Josh Hamilton continued his magnificent start to 2012 by putting on a show in Baltimore last night.
Not that there isn’t anything to see in Baltimore these days (more on that to come) but what Hamilton did last night, hitting four home runs in a game, had only been done 15 times prior in Major League Baseball history and not once since 2003.
Watching it I kept thinking I was watching a replay of him, trotting comfortably around the bases, until that pesky double was thrown in. His numbers to this point are bordering on ridiculous (14 home runs, 36 RBI’s, .406 BA) and he’s doing all of this, garnering all of this attention while playing on the best team in baseball.
Think about that. He’s the biggest story on a team that’s 20-10 and tops in baseball. That’s special.
Meanwhile he’s doing all of this in the final year of his contract, which if I were the Rangers, I would hurry and rectify that situation with some contending clubs happening upon some expiring contracts in the very near future that seem a very good fit for Mr. Hamilton’s services in 2013.
I won’t spoil the moment by getting into that, though. I’ll just say that this is a man who I remember giving me goosebumps back in 2008 with the show he put on at old Yankee Stadium. He’s come incredibly far from his demons of the past and is the ultimate example of getting that second crack at it and showing what he can do as a talent in this game.
I’ll keep watching, in fact I’ve already got my MLB.tv alert set for his at-bats because he is truly must-see television.
