NORMAN — I wrote a column in 2007 about a relatively unknown baseball player named Josh Hamilton, who then had yet to appear in his first major league game.
It was the same Josh Hamilton named Most Valuable Player of this year’s American League Championship Series. You can watch him this week in the World Series.
Many are familiar with Hamilton's story. After being drafted first overall in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, he developed a horrible drug addiction that drove him out of baseball and into several unsuccessful trips to rehab.
Hamilton finally turned things around after he became a born again Christian and embraced Jesus.
The Cincinnati Reds, and his current team, the Texas Rangers, put in systems of extreme controls to keep him away from drugs, booze and other temptations.
In 2008, Sports Illustrated wrote a 2008 cover story about how Rangers coach Johnny Narron served as Hamilton's adult “baby-sitter." He stayed with him almost every moment of every day and did things for him, like handle his spending money. The only time Hamilton went out for an evening without Narron was the only time since his conversion he ever got into trouble.
Like any recovering addict, Hamilton knows he is one drink or one drug away from falling off the wagon. He also knows staying clean allowed him to lead the Texas Rangers to their first World Series.
George Versey wrote a wonderful article about Hamilton, comparing him to Mickey Mantle. Great column - wrong superstar comparison.
In my 2007 column, I compared him to Pete Rose.
At the time, I wasn’t happy with Rose. He was my boyhood hero and a friend of my dad’s. He was the player every child in the Cincinnati area idolized.
Rose waited until after his playing days were over to find his addiction - gambling. But it destroyed his life as severely as drugs almost destroyed Hamilton's.
Hamilton, Rose never found God or his way into a treatment facility. He lived in decades of denial.
A few years ago, when baseball seemed ready to forgive Rose of his sins, he screwed it up by releasing a self-serving autobiography. It wasn’t an apology. It was a money grab.
Like many, I was finally ready to wash my hands of Rose. Until this year.
Producer Terry Lukemire and the people at Barking Fish Entertainment put together a fascinating documentary, "4192: The Crowning of the Hit King," about Rose and his successful quest to break Ty Cobb’s record for most base hits in a career.
The award-winning movie is in theaters in cities, such as Cincinnati and Philadelphia, where Rose played. It reminds us of the unique excitement Rose’s chase brought to baseball.
I’ve been a baseball fan since age 9, but I've never seen a player play harder and with more determination than Rose.
Like Hamilton, Rose made it to the World Series. Six times.
The movie "4192" gives us an inside look at Rose’s winning determination and fighting spirit. It reminds us how his chase to break Cobb’s record was one of the most captivating sports stories in history.
(A disclaimer: My first college editor at Eastern Kentucky University was filmmaker Mark Turner. He was involved with the movie, and my nephew, Nick McNay, is serving as an unpaid intern for him this semester.)
Rose's pride and fighting spirit were also his curse. If he had been honest and sincerely showed remorse, I suspect, like Hamilton, baseball would have given him another chance. Instead he stubbornly lied, wrongly denied and kept blaming others.
An addict needs to bottom out. An addict needs to understand his actions hurt more than himself. They hurt others, too. It’s taken a long time but I think Rose finally gets it.
The 25th anniversary of hit number 4192 was Sept. 11 of this year. Because it came on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, not many eyes were focused on Cincinnati. Rose gave a speech that was mostly overlooked.
He finally showed remorse. He talked about how his selfish behavior had disrespected and hurt the game of baseball. At a dinner with many former teammates, Rose broke down and cried.
Tough guy Pete Rose is not the kind of guy who cries. Ever. It finally hit him as to who he had hurt and how badly he had hurt them.
I would love for baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to embrace Rose’s remorse and allow him to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. He turns 70 next year. It would be the right time to allow modern fans to understand the positive contributions he made to the game.
With or without the Hall of Fame, it is great to see Rose “bottom out” and start to make amends for his actions. It reminds us that every person, no matter how serious his wrongs, is capable of redemption and, ultimately, deserving of forgiveness.
When people truly seek redemption and are put in a positive and supportive environment, they can change their lives and make the world a better place.
Ask all of those people who have been given grace by going through AA or a similar program. Better yet, ask Josh Hamilton as he walks onto the field to play in the World Series.
Don McNay is a financial consultant, chairman of McNay Settlement Group in Richmond, Ky., and a columnist for the Richmond Register. CNHI News Service distributes his column.
