Josh Hamilton said in an interview with CBS's Gina Miller on Sunday that Texas Rangers fans that "get it" will cheer for him on April 5 when the Los Angeles Angels come to town to open up the Rangers' home schedule.
He said fans that boo the former Rangers outfielder, who was the 2010 AL MVP and 2010 ALCS MVP, that day "don't get it."
Not sure exactly what Hamilton is talking about? Well, I'm not either.
Here's what Rangers fans get:
- Hamilton hit .368 for the first two months of the 2012 season and looked like a shoo-in to win his second MVP award before hitting .245 for the final four months.
- He saw eight pitches in the AL Wild Card Game loss and struck out in his final at-bat.
- He dropped a fly ball on the regular season's final day that blew the game open as the Oakland Athletics completed a shocking comeback to win the AL West on the season's final day. Then he loafed after the ball and was irritated with manager Ron Washington for questioning his effort in the dugout.
- He missed a pivotal West Coast road trip late in the season because, infamously, he drank too much Red Bull.
- He got free pass after free pass from Rangers fans for his slip-ups — public at times — in his constant battle with sobriety and became a beloved folk hero.
I'd say that about sums it up.
Hate to break it to Hamilton, but despite a growing movement of "Silence Hamilton," which calls for Rangers fans to neither cheer nor boo him on April 5 (it's not likely this actually gets executed but it would be awesome), he's going to get booed that day, and the next and the next, and every subsequent time the Angels come to town. He's going to get booed heavily.
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Did he do a ton for the Rangers on the field during his five seasons? Yes. But in the end he was a failure, and worst of all, he was a failure who clearly had given up and just didn't feel like playing.
That's tough to swallow. Hope Hamilton gets that.
