Josh had everything an athlete could only dream of. He had the looks, the personality, the fans, and most importantly the athleticism. Though Josh had it all, one thing was holding him back. His emotions. The injuries Josh faced resulted in a strike out, every time. Josh now turned to drugs and alcohol.

During spring training in 2003, Josh failed a drug test which resulted in suspension. After the various injuries, Josh was unable to stay clean. Now, he had his career officially put on hold. Every time he flunked a drug test, the Major League Baseball Association tacked another 12 months onto his suspension. He returned to Raleigh, his home town, but could not bring his life under control.

Finally, in 2004, Josh stopped taking drug tests altogether. The need to feed his addiction was consuming Josh as a whole.  At this point, he was out of baseball. Josh continued to drift in and out of rehab, wanting badly to kick his habits but unable to do so. Many a time he consumed enough cocaine and booze to kill a normal human being, but his amazing body pulled him through proving baseball was his calling.

On October 6, Josh vowed to give up drugs and alcohol. He had lost 50 pounds, and his complexion was literally ghostlike. Baseball was completely off his radar at this point. All that consumed Josh was his next high. Everything that was important to him was gone. He had hit rock bottom. Josh had a desperate need for a high. But, this time he consumed something else.

Josh always made for good copy in People Magazine, and when word got out that he had cleaned up his act, articles began appearing in print and online. One of these stories reached the desk of Roy Silver, owner of The Winning Inning, a training academy that blends the fundamentals of baseball and Christianity. Silver invited Josh to join his staff and work his way back into the game. Josh showed up at the complex where college teams had been practicing. Agreeing to throw bullpen, Josh picked up the ball. It had been almost three years since he had thrown a ball in utter. The ball exploded into the catcher’s glove at a screaming 95 mph, and the college boys looked at Josh in slack-jawed awe. Impossible as it seemed, he still had it. He was back on the radar and ready to pursue ball, yet again.

There is no such thing as a can’t-miss baseball prospect. For years, Josh Hamilton served as living proof of this axiom. The first pick in the 1999 draft, he suffered a stunning decline that saw him squander his once-in-a-generation talent. Lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs, he tumbled from the top of the sports world to bottom of the barrel. After going years without picking up a bat and ball, Josh miraculously rediscovered the game—and, thankfully, it rediscovered him. The struggles Josh experienced evolved him into something fans around the world know his as still to this day – One heck of a grand slam.