July 15, 2008
ENTIRELY TYPICAL OF THE PASTIME...:
Hamilton's performance memorable ( RICHARD JUSTICE, 7/15/08, Houston Chronicle)
His swing is sweet, his power effortless.Josh Hamilton was cheered by a sellout crowd and mobbed by his teammates as he added another chapter to a season sprinkled with magic dust.
Hamilton had one of those performances that will be the measuring stick for all future ones in the State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday night at Yankee Stadium. [...]
Back from drug and alcohol addiction that derailed his career, Hamilton broke Bobby Abreu's mark for one round. Abreu hit 24 home runs in the first round in 2005 at Detroit's Comerica Park.
Hamilton's tale of redemption has made national news this season, and he retold a story Monday afternoon about a vivid dream he had two years ago — he was being interviewed at Yankee Stadium after participating in the Home Run Derby.
Mind you, his dream came while Hamilton was banned from Major League Baseball and before this year's All-Star Game was awarded to the venerable ballpark in its final season.
"Obviously, the dream, I didn't know how many I would hit," Hamilton said in a TV interview after his huge first-round performance. "I just feel blessed to have played here."
With the crowd of 53,716 chanting his name — undoubtedly warmed by his improbable journey to stardom — Hamilton connected on 13 consecutive first-round cuts before falling short of the fences on his final two.
"I got chills," he said.
...that an exhibition event at an exhibition game was more memorable than any other '08 sporting event except Tiger's Open.
Really, OJ? Better than the Celts comeback in Game 4 against the Lakers? Better than Mario Chalmers shot in the NCAA's? Better than the Men's final at Wimbledon? Better than Super Bowl 42?
I really enjoyed Hamilton's show in the Derby last night, but this has been a tremendous year for sports memories, and I'm not sure this one will last as long as the others...
Posted by: Foos at July 15, 2008 12:18 PMYou can add in just about every match Turkey played in Euro 2008 . . . not to mention the final day of the Premiership season, where the title could've gone either way up until the 80 something minute of the matches.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at July 15, 2008 1:04 PMBetter than the ending of the Patriots' bid for the first undefeated season since 1972?
Posted by: Brandon at July 15, 2008 1:14 PMThe Pats undefeated season, the most dominant in pro football history, was a memorable '07 story.
No one cares about basketball or tennis.
Posted by: oj at July 15, 2008 3:22 PMI see, so only stories that glorify New England teams are memorable.
In my office, they were still talking about the NBA playoffs and Finals. Even though I insisted that basketball ended when the Suns were eliminated, no one wanted to talk about the Diamondbacks.
I agree that no one cares about tennis, though.
Posted by: Brandon at July 15, 2008 4:56 PMNo one in New England even cared about the Celts. Baseball had started.
Posted by: oj at July 15, 2008 8:21 PMYou live in an enclave that is baseball-mad. The rest of the country isn't that way.
Posted by: Brandon at July 15, 2008 9:54 PMWhat rest of the country?
Posted by: oj at July 15, 2008 10:18 PMBrandon:
Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Atlanta? You won't throw those guys a bone?
Even my hometown of Omaha goes nuts for the College World Series once a year. Basically every male resident is watching or attending.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at July 18, 2008 7:20 PM
Red Wings fans in Michigan would say "Hamilton who?".
Posted by: JimBobElrod at July 15, 2008 10:54 AM