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Not to Be a Jerk ... But Can We Stop Talking About Josh Hamilton's Drug Addiction?

Posted Jul 15, 2008 1:45PM By Will Brinson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: MLB All-Star Game, MLB Fans, MLB Media Watch

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Josh Hamilton -- as I remarked several times in last night's live blog -- seems like the nicest possible human being alive. So let's all do him one big favor and ease back on the media coverage of this story, please.

Tonight, there's no need to mention his drug addiction past every time he comes to the plate.

Because, Joe and Tim, we get it. We really do. Hamilton was on his death bed. Hamilton threw away everything. He blew through millions of dollars, literally.

None of those snippy remarks are intended to shortchange his story. It's a great, wonderful and amazing story. It is one of the greatest comebacks of all time. And it is a truly inspiring event that everyone should know about.

Likewise, Hamilton is the story of the weekend. So let's be clear -- I'm not saying to ignore him. I'm just saying to be more tasteful about the way we approach discussing his story.

The need to tell America something -- especially a story that touches the heart and that people can relate to -- very often leads to overexposure. The problem is that we rarely stop reporting on anything until well after the horse's corpse is splayed out on the front pages of every newspaper in the country.

Suddenly, no one wants to read about such a story anymore (insert Arod - Madonna link here, lest you call me a hypocrite) and any time someone mentions it, it just feels stale.

Which is why we really need to stomp on this one, before everyone starts to become too cynical about the whole thing.

See, it's not played out yet. Anyone that follows baseball, though, heard it last year, when Hamilton was lashing the ball for the Reds. It is just now becoming widespread knowledge that Hamilton battled addiction to return to baseball and become an All-Star.

There have been plenty of articles about Hamilton's comeback up to this point. However, once the mainstream media latches onto a recovering addict standing in the middle of Yankee Stadium celebrating a triumphant return (again, great story), we don't stop hearing about it until we're sick and tired of it.

Which is sad, because Hamilton's story is one that should not be forced and should be delivered with a sort of quiet grace. Unlike, say, Boomer repeating it every time he came up to bat.

But there's an urgency in the media to latch onto the hot story of the moment and squeeze it as hard and as fast as possible. It's natural instinct -- Josh Hamilton just flat out sells right now. That doesn't mean we should be using it to fill dead air time and pretty, pretty please don't mention it every time he comes to bat.

Abusing an addict's story for airwave promotion might seem like the Schapp smart thing to do, but in the long run, it will ruin what is one of the coolest storylines of our lifetime.

And what about Hamilton himself? Yes, he is a recovering drug addict. But it's not like some switch suddenly got flipped in his brain and he's completely "cured" and he can laugh off those dark days like they never existed.

He still deals with addiction everyday, and one would assume that with the way he talks about his Higher Power, he knows that sobriety is something that shouldn't be taken for granted.

So, folks, let's not do the same thing. Let's enjoy it in the most respectful way possible: silent reverence. If we want to talk about Hamilton as the new Ken Griffey, Jr., because of his amazing batting prowess, or we want to talk about the charitable work he does in the community, or the possibility that he can win the Triple Crown, go for it.

But just remember, Josh knows the story, we know the story ... everyone knows the story. And if they don't, they'll hear about it. It's too amazing to just disappear in the next three months, unless we overexpose it into hiding.

Tags: Josh+Hamilton, JoshHamilton

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