BaseballHappenings.com

In this video Josh talks about he tried to beat these demons on his own and failed. Even today, he does not trust himself with his per diem meal money that he receives as a Major League player. The reason Josh is back to where he is today is a credit to all the people that have taken Josh under their wing and helped this young man out.

Even today, there are people in his new found baseball career that have been invaluable to Josh. Take Ryan Freel, all joking aside, I bet he has made a huge difference in helping Josh harness his talent.

It seems there is now a pattern to the way Narron is using Hamilton. After a night where he cools down with his bat, the manager gives him the day off from the starting lineup. After a night or two used off the bench, he gives him a shot in the starting lineup again. Lets hope this cycle continues as it has worked wonders so far. As he is on pace for 42 Hr and close to 100 runs if he keeps it up.

Josh Hamilton after some Saturday Night Fever last night, delivered again today with two home runs to help Reds take home the win. He also robbed the Rockies’ Matt Hawpe with an over-the-shoulder catch in center field.

Hamilton over the weekend just hammered the Rockies pitching. The Great American Ballpark continues to be a great hitters park. Its interesting that Josh’s hitting surge took off as a result of coming off the bench on Thursday night in a successful pinch hitting attempt. Before then, Josh had hit his first real slump of the season. Its going to be hard for Jerry Narron to take him out of the lineup now!

We have spoke about how the Reds had ties to Josh Hamilton through Manager Jerry Narron’s brother Johnny Narron who coached him in nearby Raleigh:

When Hamilton was ages 15-17, Johnny Narron was his coach on showcase travel baseball teams in North Carolina.

“I’ve known Josh a long time,” Johnny Narron said. “I was right there when he was being scouted, drafted and signed and left Raleigh, North Carolina. He and I have a tremendous relationship right now. We’ve been apart, obviously, during his problem times. I didn’t know where he was, quite frankly. To have been put back in his life, I think it’s God’s plan for me. I’m his mentor both on and off the field.”

Johnny Narron this year has joined the Reds organization as an assistant to the team, and as a personal mentor to Josh. It seems to be paying dividends as Josh so far on the season is in the Rookie of the Year talk. I don’t buy the conflict of interest because of this special relationship with Narron’s to Josh. However, with the recent trade with Billy Beane’s A’s, its clear that Josh is headed towards a mainstay with Reds.

The Is Josh Hamilton Wonderboy? links of the day:

• First, I would like to thank Red Reporter for linking here. I know his site well from my early days of SBNation when I was getting started with DRays Bay.
• Josn Sickels Community Projection on Josh Hamilton
• Josh Hamilton impact on Reds in MLB.com’s Mailbag

The Reds Scouting Director Chris Buckley (who resides in Tampa) made the suggestion to Reds GM Wayne Krivsky which led to the Reds acquiring Josh Hamilton:

Asked about the Reds’ background check, Krivsky said, “There wasn’t much of one. It was rather informal. We had scouts ask all the questions.” Scouting director Chris Buckley, who lives in the Tampa area and was familiar with Hamilton’s history, made the recommendation, Krivsky said.It turned out Reds manager Jerry Narron had a connection with Hamilton from their North Carolina roots. Narron’s brother, Johnny, once coached Hamilton on a select team, and Johnny’s son was Hamilton’s teammate on other youth teams. Johnny Narron was an instructor in the Brewers’ farm system last year, and Krivsky received approval from Brewers GM Doug Melvin to bring him aboard to do the Reds’ video work.

Johnny travels with the team and is a major part of Hamilton’s support group. In fact, Hamilton gives Johnny his meal money so he’s not tempted to spend it foolishly.

Josh returned to the hit zone last night with 2 hits on the night in the Reds blowout of St. Louis. He batted in the leadoff in CF and ended up on the night playing all three outfield positions.

The Cardinals paper had some good insight as identifying Wayne Krivsky as the one who pitched the Hamilton idea from the beginning:

“I want to run something by you,” Narron recalls Krivsky saying over dinner at the winter meetings. “We want to draft a guy with history.”

When Krivsky said the name, Narron was stunned.

He knew Hamilton’s “history.” He has known the kid so long that he knew Hamilton’s pre-history, back before he’d spiraled out of baseball and into drug and alcohol addiction. Narron’s brother had coached Hamilton one season when the player was a teenager and had told Jerry, “You’ve got to see this kid play.”

Rule 5 revisited

Rooting for Josh

A Great Story

Josh Beckett, Eric Munson, Barry Zito, Ben Sheets, Brett Myers. Just a few recognizable names that heard their names called in June 1999 after high school outfielder/pitcher Josh Hamilton out off Athens High Raleigh, North Carolina was chosen by the Devil Rays with the overall top pick. That seem like forever after what he has been through just to get back to the point. The dream outfield of Baldelli, Crawford, and Hamilton was one that we hoped to someday see. Here they are pictured for the first time against major-league competition in 2003

In his role as Wonderboy, now Josh Hamilton is trying to find New Life at the Plate