Sports

IN BETWEEN INNINGS

Josh Hamilton’s return to Texas wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.  

When the former Ranger returned with his new Angels team, he was welcomed with many boos.  

Hamilton left the Rangers last offseason during free agency when he signed a contract with the Los Angeles Angels.  The controversy started, because Hamilton said that he would give the Rangers the first opportunity to offer him a contract.
It wasn’t long into the hot stove season though when Hamilton signed his contract with the Angels.
Hamilton then continued to cause bad feelings when he made remarks about Dallas and the state of Texas, as a whole.
“Texas, especially Dallas, has always been a football town,” Hamilton said in an interview with CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reporter Gina Miller.  “They’re supportive, but they also got spoiled at the same time pretty quickly.”
Hamilton was referring to the fact that he led the Rangers to two straight American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.
When Hamilton returned to Arlington with the Angels last weekend, he was serenaded with boos and chants of “baseball town!”
Apparently, Hamilton thought the crowd was going to do nothing but cheer when he walked up to the plate.
“Rough crowd.  It was a little more hectic than I expected.  The crowd was persistent,” Hamilton said in a USA Today article.
Hamilton also said in an interview on TV that he was disappointed because he had put in a lot of hard work and done good things while at Texas.  

My problem with this is that Hamilton shouldn’t have been so dejected and disappointed in the crowd at Texas.  I don’t blame Hamilton for leaving Texas if he felt like they were dragging their feet during the free agency.  Baseball is a business, and Hamilton needed to make sure he had job security.
He shouldn’t have made the comments about Dallas and Texas being a “football town” though, if he didn’t want a crowd in, of all places, the state of Texas to come down hard on him.

Most fans there already feel like he turned his back on the team by going to their biggest rival in the offseason.  Add that with his comments and you knew it would be explosive.  I would be right in the middle of the booing and chanting if I had been a Texas Rangers fan.
A man being traded and booed is uncalled for.  He had no hand in being traded.  To sign with a rival in the offseason and then make comments on the town, however is a different story.
I think Hamilton is a fantastic player, but he can’t put the Texas crowd at fault on this one.  It was his decision and remarks.  Suck it up, and play baseball.