By now, you've heard Josh Hamilton referred to as "The Natural" more times than you can count. You know, the Roy Hobbs character from the movie of the same name that hits a home run, breaks the stadium lights and then dies shortly thereafter with a whole lot of other problems along the way? Yeah, that's the one.
Well, Hamilton showed up to the ballpark on Wednesday sporting a Hobbs jersey before his Texas Rangers closed out their series with a win over the Boston Red Sox. Even though his team won, Hamilton's serious funk continued after he told media before the game he thought things were "about to change," presumably in a good way.
That came a day after Rangers president/owner/legend Nolan Ryan criticized Hamilton's play over the past two months, saying he's been "giving at-bats away" by swinging at bad pitches and missing more often than not.
"I love and respect Nolan to death," Hamilton told assembled media. "He's a competitor. He's still a competitor and was a big-time competitor. I believe he cares so much for us as players, almost like a grandfather would, that when he sees us not performing or doing the things we need to do, it frustrates him.
"I understand why it frustrates him. I can't blame him for anything. I have to keep doing what I can do, working on what I can work on, go up there and try to be a little more focused and patient and do the best I can."
You have to give Hamilton tons of credit for patiently answering question after question since he's been hitting just .161 in July after hitting .223 in June. That, of course, was after he had perhaps the best April and May to start a season in the history of the game as he was on his way to a Triple Crown season and sure-fire MVP honors.
Hamilton said pitchers have figured out he'll swing at just about anything, and when he's in a good way, he hits them anyway. For the past two months, Hamilton admitted he's been in a bad way and has been "out of sorts mentally," which is never a good thing for a hitter.
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He said he still believes things are about to turn around, he just has to work on focusing. He also wanted to make it clear that despite what people have been saying, it's not an issue of him not caring.
"I definitely lose focus at times. It doesn't matter what you're doing or how much you love to do something, it becomes a grind," Hamilton said. "But I do care. I don't go out there and go through the motions. I try to play hard."
