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Recovery in the News
Hamilton's recovery - in public, under pressure - may be a miracle
Ray Buck
Star-Telegram
June 14, 2008
We all know the feel-good story of the summer.
Josh Hamilton.
So, how hard is it to keep drug recovery going when you're smack-dab in the public eye?
We've assembled a small panel of "experts" who know a thing or two about alcohol/drug addiction treatment. They didn't have to know Josh's story in detail to respond with crossed fingers and strong opinions.
All agreed that Hamilton's willingness to keep his drug-addled past out in the open is a good start. For that, the Texas Rangers' slugging center fielder should be commended.
But give him some space. Let him play lead dog on this.
"I don't know Josh," said Joel Fish, a noted sports psychologist in Philadelphia, "but his formula is working."
Added Pat Summerall, TV broadcast icon and a 2004 liver transplant recipient who abused alcohol for decades: "Making an addiction known publically is good therapy... for himself as well as those who might be listening or reading.
"Because the toughest person to be honest with is yourself."
Summerall, sounding great at 78, reminded that he speaks from experience.
Dr. Allan Lans, a New York City psychiatrist who once worked closely with Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry on the '80s Mets, can make one clinical analysis from 1,600 miles away:
Josh Hamilton comes along at a much better time in MLB than the do-nothing days of Gooden and Strawberry. Even if it's not exactly for the right reasons.
"I think it's better. I don't think it's best... but it's better," Dr. Lans said of MLB's drug awareness and testing policies. "Unfortunately, it's mostly not out of true concern for the athlete's welfare... but concern about public perception. That's made the difference."
Coincidentally, Hamilton and the Rangers visit Shea Stadium tonight for the middle game of a three-game set against the Mets. Memories of "Doc" and "Straw" still haunt diehard Mets fans.
Here were two superstars who soaked up the cheers. But when fans begged for one R-word (be responsible), they were handed another one (relapse) instead.
Lans suggests that Gooden and Strawberry were "somewhat sacrificial" in a misinformed/mismanaged recreational drug era in baseball.
Before steroids, baseball could find players with marijuana, "greenies" and cocaine in their closets. Beer was as readily available as tap water in most clubhouses.
Gooden and Strawberry will be given no free pass by the former Mets' team psychiatrist. Rather, Lans describes these two would-be Hall of Famers as "ill-equipped" to deal with what Major League Baseball was "cataclysmically" doing to the game.
"Salaries were becoming quadruple what they had been 10 minutes before," recalled Lans. "That kind of thing brings a lot of evil crap with it. Money brings around bad guys."
Hamilton was the first pick ( Tampa Bay) in the 1999 amateur draft. He received a then-record $3.96 million signing bonus.
Then, he got hurt. Then, he had too much time and money on his hands.
Then, he began to drink hard liquor and do hard drugs. Then, he was suspended by baseball (with a total of 50 minor-league at-bats between '03 and '07).
Now he's clean. Now he's straight. Now he's mixing a Triple Crown cocktail of 71 RBI, 17 home runs and a .316 batting average going into the Mets series.
He's a mature 27, a father, a husband, a devout man of faith. He has put God first in his life.
"That'll help, too," Lans said.
But it's a daily challenge for Hamilton to keep from veering off into a ditch along his road to recovery.
"I'm not saying it's easier or harder for celebrities, or that they have it better than people who are dealing with rising gas prices," Fish said. "But if you're a pro athlete, there is one set of coping skills required when you're a first-round draft pick who goes bust. And there's another set of coping skills required when you're in position to win a Triple Crown.
"It sounds like Josh is developing his coping skills well."
So what, if anything, is our responsibility as media or fans?
Give Hamilton some space, cut him some slack, these are suggestions made by the experts. If he suddenly changes his routine, say, he chooses not to sit in right field after a game and talk to the fans... he might just be "tweaking the formula," Fish said.
None of these three men has ever met Hamilton. Summerall, who lives in Southlake, extended an invitation for Josh to call him if he ever needs to talk.
"I feel like we're somewhat brothers," Summerall said.
For many of the rest of us, we can keep watching, marveling, enjoying and hoping for the best.
This is baseball, but it's also a guy's life.
We should never lose sight of that.
© 2008 Star-Telegram