Josh Hamilton/Photo courtesy of Texas Rangers, MLB.com
There have been no shortage of people who believe Josh Hamilton should have taken more responsibility for the events this past off-season that resulted in him being traded back to the Texas Rangers, with the Angels taking on a large part of his large salary.
Surrounded by reporters Friday upon his return to Angel Stadium with the Texas Rangers, Hamilton explained his reasoning when asked if he followed Step No. 8 in the 12-step program that basically says one should make amends with all he or she hurt through addiction.
“You know, I did reach out a couple different times, right after the incident, right after the (shoulder) surgery and never got a response as far as from ownership.” said Hamilton, who in February ratted himself out, telling Major League Baseball officials he had relapsed on drugs and alcohol.
“So, you know, all you can do is try. I tried to do my part and, you know, even when I was here I tried to do my part, reaching out to (former general manager Jerry) Dipoto and (team president John) Carpino, let them know I’d love to talk to Arte (Moreno) and just sit down with him and let him know I wanted to be the player that he (was) paying for and putting the work and time in to be that guy.”
But, Hamilton reiterated, there was no reply.
“And whether it was relayed to ’em or not, once it gets out of my hands, it’s not my problem anymore,” Hamilton said. “But looking at it now, I hate the way things went down, I hate the way they happened. I owned my part, I don’t feel like I need to set an appointment up with Arte and go apologize to him for anything”
And what about his former Angels teammates?
“You know, the guys know where I’m at,” Hamilton said. “I’ve talked to many guys on that team and they tell me I don’t owe them anything. So leave the big guy out of it, you know, he can think what he wants to think. But as long as I’m OK with those guys, then I ain’t worried about anybody else.”
The Rangers took two out of three from the Angels over the weekend. Hamilton went 2-for-10 with a double and three runs scored in the series. He went 0-for-5 and was struck out three times in Sunday’s 13-7 Angels victory.
Hamilton, 34, is hitting .233 on the season with three home runs and eight RBIs in 86 at-bats.
