Josh Hamilton

"Drugs had destroyed my body and my mind and my spirit. I could no longer experience happiness or surprise. I couldn't remember the last time I felt spontaneous joy. Why was I even alive?" Josh Hamilton in his autobiography, "Beyond Belief" WESTLAKE, Texas -- It was 2 a.m. when Josh Hamilton, strung out on crack cocaine, his once-robust 6-foot-4, 230-pound body withered to 180 pounds, most of his $3.96-million signing bonus squandered on booze and drugs, staggered up the steps to his grandmother's house in Raleigh, N.C. Homeless, dirty and barely coherent, Hamilton was a few days removed from a suicide attempt -- an overdose of pills -- and in the fourth year of a harrowing drug addiction that caused the former can't-miss prospect to be banned from baseball for three full seasons.

When Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb was struck in his right ear by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City's Eric Hosmer on Saturday, he became the fifth pitcher since September to be hit in the head by a batted ball. Cobb was hospitalized overnight and will be out at least a week. And though Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen says every pitcher is aware of the risks when he takes the mound, that doesn't make the replays any easier to watch. "It makes you cringe," he said. "It's tough. " Jepsen is fortunate never to have been hit, but he says it's not hard to understand why it's happening so frequently.

Josh Hamilton said he was assured by doctors this week that the allergies that lead to occasional sinus and throat discomfort and dizziness were not caused or exacerbated by his heavy cocaine use from 2002-2005. "You have a hallway up the middle of your nose and sinus cavities on each side," said Hamilton, whose addiction to drugs and alcohol led to a ban from baseball from 2003-2005. "When you breathe air, it goes up and down the hallway. "Same thing when you do drugs, it goes up the hallway, not into the sinus cavities.

— Left fielder J.B. Shuck had a nice six-week run as a fill-in for injured starter Peter Bourjos , hitting .259 with 10 runs and 11 runs batted in and playing solid defense in 34 games, but it ended on a sour note Sunday. The Angels scored twice in the eighth inning against Boston on Shuck's two-out, bases-loaded single to cut the lead to 10-5, and they had runners on first and second when Mike Trout flared a single to right. It appeared Chris Iannetta would score from second, but the slow-running catcher was held by third base coach Dino Ebel . Shuck, who was on first, thought Iannetta would score, so he rounded second aggressively and headed to third.

The Angels held Josh Hamilton out of their starting lineup Monday, the second time in 16 days they have given the struggling outfielder what Manager Mike Scioscia calls "a recharge day. " Hamilton is batting .216, the lowest average of any regular in the American League West. The Houston Astros started left-hander Erik Bedard on Monday; Hamilton is batting .169 against left-handers, with no home runs and 24 strikeouts in 59 at-bats. "This is a half-step back that maybe gets him to take two steps forward," Scioscia said.

BOSTON -- In another effort to jump-start Josh Hamilton's lifeless bat, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia moved the struggling right fielder from the fifth to the second spot, between Mike Trout and Albert Pujols , on Saturday. The hope is that Hamilton, who is hitting .216 with eight home runs, 18 runs batted in and 63 strikeouts and has been particularly vulnerable to off-speed pitches, will see more fastballs with Trout on base. Torii Hunter thrived in the second spot last season, batting .343 with nine home runs and 69 RBIs in 85 games after moving there in early June.

CINCINNATI - Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton, who had expressed curiosity about how he would be greeted in Cincinnati, received a warm ovation from fans here before the season opener between the Angels and Reds. Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, who starred for the rival St. Louis Cardinals, was booed loudly. Hamilton made his major league debut for the Reds on April 2, 2007, as a pinch-hitter. The Reds had acquired him four months earlier, in the Rule 5 draft. Hamilton had grown up in North Carolina and had spent the previous seven years of his career in the Tampa Bay organization.

Mike Scioscia dropped struggling right fielder Josh Hamilton from the cleanup spot to fifth in the batting order for Monday night's game against the Texas Rangers, but the Angels manager said the move is not permanent. Until Hamilton, batting .176 with 23 strikeouts in 68 at-bats before Monday, snaps out of his funk, first baseman Mark Trumbo will bat cleanup against left-handed starters. Texas was scheduled to start lefty Derek Holland on Monday. Hamilton is expected to return to the fourth spot against right-handers Alexi Ogando and Yu Darvish Tuesday and Wednesday night.

The Angels have no official comment on Josh Hamilton, but that has not stopped at least one of their employees to drop the slugger's name in a sales pitch. In a voice mail message Thursday afternoon -- a message replayed for a Times reporter -- the employee tries to persuade a fan to renew his season-ticket package. "I'm sure you heard we just signed Josh Hamilton today, so things are getting pretty crazy," the employee said. "If you are interested, give me a call back as soon as possible.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Hamilton said he calls 'em as he sees 'em. "I speak the truth," Hamilton said. "I don't sugarcoat it. People can see through that. I don't want to take back anything I said. " However, at a news conference before his first game here as a member of the rival Angels, Hamilton came pretty close to taking back his spring training comment about the Dallas-Fort Worth area being a "football town. " Rangers fans, already grumbling after Hamilton did not give their team a chance to match the Angels' $125-million offer, did not care for Hamilton's description of their town.

