The Real Life Roy Hobbs

If you were watching the pre-All Star Game shenanigans and happened to tune into the homerun derby, you saw something that must be truly tickling Tinsel town. You would also realize that I’m not talking about how Justin Morneau eventually took the crown.
The obvious candidate for comeback player of the year before his performance, Josh Hamilton absolutely solidified his status as the real life Roy Hobbs. A monstrous first round, a record 28 homeruns, played second fiddle to the pure destruction that each of those baseballs endured. He mashed 2.3 miles worth of big flies in that memorable first round. Although it has been the most retold story in sports over the past five months, it never gets old to rediscover just how ridiculous his tale really is.
Hamilton, the first pick overall in the 1999 draft, spent the early part of his career on the training room table. His injury riddled start and plethora of new billfold left him with way too much free time and way too much temptation, even for a man who was drafted over Josh Beckett because scouts felt that he was less likely to have character issues (hanging out at a tattoo parlor probably didn’t help anything either). He spent most of his massive signing bonus (well over a million dollars) in less than two years on, among other things, alcohol and drugs.
He also felt the strain on his marriage, facing a period of estrangement when he couldn’t kick his nasty habits around the birth of his daughter Sierra. His incessant drug abuse continued until his beloved grandmother confronted him. He is now a born again Christian and his only vice is a small pocket of dip that he keeps in his gum during games. However, that isn’t to say that he has his shaky moments.
As a part of his recovery process, you must realize drug addiction isn’t a one night kick, he always has a member of his tight entourage at his side when he goes anywhere, afraid that the ghosts of his past will one day get the best of him. Due to that same phobia, he carries a maximum of $20 cash on him at all times. Although he isn’t all the way back from the brink in his arduous battle with addiction his storyline seems eerily similar to a product of cinema.
Although the particulars are different the movie ‘The Natural’ appears to have been a premonition of the comeback of Josh Hamilton. His relatively meteoric rise runs parallel with the legend of Roy Hobbs (played by Robert Redford). Although I had seen Hamilton play once or twice, tearing apart my beloved Yankees, I was not prepared for the show he put on one week ago in the house that Ruth built. Everyone watching could tell why he was drafted number one all those years ago, and if you’ve been living in a cave for the past month, take a look at the video below.

Just look at the swing, the pure grace with which he swings the lumber. Check out the 71 year old American Legion coach who served up the meatballs that he proceeded to mutilate into the upper deck, into the black bleacher section, approaching the mega-tron in centerfield. Most importantly, notice the pure joy that he not only shows himself, but the joy that he gave everyone watching the event either on TV or at the Stadium. The smile that not so long ago was a rarity is now common place. Hamilton is finally home, playing the game he was born to play, getting the positive kind of publicity that he was supposed to be getting years ago. I can only hope that he stays the course bringing this fairy tell story full circle. I’m just waiting for the moment that he actually hits the cover off the ball a’ la Roy Hobbs. That feat is about all he is missing from becoming the legend that, as he might say, God intended.