SURPRISE, Ariz. – The crack of the bat hitting ball on the backfields of spring training could almost lull you to sleep on this gorgeous Tuesday morning. But there's a different sound when Josh Hamilton steps in to take his hacks.
Former Rangers greats such as Pete O'Brien and Steve Buechele have witnessed thousands of batting practice sessions, but they stop chatting and walk over to the cage when Hamilton enters. All the talk of his recent relapse and subsequent ill-timed comments about what he doesn't owe the Rangers is all but forgotten as he crushes ball after ball over a towering wall in dead center field.
There's a decent chance this will be Hamilton's final season with the organization, and everyone you talk to senses he's poised to have a special season. This of course hinges on whether or not he can stay healthy, which is a dicey proposition for a player who doesn't exactly know how to pace himself.
The Rangers have attempted to decrease the risk of injury by playing Hamilton in left field, but the slugger has a desire to play in center field and has done everything in his power this offseason to persuade manager Ron Washington to play him there.
The Rangers slugger normally starts out spring training at 245 pounds, but he weighed in at 233 Tuesday morning. He believes playing at a lighter weight this season will make it easier on his joints. And as you watch him track balls in the outfield, it does appear that he's gained some speed.
"I enjoy getting more chances to rob people of hits," said Hamilton on Tuesday. "You get more chances to do it in center field. I like defense. I like taking away from guys, because I get plenty taken away from me."
When asked Tuesday how many more years he could play at an elite level,
he had an interesting answer.
"I got a plan," said Hamilton.
"Play outfield for four or five years, ease on over to first base and
then ease over to DH towards the end of the career."
Rangers principal owner Nolan Ryan thought
that sounded like a pretty good plan. In fact, he seemed enamored with
the idea of Hamilton getting some turns at DH to preserve his health.
But
for this season, Hamilton's would be happy in center field for 130 games or so.
"The reason I enjoy center field the most is because I played it my whole life. Played it since I was 8 years old, but it's not like I'm going to be pissed or upset if I'm not playing center field, you know I'm happy to be playing anywhere."
If you sense that Hamilton sounds a little more diplomatic, you're probably onto something. He didn't do himself any favors recently when he told reporters he didn't owe the Rangers anything. Hamilton was trying to point out that both sides had benefited from the relationship, but he could've chosen his words more carefully. Some people in the organization were angered by those comments, but it sounds like Ryan wasn't one of them.
"I understand from a player's perspective that he understands the business side of it," Ryan told us Tuesday on 103.3 KESN-FM. "Would I have liked it to be worded differently? Yeah, I would've liked him to say I appreciate what the Rangers have done for us and we'll talk at the appropriate time about a contract and we'll leave it at that. I don't think he meant it as it's been brought out. I don't put much stock in it."
Hamilton doesn't appear burdened by the recent controversy. He has five at bats in two games and he has hit the ball hard four times. He feels dialed in at the plate already and he attributes that to popping in a video from June 2010. In case it slipped your mind, that's the month he hit .454 and had nine home runs and 31 RBI.
"That was when I first changed from the tap step to the more conventional hitting method," said Hamilton. "So I went back this offseason and looked at exactly what I did, watched it on video tape and tried to get back to doing that again. So that's what I got, that's what I watch and that's what I feel like I'm back to right now."