BOSTON -- In another effort to jump-start Josh Hamilton's lifeless bat, Angels Manager Mike Scioscia moved the struggling right fielder from the fifth to the second spot, between Mike Trout and Albert Pujols , on Saturday. The hope is that Hamilton, who is hitting .216 with eight home runs, 18 runs batted in and 63 strikeouts and has been particularly vulnerable to off-speed pitches, will see more fastballs with Trout on base. Torii Hunter thrived in the second spot last season, batting .343 with nine home runs and 69 RBIs in 85 games after moving there in early June.

The Angels held Josh Hamilton out of their starting lineup Monday, the second time in 16 days they have given the struggling outfielder what Manager Mike Scioscia calls "a recharge day. " Hamilton is batting .216, the lowest average of any regular in the American League West. The Houston Astros started left-hander Erik Bedard on Monday; Hamilton is batting .169 against left-handers, with no home runs and 24 strikeouts in 59 at-bats. "This is a half-step back that maybe gets him to take two steps forward," Scioscia said.

Just the facts: The Angels lost three consecutive games to the Houston Astros. And the diagnosis, from Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson: "We've played like trash against them. " The Angels' season took another dreary step toward the dumper Sunday, with a 5-4 loss to the Astros. In the first three games of the series - the Astros go for the sweep Monday - the Angels have scored seven runs. The Astros are the only team in the majors with an earned-run average above 5.00.

Josh Hamilton is batting .216 overall, .146 with runners in scoring position. He has driven in 18 runs, the same as Alberto Callaspo and Chris Iannetta . He is on pace to strike out 173 times, a career high. This is not what Hamilton or the Angels had in mind for the debut season of a five-year, $125-million contract. In the first week of the season, the Texas Rangers walked Albert Pujols intentionally several times to get to Hamilton. On Sunday, with the tying run on base in the eighth inning, the Astros pitched carefully to Mark Trumbo with Hamilton on deck and first base open, walking Trumbo on five pitches.

It would have been a gutsy move, one many fans would have applauded but would have risked ruffling the feathers of right fielder Josh Hamilton , the 2010 American League most valuable player and five-time All-Star. With the Angels trailing, 6-3, runners on first and third and two outs in the eighth inning Friday night, Houston Manager Bo Porter summoned left-hander Travis Blackley to face Hamilton, the potential tying run. Hamilton is struggling - he entered Saturday with a .220 average, eight homers, 18 runs batted in and 58 strikeouts - but he's been even more impotent against lefties, with a .169 average, no homers, two RBIs and 24 strikeouts in 59 at-bats.

Mike Scioscia will ignore a growing wave of public opposition to moving Mike Trout from center field back to left field, the Angels manager confirming Thursday that Peter Bourjos , on the disabled list because of a left hamstring strain, will return to center when he is activated. "When Peter comes back, he's going to play center field," Scioscia said of Bourjos, who expects to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class-A Inland Empire on Monday and hopes to join the Angels on June 10 in Baltimore.

Writers from around Tribune Co. will discuss Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton, who will become a free agent during the off-season. Check back throughout the day for their responses and join the conversation with a comment of your own. Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times The question is rooted in another question: What kind of trust has Josh Hamilton earned? The Texas Rangers' superstar outfielder has overcome alcohol and chemical dependency issues to become the player scouts first projected in making him the No. 1 amateur pick in 1999, winning an American League MVP in 2010 and leading his team to back-to-back World Series appearances.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers got the best of former slugger Josh Hamilton and the Angels on Friday, with Ian Kinsler hitting a two-out, run-scoring single to right field in the eighth inning to lift the Rangers to a 3-2 victory at the Ballpark in Arlington. Craig Gentry sparked the winning rally with a one-out bloop single to right off Angels left-hander Scott Downs. The speedy center fielder stole second and, after pinch-hitter Jeff Baker struck out, Kinsler lined a hard single to right.

At 7:10 p.m. Wednesday at Angel Stadium, they announced the Angels' starting outfield: They called out two of the biggest names in baseball and J.B. Shuck. Shuck was starting his 24th of the last 28 games in left field, most often in the company of Mike Trout in center and Josh Hamilton in right. Shuck is like the guy who snuck backstage at the opera to get autographs and they let him sing. He is a household name only in his own household and in those households inhabited by rabid Angels fans.

Peter Bourjos' rehabilitation from a left hamstring strain moved into high gear Wednesday when the Angels center fielder ran from home to first, first to third and first to home at near full speed for the first time since suffering his injury April 29. "He's made some big strides this week," Manager Mike Scioscia said of Bourjos, who was batting .313 when he was injured in the Angels' 19-inning loss to Oakland on April 29. "No doubt,...