Joe McDonnell sat with Josh Hamilton to discuss his early season
struggles, the state of the Angels, the trials throughout his career and
more.
On Saturday vs. the Red Sox, Hamilton's walk-off homer in the 11th inning lifted the Angels to a 9-7 victory in Anaheim.
Hamilton, the Angels' prized offseason addition,
struggled mightily in his first few months in Anaheim, and admits the
pressure got the best of him.
"It's not easy. The first couple
of months I had fun...a new environment, learning guys' personalities
and (the) encouraging...but there comes a point where you can only
encourage so much. The game and everything tells you, 'you know what,
you got to get some results in there.'
"I'd be lying to you if I
said my confidence (hadn't waivered). Going into that third month I was
like, 'man...what is going on?'"
But Hamilton insists those struggles has helped shape him.
"It only makes you a better man when you go through it," he said.
Hamilton also hinted at his future, saying he remains focused on enjoying each game, whether he's struggling or not.
"The
next four years - and that includes the rest of this year - could be it
for me. You never know in the baseball world. It doesn't last forever.
You need to enjoy it while you have it, and that means not putting too
much pressure on yourself."
Hamilton, the subject of much scrutiny for recent reports of his tobacco use, later discussed the controversy he's found himself in.
"It's
going good right now. It's going good for me, it's going good for the
team...you hate to have people try and ruin that moment. And someone is
always out there trying to do it by bringing up some kind of
controversy."
"Until someone sees me actually doing it on camera...I really don't have a comment about it."
