I completely believe at this point in my life that Josh Hamilton just does not get it.
This guy was given an opportunity to revive his career with the Texas Rangers. Fans in Arlington, for the most part, never even made mention of his prior drug abuse issues. Now, with that said, no one can deny that Hamilton was phenomenal on the field. During the first four and a half seasons he wore a Rangers uniform, there was no denying which player was responsible for helping get the Rangers to back to back World Series.
There were other players who played key roles along the way, but Hamilton provided fans with someone to get behind. I was working in the Metroplex during the 2008 season when Hamilton was as good as anyone we have seen in the last couple of decades. Talk radio was abuzz all day long with conversation about "The Great Hambino" or "Ham Slamwich". For just a few seasons, the Rangers were more relevant in the fall than the Dallas Cowboys.
I was in the crowd during an American League Championship Series game against the Yankees, and for one game each during both World Series appearances. I never left the ballpark on any of those nights thinking to myself, "Baseball fans in Texas are not real baseball fans." I left the ballpark on all three of those nights proud that I was a fan of the Rangers. The Yankees game I attended was the Colby Lewis gem in Game 2 during the 2010 ALCS and I attended Game 5 of the 2011 World Series against the Cardinals, both wins. Of course fans are going to be excited during those moments. But I was also there for Game 5 of the 2010 World Series, which was the Giants' clinching victory.
And that night, Rangers fans got it. They were disappointed that the Rangers fell short of winning it all, but they understood a couple of things. I remember just a few moments of silence as fans watched the Giants celebrate, but then I remember 15-20 minutes of Rangers fans applauding not just the Giants, but the Rangers. They cheered the Rangers for the season they had given them and the ride they had been on with the team. Yeah, we all wanted a World Series title, but more than that, we did not want the season to end.
The original comments made by Hamilton about Texas baseball fans could have been understood, based on the intent of the comments. Dallas is and always will be a football town. There is no reason for it not to be. I do not wish to argue about the Cowboys and how good they are or are not, but Texas as a state is football crazy and always will be.
But Tom Grieve made the best point of the day on Friday afternoon's broadcast. Arlington does not have to be a baseball town for there to be great baseball fans in the town. And Hamilton's comments angered all of us who sat and watched the Rangers not just during the good years or late, but the bad years, when the Rangers were a laughingstock in Major League Baseball. Yes, there are bandwagon Rangers fans, but that happens when any team has success.
The Dallas Stars are not any good, but the fans that fill up the American Airlines Center during home games are great hockey fans. The same goes for Mavericks fans. Fans are fans, not necessarily representatives of their towns. Yes, fans are formed by their environment, but the only requirement for being a "fan" is to follow your team and support them during the good and the bad.
Rangers fans have done that. Rangers fans have filled the ballpark (and sometimes not filled the ballpark) and cheered for the Rangers as long as I have been going. The team has not always been very good, but they were our team. Have I wanted to jump ship from time to time? Absolutely. I am the same way with the Cowboys. But I am a fan, and even if I wanted to leave, I could not.
The fans showed up on Friday, booing Hamilton any time he was involved in the game, whether during at-bats, pregame introductions or even when fielding (or not fielding) balls hit at him during the game. Some fans joined in on the Silence4Josh movement and read newspapers during his at-bats, but they all cheered loudly as Hamilton struck out during his first two at-bats. Hamilton was in classic form, flailing at bad pitches and appearing unfocused at the plate.
Hamilton may hit two home runs on Saturday, but on Friday, in his first chance to shut the fans up, he failed miserably, just as he did to end the 2012 season with the Rangers.
Josh felt the need to hold a pregame press conference, in which he said that he expected fans to boo him and that he had 12 year old kids say worse things to him than what he would hear on Friday, so it did not bother him. After the game, Hamilton held another press conference, coming across as quite a jerk with most of his comments about the fans and in his demeanor with the media.
The following video was not from the press conference, but it does give you a glimpse into his true feelings about Rangers fans.
The comment that furthers my hatred for Josh Hamilton was his comment about comparing his return to Arlington to Jesus and how he was treated in his hometown. I cannot find a video of the press conference at this time, but let me quote what Hamilton said.
"He said, 'Where was Jesus got-after the most? His hometown,' " said the deeply religious Hamilton, who declined to name the source of inspiration. "Baseball-wise, this is my hometown."I don't feel like I even have to respond to that comment. Make of it what you will, but this guy has a serious ego issue that makes him think he is way more important than the rest of the world sees him.
And after the fire the Rangers fans showed on Friday, did Hamilton make any changes to his feelings about those fans?
"I will never take back what I said until they show up every night for 30 years," Hamilton said. "But I'm glad I can help create spirit and fire in this town."Nope. He does not get it.
Apparently, Hamilton feels as if he has left Arlington and gone to baseball nirvana in Anaheim. Ha.
I actually went and watched the Rangers play in Anaheim last summer, and their crowd is just like the Dodgers crowd. Arrive late, leave early. 30 years of filling a ballpark before you are considered a baseball town?
What about Boston? The Red Sox are about to have their consecutive sell-out streak broken at Fenway Park. Sorry Boston, you have to wait another 30 seasons before we can consider you a baseball town.
Let's compare the attendance history of the Rangers and Angels.
The Rangers appeared in the World Series in 2010 and 2011. During those two seasons, the Rangers ranked 5th in American League attendance, drawing an average of just over 36,000 in 2011 and just under 31,000 in 2010. During those two seasons, the Angels ranked 3rd in American League attendance. So just maybe they have us there.
But the Angels went to a World Series as well in 2002, and even won it. That season, the Angels ranked 7th in American League attendance, averaging over 28,000 each night. The Angels won 99 games that season. If you look right above the Angels on the attendance numbers for 2002, you will see the Rangers in 6th on the American League attendance list. Texas averaged just over 29,000 fans each night, who showed up to cheer on a team that won a whopping 72 games.
So choose to think what you wish based on those numbers, but just like any other numbers, you can manipulate them to match your opinion.
I am getting long winded, so I will wrap this up. I just want to address those of you who criticize Rangers fans for their attitude towards Josh Hamilton. I understand that there are some of you who wish to remember the good times we had with Hamilton in Texas. And he provided us with many. But at his first opportunity after leaving, he ripped the very fans who welcomed him with open arms.
I will not sit here and say that the fans were in the right for chanting "crackhead" at Hamilton during the game, but just like each of you reading this, your history is part of your story. Hamilton may have turned from his ways and changed his life, and on a personal level I am happy that he has been able to do that.
I had a phone conversation last night with a friend who said, "You know, Rangers fans would have let it go a lot easier if he had not opened his mouth." Truer words have never been spoken. When you tell a group of people what they are not, they will spend all of their time trying to prove you wrong.
Have fun booing him the rest of the weekend, and I can only hope that a fastball from the hands of one of our pitchers finds itself near the ear-hole of the biggest a-hole in sports.
