Josh Hamilton Texas Rangers (4-8-2002)

What is your baseball background?

I went to Athens Drive High School in Raleigh North Carolina.  In 1999 I was drafted as the first pick in the first round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I went to Princeton West Virginia in the Rookie League.  At the end of the year I got moved up to the New York Penn League.  The year before last I was in Charleston the whole year and had an injury at the end of the year.  Last year I was in AA for about half a month, I had an injury and I was out for the rest of the season.  I played three games in the Arizona Fall League and my injury flared back up on me.

What is your baseball philosophy?

Have fun. That is the main thing.  It is tough especially the last couple of years I have been injured.  It’s tough trying to have fun and coming to the park and rehabing and stuff like that. You have to try to keep it in perspective.  How you grew up doing it so its fun.

What is your hitting philosophy?

See the white thing, hit the white thing.  That is about it.  Like everybody else I try to work on certain things when I’m having trouble, but basically just hit the ball where it is pitch.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I think I have strengths in most every aspect, but I have weaknesses in everyone too.  You always have strengths you can work on and weaknesses you could work on at all times.

Pitchers throw inside and outside and to set up a hitter’s. Do hitters set up pitchers?

Sometimes. If you see he is steady going outside, going outside, or like last year’s they threw me changeup, changeup, away, away, and then bust me inside to keep me honest. I will say that they can bust me inside but I’m still going to be over the plate.  That makes the outer half of the plate more down the middle.  That makes the pitcher work the middle of the plate in. Sometimes it works that way.

What are you looking for when you are hitting?

Just a good pitch to drive or to hit it hard somewhere. You always try to be patient, it doesn’t happen all time, but you try to hit the ball hard all the time.

What is your “pitch”?

I don’t know if I have a specific pitch but I guess I would have to say it is down and in. That is probably the easiest spot I like to hit.

With two strikes, what are you looking for?

Like I said I’m just pretty much see the ball hit the ball.

Is there any pressure been a high draft pick, with high expectations?

Not really, the most pressure comes from me. I put it and on myself.  If I hear other people saying, ” he’s this or he’s that “, I’ll try to block that out and just do the things that I do, just play ball. The most pressure on me is my expectations.

It seems like at times the guys that have all the talent don’t seem to go as far as guys with lesser talents?

Yeah, I think sometimes they haven’t had to work hard their whole life. They just have natural talent, and they don’t work hard. They get complacent. They just got other things. God usually gives talent for a reason. You know your supposed to work on it and make it better and a lot of guys don’t do that. They just go out and expect to perform. In a 162 or 140 game season, that is hard to do without practicing every day.

Do you look at people in other positions above you AA, and AAA?

No, not at all.  I don’t keep track of anybody. I don’t even keep track of my own stats when I’m playing. Somebody mentions something to me and I’m “that’s great.” A lot of guys I know live on the computer. They are looking guys up above them and looking at what they are doing. All that causes is a bunch of frustration basically. That what I found out so that’s why I try to stay away from computers.

Do you think that first round draft picks, high draft picks, get more chances?

They definitely get more chances; they get paid a lot more money. Other guys don’t get paid hardly anything but they are out here everyday busting their butt. To me personally that makes me want to work harder and makes me want to bust my butt more especially since I have been hurt the last couple of years I think I was one of those guys that was starting to take things for granted and being hurt kind of made me realize that you’re only here for a short time. While your doing it work hard at it. If things work, they work out. If they don’t, it wasn’t meant to.

When you were growing up you must have been an All Star, All League etc., then you get hurt. How is it sitting on the bench watching everyone else?

I don’t think they would like me to much on the bench. I’m in here walking around every where, messing with them. I just can’t be still. One thing, I don’t know what it is, I just don’t like watching baseball. I don’t watch it on TV, I don’t watch ESPN, or nothing like that. I guess you say it is boring to me a little bit, but when it comes to playing it’s just a totally different story. I love it to death.

You are hurt right now?

