Josh Hamilton: Slugging the Rangers back to respectability

Tonight Josh Hamilton is 2 for 2 including his 9th home run of the season, and he’s already nearly equaled his RBI total from last year (45 so far this year, he had 47 last season). He’s also hitting .302 on the campaign as of this second.

This will always be one of the best tales in baseball history, but quietly the Rangers aren’t an embarrasment anymore. Hamilton has quietly mixed in as a huge force as the Rangers primary 3-hole hitter. They’re 20-22 on the season, and are looking to be just a game under .500 if they can hang onto victory tonight.

So how will this run for Hamilton and the Rangers end? We can only sit back and imagine what might ahve been if the Reds would have found a way to have kept Hamilton; even if it meant not acquiring Edison Volquez. Hamilton is a player that the Reds could have plugged into centerfield and built around for the next decade. Of course, they did not forsee Hamilton being this durable and depenable; which is another reason we’ll always hate former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky.

It’s still nice to see Hamilton do what he’s doing. We’ll always have a soft spot in our hearts for him, because he treated not only us but everyone we saw him come in contact with with the utmost respect. Keep it going Natural.

Update: Wouldn’t you know that Hamilton would do something special since we posted. Hamilton has hit a 3 run homer for his 2nd of the game, now totaling 48 RBI on the season, topping last seasons total. He has done better than an RBI per game, now with 48 in just 43 games played.