The Natural

I know he's been called The Natural many times before, but honestly, have we ever seen a modern era baseball player like Josh Hamilton?  I don't think so.  Off the field his story is one of struggle and redemption.  On the field, it's one of unparalleled accomplishment.  Just when you think Josh can't out-do himself, he does.  And he did it again last night.

Josh hit not one, not two, not three but FOUR home runs against the Orioles.  And they weren't cheap home runs.  Each landed in either center field or left center field. 

I don't think the average sports fan realizes what a tremendous feat this is.  I'm guessing that most believe the toughest thing to do in baseball is to pitch a perfect game.  Yes, that is extremely hard to do and a perfect game has only been thrown 21 times in baseball history.  Hitting four home runs in one game?  That's been done only 16 times in the history of the game.  For those who are mathematically challenged, that would be five fewer times. 

By the end of the 10-3 Rangers win, Josh Hamilton had hit four home runs and one double, all of which resulted in 18 total bases.  The long-standing American League record of 16 total bases in one game was shared by six players.  Who did Josh surpass?  Well, two of the six are Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb.  Not too shabby Mr. Hamilton!

Always humble, Josh described his performance as "a blessing."  Afterwards he said, "Just seeing how excited my teammates were, then touching home plate and going into the dugout, the reaction from them was the best part."  

He went on to say, "You don't go out and try to do that.  You just try to do the best you can, and if you break a record ... great.  You don't try to do that, you try to be the best player you can be for yourself and your team."

I've always thought of the Rangers as a very cohesive team, one that has hung together and stuck together through some heartbreaking losses and trying times.  That makes their successes, both team and individual, even sweeter.

"The best individual performance I have ever seen," said Rangers infielder Michael Young. "I've never seen anything like it.  It was fun to be a part of.  He's an incredible player."

He continued on to say, "I don't know if we'll ever see something like that again."

At the end of the season, Josh Hamilton will be a free agent.  Nolan Ryan, you better find a way to re-sign that boy!

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Here's the list of the Elite 16.

    Player                   Team                           Date

Josh Hamilton	Texas	05/08/2012
Carlos Delgado	Toronto	09/25/2003
Shawn Green	Los Angeles	05/23/2002
Mike Cameron	Seattle	05/02/2002
Mark Whiten	St. Louis	09/07/1993
Bob Horner	Atlanta	07/06/1986
Mike Schmidt	Philadelphia	04/17/1976
Willie Mays	San Francisco	04/30/1961
Rocky Colavito	Cleveland	06/10/1959
Joe Adcock	Milwaukee Braves	07/31/1954
Gil Hodges	Brooklyn	08/31/1950
Pat Seerey	Chicago	07/18/1948
Chuck Klein	Philadelphia	07/10/1936
Lou Gehrig	New York	06/03/1932
Ed Delahanty	Philadelphia	07/13/1896
Bobby Lowe	Boston Beaneaters	05/30/1894