ARLINGTON, Texas -- When Josh Hamilton is introduced before tonight's All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, the reception he'll receive will be humbling.
Oh, sure, the votes of the 3.7 million fans who wanted him in the American League's starting lineup for Tuesday's game were nice. As was the support of his peers, who gave Hamilton more All-Star votes than any other AL outfielder.
But the cheers Hamilton will be listening for most closely will come from the family section, where his wife, Katie, his parents and his in-laws will be sitting. Because they are the ones whom Hamilton pulled into his own private hell during a well-publicized four-year struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.
They are the ones who watched Hamilton's once-powerful body wither to a scrawny 180 pounds. They are the ones who watched his considerable future and fortune waste away. And they are the ones who watched him, on more than one occasion, cheat death.
"We all know the dark rooms he's been in," said his manager, Ron Washington.
So tonight, Hamilton said, is for the people who were in those dark rooms with him, who know just how far he had to travel to get to Yankee Stadium.
"Everything I've been through, they've been through with me," he said. "So for them to see me in Yankee Stadium in the All-Star game will be a great thing. It will be a little more emotional when the family is actually sitting in the stands."
Nor is Hamilton the only Texas-sized story of triumph and redemption on the AL roster. Rangers teammate Milton Bradley, who has waged his own dark battles with a volatile temper and self-destructive personality during a nine-year big league career, was also chosen to the All-Star team by the league's players and coaches.
"For Milton to be voted in by his peers, I'm sure, is a big thing for him," said Rangers teammate Michael Young, a five-time All-Star. "To get some recognition, to be respected by his peers for the way he plays the game, I'm sure it really is a humbling, flattering thing for him."
They make an odd couple: Hamilton, the square-jawed, soft-spoken white country boy from North Carolina and Bradley, the fiery, outgoing African American from Long Beach Poly High. But they are joined now in the heart of the Texas batting order, baseball's most potent, where Hamilton, the majors' RBI leader, hits third and Bradley, the AL leader in on-base and slugging percentage, bats fourth.
