Josh Hamilton

Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player.

Joshua Holt Hamilton was born on May 21, 1981, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Tony and Linda Hamilton.

Of majority Scottish heritage, Hamilton was raised in Raleigh, playing Little League Baseball alongside former South Carolina and Oakland Athletics catcher Landon Powell.

Hamilton attended Athens Drive High School in Raleigh where he starred as both a pitcher and outfielder.

As a high school senior, Hamilton ran the 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds and was clocked at 97 mph on the mound.

Hamilton was chosen by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the first overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft.

After hitting .529 in 25 games with 13 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 35 runs batted in (RBIs), and 34 runs scored, Hamilton was widely considered one of the top two prospects for the 1999 MLB draft, along with Josh Beckett, a Texas high school athlete.

Hamilton initially signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for North Carolina State.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays owned the number one pick in the 1999 MLB draft and used it to select Hamilton.

The Devil Rays viewed Hamilton as a can't-miss prospect.

Hamilton signed with Tampa Bay, receiving a $3.96 million signing bonus, and joined their minor league system.

His first stop in the minor leagues was the rookie-level Princeton Devil Rays of the Appalachian League, where he played 56 games.

Hamilton later joined the Short Season Single-A club, the Hudson Valley Renegades, and helped lead them to their first New York–Penn League championship.

He spent the 2000 season with the Charleston RiverDogs in the South Atlantic League.

Hamilton hit .301 in 96 games, with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs.

He was also selected to the South Atlantic League All Star game and took home MVP honors after going 2–6 with two triples and two runs scored.

In addition, Hamilton was named to the 2000 All-Star Futures Game, a game designed to showcase minor league prospects.

Hamilton was also voted Minor League Player of the Year by USA Today.

At the start of Hamilton's professional career, his parents quit their jobs so they could travel with their son.

He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries sustained in a 2001 car accident and a drug addiction derailed his career.

Prior to the 2001 season, Hamilton was involved in an automobile accident.

The 2001 season marked the beginning of Hamilton's drug and alcohol use, and he made his first attempt at rehabilitation.

Hamilton only played 45 games in the 2001 season, split between the Charleston (Single-A) and the Orlando Rays, a Double-A team in the Southern League.

Hamilton began the 2002 season with the Bakersfield Blaze, batting .303 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 56 games before his season came to an end due to lingering toe and neck injuries.

During spring training of the 2003 season, Hamilton failed his first drug test.

At the start of the season, Hamilton showed up late several times during spring training and was reassigned to the team's minor league camp.

He left the team and resurfaced several times, but eventually took the rest of the season off for personal reasons.

He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won consecutive American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.

Prior to the 2007 season, Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft; the Cubs traded him to the Cincinnati Reds, where he made his MLB debut in 2007.

Before the 2008 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he had a breakout season in 2008 and helped the team reach the World Series in 2010 and 2011.

A five-time All-Star, Hamilton won three Silver Slugger Awards and was named the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2010.

He also won an AL batting championship along with an AL RBI title.

During his major league tenure, he also played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

In 2012, Hamilton received more fan votes than any other player in the history of the All-Star Game.

On May 8, 2012, Hamilton became the 16th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game; on that date, he also set an AL record for total bases in a game with 18.

Hamilton signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012, but his tenure with the team was marred by injuries, performance issues, and a drug relapse.

The Angels traded Hamilton back to the Rangers in 2015, and he played one more season for the Rangers before injuries ended his career.

Hamilton was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2019.

In 2019, Hamilton was charged with a felony for allegedly assaulting his daughter.

On February 22, 2022, Hamilton pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint.