Hamilton’s First Major League Hit Is a Big One
Josh Hamilton, Cincinnati's favorite feel-good story of 2007, got his first major league hit tonight against the Diamondbacks with a home run off Edgar Gonzalez in the third inning. It's only the seventh inning as I write this, and Reds.com already has a story about it:
Hamilton batted leadoff and played center field on Tuesday for the Reds against the D-backs. Regular center fielder and leadoff man Ryan Freel was given a rest.
“I'm excited about it,” Hamilton said. “I don't want to get too excited. But I don't want to get too not excited either, you know? I don't know what to feel.”
Man, who could have guessed that this kid whose addictions nearly killed him, who never played a minute above A-level ball before this season, would be doing anything at this level? I mean, I guess we haven't seen him long-term. Those shin splints could always come back.
However Hamilton continues to work out this season, it's so nice for the Reds fans to have someone to get excited about.
They gave him the “silent treatment.” 🙂 I’d heard about it, but never seen it before. It’s more an NL thing than an AL thing. Bubba Crosby, Andy Phillips, and Nick Green all homered in their first at-bats as Yankees, and the announcers wondered if they’d get the silent treatment, but they didn’t.
That’s funny. He didn’t seem fooled, though. He just looked like, “oh yeah, I guess they don’t congratulate you for homers here.”