I’m not really hurt but they’re still taking it easy with me. I guess I’m off the DL Thursday. It will be our first home game and I should start playing then.

Describe the competition for your rooster spot when you try to take somebody’s and somebody’s trying to take yours?

I’m probably friendly with everybody, but how you go up, you don’t change. Lots of times other people change. They are competing for your spot, and you compete for theirs. They just totally won’t speak to you. Things like that sort of thing. Which it really shouldn’t be like that but it is. I mean you should go out, you should have fun, you should get along with every body, but at the same time you know in the back of your mind you’re there to do a job and get it done. That is basically the way it happens with guys.

What do you do when you get in a slump?  Just work yourself out of it?

I try to figure out what I was doing before I got into the slump and try not to get frustrated. You know when you go into a slump. What it shows the pitcher is another thing. If you let them know that your frustrated then they are going to keep, and keep on. It like what they say, if you fail seven out of ten times you are still hitting .300. So it’s a great thing, and most times you are going to fail more than succeed each game.

How much does chemistry in the clubhouse effect your game?

It does a lot. If you got a great bunch of guys. When I moved up from Hudson Valley, as soon as I came up I was accepted really well. They greeted me with open arms. They had a good team up here. They didn’t have to do that because I was a new guy. When we ended up it was hard to leave. A lot of it had to do with our locker room chemistry and how we went about playing the game.

You know your times like home to first, home to second?

Yeah, my best time from home to first is 3.9. It has been a while since I’ve been timed to second.

How about weight lifting, how do you coordinate weight lifting?

I don’t lift weights at all. Every time I lift weights I stay sore. I finally got them to actually not have me lift weights. Usually they stretch me really hard instead of lifting weights. I do a lot of band exercises for my arms, things like that. Some people are different. Some people need it and some people don’t.

But is the organization into weight lifting?

Yes, the organization is doing weight lifting; keeping the strength up. But if you do baseball skills every day, you’re going to look the same as if you hit the weights everyday.

What is the hardest adjustment you made from High School to the Pros?

Bus trips. I have always loved hitting wood more than I have metal, but I didn’t start hitting wood until I was a senior in High School. Some scouts said that was what I needed. It felt good. A lot people start when they are sophomores or something like that. You take like half the batting practice with wood and half with metal so that they can get used to it and see the difference. I didn’t use it in the game. I just used it after the games when scouts wanted me to hit. They preferred wood, and then I would hit again. But in the games I used metal. It goes just as far if you right on wood as it would on the metal. Those things are an adjustment, and playing in the longer season.

By playing baseball do you have any privacy around town?  Does everybody know you?

At home pretty much everybody knows me. I guess the higher up you go the more they know, but right now you go places and get recognized. I like it, it’s not bad. It doesn’t bother me much if anybody recognizes me, but at the same time I know some people that can’t stand it because they are with their kids and don’t want to be bothered. I kind of look at it like it if it weren’t for the fans, and weren’t for the people who support you, you wouldn’t have gotten there. That’s the best way to look at it.

Does that put any more pressure on you, as far as people knowing who you are?

No, I don’t think it does. Some people I think it would because you know you have that microphone stuck on you all the time. I have always got along with everybody, never been rude to any body or blow anybody off. I think at the same time they respect you for that, as much as for how you play the game.

How do you handle the fans, the loud mouths the people yelling at you and stuff?

I try to just block them out. You’re always going to hear them, and they are always going to be there. They pay to get in so they can say what they want to.  But if your struggling and you show that your frustrated to the fans that are screaming and being a loud mouth that is just like fuel to the fire. They are just going to keep at it, keep at it, and keep at it. But if your struggling, go to the dugout. You’re a little upset, just kind of vent in your own way, but don’t let him see you getting upset and don’t try to blame him for it, or whoever it is.

How about the umpires?  How do you handle balls and strikes that you disagree with?

