Good Morning Sports Fans:
As promised, the following is an essay describing the sudden tribulations of one of Baseball’s best Hitters, and the promising resolution to his new-found flaws.
Josh Hamilton – A Favorite Player, But!
Josh Hamilton is one of my favorite players, not only because of his tremendous physical skill-set and ultimate potential as a Hall-of-Fame candidate, but because of his life changing story that brought him back from the depths of moral degradation to become an exemplary figure and spokesperson for Mans’ incredible capacity for self-improvement and regeneration. A movie about his life-story has Hollywood on hold for the time-being because, for some inexplicable reason, his talent as a baseball player (more specifically, as a proficient Batsman) has suddenly diminished to the point that he has quickly become one of Big League Pitching’s easiest outs.
In the middle of the 2012 season, there was hardly a ballplayer in the American League who didn’t consider Josh Hamilton as “a god”, as he would address the field of defenders in his batting stance, exuding an irrepressible attitude of confidence and a nearly impeccable capacity to deliver on his purposeful intent. But by the end of that season the high hopes of repeating the acclaim given him the previous year as the Most Valuable Player had receded to a point that even his own Texas Rangers had hesitated in resigning him for the Big Bucks his potential seemed to warrant in the upcoming “free-agent” bidding.
We all know what happened next! Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno quickly took advantage of a questionable opportunity and signed Josh to a 125 million dollar (5 year) contract. Arte, no doubt, anticipated Hamilton’s resurgence as one of the League’s premier hitters. And so the previous season’s acquisition of “premier” slugger Albert Pujols, along with Hamilton, presented their American League foes with a highly formidable adversary in the new, better, and financially endowed Angel Organization. However, the “brain-trust” of organizational standards of mechanical efficiency failed to take stock in the “corruption” that subtly had been taking place within the physical and mental framework of its newly acquired “super-stars”. Pujols’ first season with the “Halos” was unspectacular at best. And as this potentially “dynamic-duo” was failing to fulfill the 2013 hopes of both the fans and the Angel organization, all pundits of baseball expertise expounded on the travesty and waste of 1/3 Billion dollars.
With the deplorable showing of both Pujols and Hamilton, the Angels didn’t stand a chance in League play, even with the sound managerial effort of Mike Scioscia, and the remarkable talent of a crew of young super-stars in the making. Did Mr. Moreno make a gigantic mistake in signing these former super-stars, especially for such a sizable amount of “cash”? To the common skeptic the answer would be a resounding yes, because there is no tangible evidence to show that these former “masters-of-the-Bat” will ever regain their former illustrious status in the renowned hierarchy of Major-League hitters. Detractors will point to Pujols’ age, and predict the rapid deterioration of his body and new susceptibility to injury (which has already projected its debilitating face). While Hamilton seems to be in perfect health and the apparent embodiment of a statuesque god, the query becomes even more startling, since he still possesses race-horse speed and a cannon-arm as he garnishes high accolades for his defensive prowess.
When an Organization dishes out $375,000,000.00 for two players, those 2 individuals are expected to be Offensive Weaponry that produces positive results at least 30 percent of the time, and in situations where runs are produced consistently. To perform in that manner both have to attain a mechanical efficiency with the least margin for error possible when facing pitchers of high to moderate levels of proficiency. With their little margins of error, these batters should be capable of hitting the pitcher’s best pitch, and not merely wait to hit a pitcher’s mistake. In their ‘Prime” proficiency times, both Pujols and Hamilton projected both power and precision due to their mechanical advantage over pitchers of high to moderate levels of proficiency. But as happens in seemingly unexplainable “slumps” batters lose track of the very Principle that established the confidence that produced their own high proficiency ratings.
The remainder of this article will focus on the problem of Josh Hamilton’s batting inefficiency and the good possibility for its solution and his resurgence into the ranks of Baseball’s elite sluggers. (Albert Pujols’ mending process will be discussed at a later time.)
Please go to “What’s Wrong with His Swing” to detail the problems of Josh’s swing and resolution thereof.