Josh Hamilton is one of the most beloved players in baseball. One might ask why many baseball fans, and even people who don’t follow the sport, find themselves rooting for him. The answer is pretty simple. His life is a Hollywood story.
Last week in my American Studies class, we looked at an excerpt from “A Man Without a Country” by Kurt Vonnegut. In this, he analyzed and “graphed” some popular american stories. Vonnegut explained what they have in common and why americans eat them up. The first story pattern he showed was “Man in Hole”. The protagonist starts with good fortune, then falls into a deep “hole” of ill fortune, then rises up even higher than he or she started. So many loved Hollywood stories follow this layout (think Lion King and other popular animated films).
Seeing this layout made me want to find a good real-life example of this happening. After reading this information, I got a bit off task and started looking at baseball scores on my iPad. I read an article about the Los Angeles Angels, and then it hit me: Josh Hamilton’s life is the Hollywood story. For those of you who don’t know who he is, Josh Hamilton is an outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels. He is considered by many as one of the best players in the game.
So what is so “Holywood” about Hamilton’s story? It follows exactly in line with the “Man in Hole” storyline. Hamilton was drafted number 1 overall in the 1999 MLB draft. He spent a few years in the minor leagues, playing very well. The sky seemed to be the limit for young Josh Hamilton. Then came the Hole. Hamilton was introduced to drugs and began a downward spiral that lasted around 5 years. He came close to death multiple times because of his excessive drug use. Josh had some people in his life who cared about him and helped him, including his father in law Mike Chadwick, and Roy Silver, owner of a training facility that mixed christianity and baseball. Hamilton worked for Roy Silver at the training facility for a while, where he changed his ways and got back into the game of baseball. Over the next few years, Hamilton worked his way up from the minor leagues, to being a backup for the Cincinnati Reds. Hamilton kept improving, eventually becoming a starter. He proved himself as a new man and new player, leading to the Texas Rangers giving up 2 top prospects for him. Hamilton continued to dominate, and eventually won the AL MVP in 2010. Hamilton had risen to the top of the baseball world.
Josh Hamilton’s story really is amazing and inspiring. He overcame many personal problems to become one of the best baseball players in the world. He climbed out of the “Hole” and is now higher than he was when he started. This pattern makes his tale a real-life Hollywood story. If there is anything you would like to add/expand on or disagree with, please comment below.
Josh Hamilton’s full life story: http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/J_Hamilton/J_Hamilton_bio.html
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