Hamilton Homers, “Not Panicking” About Dipping Average

Josh Hamilton was 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a homer in the Rangers' win in Oakland Tuesday

Josh Hamilton was just 1-for-4 with three strikeouts in Tuesday night’s victory over the Athletics in Oakland, and his average continued on the steady decline its been on for more than a month--he actually dipped below .300 mark for the first time since just after his first at-bat of the season for a brief while on Tuesday--but with the one hit, Hamilton notched his 28th homer of the season and brought his average back up to .300, where it stands now.

According to the All-Star Game’s leading vote-getter, the home run came after hitting instructor Scott Coolbaugh approached him with some simple advice: slow it down a bit.

It’s something I have to watch from time to time, even when I’m doing well,” Hamilton said, per ESPN Dallas. “I might get a couple hits and then next at-bat start too early. It’s just a visual thing. I have to focus on doing it every at-bat, every pitch.”

Hamilton went on to say that he didn’t give any attention to his brief foray into sub-.300 territory on Tuesday, even though any of the number of scoreboards in Oakland could have told him of the news, had he looked at one.

“I haven’t paid attention,” Hamilton said. “I know it’s going down the last month, month and a half. I know it’s going to end up where I’m supposed to end up. I will get hot here a couple times. I’m not really panicking.”

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