must-read.

Who Doesn’t Love a Good Comeback Story?
Published 4/11/2007 by TheBigLead at The Big Lead
... This heavily tattooed individual – he’s got 26 of them - is Josh Hamilton, former No. 1 pick, former ‘5-tool’ talent with the ability to makes baseball scouts drool. He also has had enough drug and alcohol problems to make Pacman Jones and Eddie Sutton look like lushes. There was also a gruesome car accident in 2001 that messed up his back and slowed his progress. But the booze and drugs are more interesting:

The Hamilton Saga
Published 5/23/2007 by Justin Inaz at The Hardball Times
... self or simply stabilize is an open question (figure courtesy of fangraphs): Outlook Hamilton has been a revelation thus far. But will he be able to keep it up? The statistics show that he may have actually been a bit unlucky this season, so there aren't many warning signs of imminent decline, save for the alarming and steady drop in his walk rate. At the same time, pitchers around the league are still learning how to get him out, and there may be holes in his swing that can be exploited. Nevertheless, the blend of on-base ability, power, speed, and defensive skills that he has displayed thus far is remarkably similar to what scouts were projecting that he would produce when he was drafted first overall over a half-decade ago, indicating that this might all be real. If Hamilton can continue to stay sober, and continue to adapt as the league learns about his skills, he has a chance to be an outstanding player for many years to come. References and Resources Dave Sheinin's

MLB Trade Action Analysis + TYCB (The Year to Come in Baseball)
Published 12/27/2007 by Brandon Heikoop at Bleacher Report
... has all the talent in the world and put it on display in 2007 in his first extended playing time of professional baseball since 2002! Not only that, but he decided to do so after under 100 plate appearances above A Ball. Everyone heard how incredible his come back story was, as a kid he made some terrible decisions, here is an awesome article from the washingtonpost.com which goes over the ups and downs of what this 26 year old has already endured - I would actually suggest reading that over most, if not all, of my pieces. A lot of people forget he was the #1 draft pick of the ...

MLB Trade Analysis: Sizing Up the Year to Come
Published 12/27/2007 by Brandon Heikoop at Bleacher Report
... Everyone heard how incredible his comeback story was, as a kid he made some terrible decisions, here is an awesome article from the washingtonpost.com which goes over the ups and downs of what this 26 year old has already endured - I would actually suggest reading that over most, if not all, of my pieces. ...

Fouled-Off Bunts: Worst Day Of The Year Edition
Published 4/2/2008 by Chris Needham at Capitol Punishment
... 100 innings out of him. It's worked for another Jim Bowden fave before. How hard did we ring Tom Gordon's bell on Monday? So hard that this actually makes sense. MetsGeek has the must-read of the day , comparing and contrasting the unfair treatment piled on Lastings Milledge and some of his comments with the underreported whining of Ryan Church as he ran out of town. (Oh, and POP goes Pedro , and down went the Mets) Remember that story Dave Sheinin did on Josh Hamilton that was so terrific? It did well in the APSE awards . Dude can ...

This Week's Top 10 WaPo Sports Stories
Published 7/18/2008 by Dan Steinberg at D.C. Sports Bog
... , by Les Carpenter . NFL feature about sports attorney David Cornwell. 2. New Life at the Plate , by Dave Sheinin . MLB feature about Josh Hamilton, from Feb., 2007. Yeah, it was a slow week. 3. ...