As far as the umpires they make mistakes. At the same time on your first at bat you try to pan it out try and see where he is going to call pitches, where he is not going to call pitches, and you adjust your next three or four at bats from there. That is usually the best way to do it. Usually I try to go up at the first at bat and say hello to the catcher and the umpire. Say, “what’s up fellows, how you all doing today,” and try to start things off on a good foot and hope it ends that way.

Ever been thrown out of a game?

No. I never really said much to an umpire at all. I question them every now and then just like anybody else but I’ll say it under my breath to them and I won’t look at them I won’t let the fans know that I am looking at them. I’ll ask was that ball off a little bit, or on the corner.

How much do they take? Do they take a lot before they throw you out?

It depends on what you say. Curse at them pretty good or something like that, make comments about their judgment, or about how they are calling the game, they usually pay attention to that pretty good. They don’t criticize us on how we do if we strike out, so it should pretty much go the other way around. We shouldn’t criticize them for what they do.

I never thought about that?

Me either, I just thought of that.

Brush backs, knock downs, and retaliation, what do you think about that?

Retaliation is good if it is the right time. I have been thrown at. The first time was in Hagerstown Maryland, I believe it was, in 2000 when I was playing in Charleston. The draft pick we had was hitting in front of me, and it was his first game. We were up by six runs and he squared around to bunt and got thrown out. I lead off the next inning and got four fastballs right at my head. I didn’t say anything it, I laughed about it. I didn’t do it, the other guy did it, but the pitcher was just proving a point. Then the coach and every body get involved in but other than that if I get hit, I get hit. If it doesn’t hurt too bad I’ll run down to first.

Being the next guy up do you know what’s coming?

Ah you’re not sure, so that will affect your bat, because your wondering if he is gonna drill you, if he is gonna just hang it on the glide or do whatever but a lot of times that will effect your next at bat.

How about without it being in retaliation, just getting hit, does that affect your next at bat?

If it’s a lefty or something and maybe your going through a stage or something that where you are having trouble staying in, not jumping in the bucket or whatever, and he hit’s you, it might be a little worse the next time up. Other than that, pitchers wouldn’t be at this level if they didn’t have control. Every now and then they don’t have control, but they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have control and that is probably the best way to look at it.

How about your guys knocking them down? In that time when they threw at you four times, did your guys take care of you?

No, because the other team was retaliating because of something we did. We didn’t retaliate back. If you can avoid a brawl or confrontation you usually try to avoid it. I’m not saying that if three guys get hit in the head or something somebody’s not going to retaliate.

A pitcher may lose a pitch and someone gets hit, it is part of baseball. Can you tell when someone gets hit if it is intentional?

You know the situation and you can tell when somebody’s throwing at you or if their not. Most of the time you can tell by the body language. Most of the time if they are throwing at you, your catcher will be all up tight and every body else will be up tight because everybody is all ready to jump out there and get in a fight or whatever.

You haven’t been traded?

No.

Is there anything else I didn’t cover that, something about baseball that you would want to tell somebody in High School on down?

The main thing is no matter how high you get drafted, or how low you get drafted, just keep doing the things that got you to where you are. Keep trying to have fun, keep treating people the way you want to be treated, and most of the times things will work out for the best. That’s the main thing I can say, just to have fun and don’t lose that aspect. Don’t take it for granted because I remember I was actually starting to take it for granted and then boom, one injury after another and that took me backwards. I had to say hey wait a minute. Because of the way I was then, I mean I wasn’t really arrogant but you know being a butt or whatever, but I just wasn’t giving it my all every time I went out, practice games or whatever, and that was the main thing. I am just so happy to be out here right now taking batting practice again, throwing and stretching every day.

Your getting over an injury now, do you feel good?

I feel real good today, but I just have a few sharp pains sometimes. I have some stuff to make sure my back doesn’t flare up after sitting five or six hours on the bus. Which this is a good league because were right in the middle too. We only have about four and a half, five hour long bus trips, so that helps me out a lot. Other than that I feel good.

Anything else that you can think of that I missed?

No, that’s about it.