You just won the division and are headed to the playoffs for the first time in your career. What are you going to do now?
For most players the answer would be to go into the clubhouse and celebrate with your friends. Champagne will be flowing and the festivities will continue for the remainder of the night.
This was not the case for Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. After his team clinched a playoff berth, something that is owed to the masterful performance of Hamilton, he chose to skip the post-game elation and instead go with members of the opposing team to discuss his faith with the Oakland fans, a discussion that Hamilton had committed to ahead of time.
Hamilton is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. After years of addiction and abuse to himself, he finally got clean through religion, throwing himself completely into his own personal faith.
When the idea of celebratory alcohol came up, Hamilton chose to avoid temptation and instead share his faith, the thing that had allowed him to get past that part of his life.
It would have been easy to go to the clubhouse. It would have been easy to grab a bottle and cover his teammates. It would have been easy to be doused in champagne by others. But, most importantly, it would have been easy to relapse and get deep into trouble that he had worked so hard to get himself away from.
Having the courage to admit that something that you want to do may bring about a problem is admirable. Having the ability to avoid situations that will cause events that may harm you takes an incredible amount of maturity and self-respect.
Hamilton's ability to use spirituality and faith to keep his life on track makes him one of my biggest heroes. I have so much respect and admiration for the experiences that he has endured, and the ability for him to take responsibility for his actions and learn from them makes him the type of individual who is a good role model for not only baseball fans, but all people.
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