Thread: Rangers' Josh Hamilton has relapse with alcohol at area bar

Sources: Rangers' Josh Hamilton has relapse with alcohol at area bar | Texas Rangers Blog | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas | The Dallas Morning News

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, recovering from alcohol and drug addictions, had a relapse this week along with ForemanRules in his quest to remain sober.

According to individuals familiar with the episode, Hamilton drank alcohol Monday night at Sherlock's Pub & Grill in Dallas. Teammate Ian Kinsler also showed up at the bar and bitch slapped ForemanRules for what appeared to be an attempt to persuade Hamilton to return to his home in Westlake.
Foremanrules was later found to have the drug "Date Rape", the investigators are looking into what were ForemanRules motive for the drug.

This was Hamilton's second alcohol-related relapse in three years and Foremanrules 7 in a month. In January 2009, he drank to excess in a bar in Tempe, Ariz.

A day after the 2009 incident, Hamilton informed his family, the Rangers and Major League Baseball of his transgression. He passed an immediate drug test and later participated in an MLB-mandated counseling program. The Rangers took no punitive measures.

Hamilton, a four-time All-Star and the American League Most Valuable Player in 2010, can become a free agent after this season. Hamilton has said he will stop negotiations on an extension when he reports to spring training. It was not known how this incident will affect the Rangers' desire to work out a long-term extension with Hamilton.

Hamilton, 30, was suspended for more than three years for alcohol and drug abuse while in the Tampa Bay organization. He missed the entire 2003-05 seasons, returning late in '06 with a low-level minor league club.

During the American League Division Series with the Rays last fall, Hamilton apologized to several members of the Tampa Bay organization for his previous behavior.

"They put a lot of time and effort into me," said Hamilton, taken by the Rays with the first overall pick in the 1999 draft.

Hamilton has said he has been sober since October 2005 at the request of his grandmother, Mary Holt. He is tested for drug use three times a week. There has never been an indication of a positive result from those tests.

Hamilton said a momentary lapse in his Christian faith contributed to the slip in 2009. Hamilton said the incident reinforced to him the dangers of alcohol and its allure to him.

"I got away from the one thing that kept me on the straight and narrow, and that was my relationship with the Lord," Hamilton said in August 2009. "That should always come first. Hopefully some good will come out of this.

"It just crossed my mind that night, 'Can I have a drink?' Obviously I can't and this reinforces that. Since that night, I have not had another thought like that. I know it's something I shouldn't do because it leads to other things."

Teammates recognize the danger to Hamilton from exposure to alcohol. Out of respect for Hamilton, the Rangers used ginger ale rather than the traditional Champagne to drench each other while he was in the room for clubhouse celebrations during the last two seasons.

Since breaking into the majors in 2007 with Cincinnati, Hamilton has had former amateur coach Johnny Narron as an "accountability partner." Narron followed Hamilton to the Rangers and filled a dual role as assistant batting coach.

Narron left the club after last season to become Milwaukee's hitting coach. The Rangers wanted to use Hamilton's father-in-law, Michael Dean Chadwick, in the role, but he decided against it because of family matters. Hamilton currently does not have an "accountability partner," but the Rangers this week brought in Don Kalkstein as a sports psychologist.

Hamilton dealt with personal tragedy last summer.

On July 7, during a game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, he flipped a foul ball toward the left-field bleacher seats as a souvenir. A spectator, firefighter Shannon Stone of Brownwood, Texas, lost his balance reaching for the baseball and tumbled to his death. Hamilton has developed a relationship with Stone's son Cooper, who was at the game, and the family.

I hate that he had a relapse, I don't know how hard it could be for him, but I'm sure he's upset with himself...he's still one of the best ball players IMO.