Crewmannumber6: I'm pulling for him. It's a helluva redemption story.

I'm pulling for him, too. Our backup outfielders can't hit a baseball.

Uncle Pooky: Murphy would like a word with you. And Gentry just needs to put it in play, then outrun it.

Murphy isn't backup and Gentry still cannot hit a baseball. I will agree though, he can run like hell.

Hagbard23: DNRTFA but usually this is just called a sponsor, and they are always users too. Whats the big deal?

No, not a sponsor--a babysitter. Narron carried Hamilton's money and doled it out as needed (his wife did it when he was home). There could be no beer on team flights because little Joshie might get tempted. He has to check in with someone every couple of hours. He's not keeping sober, he's being kept sober, there's a difference. He is not expected to bear any of the responsibility of recovering, and that is why he should not be held up as the poster child for recovering addicts. He's been babied pretty much his entire life and whenever someone says "oh, he's so brave, he's overcome so much!" that's an insult to anyone who was able to get over their addictions without someone having to hold their hand 24/7.

lajotu: That kinda applies to ANYONE who's ever gone through assisted detox, doesn't it? You make it sound like assisted detox is a BAD thing, and that anyone who's ever done it has nothing to be proud of. And I hope that's not your point.

Yes, gone through. He is still being paraded through this assisted detox, if you will. It's been going on 6 years now. My guess is as soon as he retires from baseball, he's going to be in the news attending what appears to be the wildest party evar, drunk as hell with 3 girls (none of which will be his wife) hanging all over him, waiting for someone to bust out a line.

lajotu: Marisyana: He's not keeping sober, he's being kept sober, there's a difference.

That kinda applies to ANYONE who's ever gone through assisted detox, doesn't it? You make it sound like assisted detox is a BAD thing, and that anyone who's ever done it has nothing to be proud of. And I hope that's not your point.

Going to detox for six weeks or months is one thing. Hamilton has been sober (minus the relapse) for six YEARS. Do you know anyone with that length of sobriety who still can't be trusted with money and can't have any alcohol around them and has to check in with someone all the time? Sooner or later you have to start doing stuff on your own and Hamilton should have been doing it a long time ago. I know some of it is MLB protecting its investment, but still.

lajotu: Marisyana: Sooner or later you have to start doing stuff on your own and Hamilton should have been doing it a long time ago.

Also, aren't you discounting the fact that Hamilton had to get clean and sober on his own before MLB/Cincinnati would even consider giving him a second chance? You know more about the situation than I do, but I don't think MLB was there holding his hand through that?

He was suspended from baseball for a year and had to agree to regular drug testing just like any other player suspended for drugs, then he got suspended again for not showing up for a test. He was never out of baseball, just prevented from playing, the Rays kept his rights and sold them in a Rule 5 draft to the Cubs, who'd already arranged to give him to the Reds.