Every day still a struggle for Hamilton
Baseball Betting Lines
02/03/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton relapsed this past week.
The 2010 American League Most Valuable Player met the media on Friday to address the situation. According to Hamilton a family issue led him to downtown Dallas where he had dinner and had "three or four" drinks.
"You guys all know how hard I play on the field," Hamilton said. "When I don't do that off the field. I leave myself open for a weak moment. And I had a weak moment on Monday in Dallas."
Hamilton called teammate Ian Kinsler to come hang out with him. Kinsler then took him home, but Hamilton returned to the bar and had some more drinks, but did not touch drugs, nor did he want to.
"Ian [Kinsler] did not know I had been drinking because once I do drink I can be very deceptive, very sneaky in a lot of ways," Hamilton said.
He's had two drug tests since the incident.
"Anytime I drink there is a point that comes and the switch flips and you never know when it's going to be," Hamilton said. "Whether it's the first three or four or the 15th. That's why its so dangerous."
At the outset it doesn't appear to be as damaging as the time Hamilton slipped up in Arizona back in 2009 when pictures of him with other women at a bar surfaced on the internet.
But, it was a relapse nonetheless and sadly it probably won't be the last.
"It was just wrong. That's all it comes down to," Hamilton said. "I needed to be in a different place. I needed to be responsible ... I was not responsible."
Everyone knows the story with Hamilton. Selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, Hamilton was injured early in his minor league career and fell into a pattern of drug abuse shortly thereafter that ultimately got him suspended from the game.
Tampa eventually cut ties with the outfielder in 2006, leaving him exposed to the Rule 5 Draft where he was selected by the Chicago Cubs before being moved to the Cincinnati Reds later in the day.
Hamilton shined for the Reds in 2007, but was dealt to the Rangers the following winter. Hamilton's comeback really took off in Arlington, as he became an All-Star in 2008, stealing the show with a breathtaking performance in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium that year.
The common denominator in all his past transgressions and his most recent slip-ups has been time away from the game. Injuries at the outset of his career led him to his initial downward spiral and the latest incidents both came in the offseason.
So, here we go again.
You can applaud Hamilton for his honesty, his courage and his willingness to address his addiction without a prepared statement, but you could have also replayed the same press conference he gave after the incident three years ago. It sounded almost the same.
And again, the next time this happens, it will probably be a replay of this one. Yet I'll still continue to root for him because you want him to succeed.
You have to wonder, though, why Hamilton would even go to such a high-profile place. Then again, given his story, which I am sure everyone in the Texas area is probably aware of, why would someone even serve him?
This is a constant struggle for Hamilton, one I can't begin to understand since thankfully addiction is not something that I have had to deal with in any capacity of my life.
As far as baseball goes, the question has to be asked, can the Rangers depend on him long term? Of course there are some out there who are already questioning the Rangers' choice of trying to work out a deal with Hamilton, who
It's a valid argument. Forget the injuries that have plagued him almost all of his career, would you commit the type of money that Hamilton is worth to a player that obviously has demons most people cannot begin to fathom?
When he is on the field, though, he is one of the more dynamic bats in the game, as evidenced by his terrific showing in the Bronx that night and his amazing MVP campaign of two years ago.
But, as he proved this past week, he could always be a drink away from leaving the game forever.
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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup
September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com. The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans.
Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to name a few. Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR. They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.
The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer. Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.
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Ryder Cup Odds| Europe Tie USA |
4-5 10-1 6-5 |
Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
| Tiger Woods Jim Furyk Phil Mickelson Chris DiMarco David Toms Stewart Cink Chad Campbell Scott Verplank Zach Johnson Vaughan Taylor JJ Henry Brett Wetterich |
9-4 4-1 5-1 7-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 25-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 |
Ryder Cup Top European scorer
| Sergio Garcia Luke Donald Padraig Harrington Colin Montgomerie Darren Clarke David Howell Lee Westwood Paul Casey Henrik Stenson Jose Maria Olazabal Paul McGinley Robert Karlsson |
5-1 5-1 6-1 13-2 8-1 9-1 9-1 11-1 12-1 12-1 20-1 25-1 |
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