Which is a better story? Options

[Oasis]

Josh Hamilton vs. Rick Ankiel.

Hamilton went #1 overall to the Devil Rays in 1999 and Ankiel was drafted fifth (and given, at the time, the largest signing bonus in history) by the Cards in 1997. Both took a wild and unconventional ride to stardom in 2007

Hamilton tore up the minors his first year, but in 2000 he started to have injury problems. Injuries slowed him down and in in 2002, tested positive for cocaine and heroin and was suspended. From 2002-2005, he was in and out of drug rehab 8 times, attempted suicide three times, and was out of baseball. He finally kicked his drug habit in October of 2005, and in 2006 was reinstated by the MLB. He ended up playing in about 15 minor league games for an independent league in 06 before suffering a season ending injury. In 2007, he finally got to make his big league debut with the Reds (how he ended up with the Reds is irrelevant and I'm too lazy to explain. Look it up). If not for one of the best offensive rookie seasons in baseball history by Ryan Braun, Hamilton would have probably been Rookie of the Year. He was traded to Texas in the offseason and is currently leading the league in most offensive categories and has a realistic shot at winning the Triple Crown.

Ankiel took a different path to stardom. In 1999 he was arguably the best pitcher in the minor leagues. Unlike Hamilton, he actually got a chance with the Cardinals and was a great pitcher in 1999 and 2000. But control problems and psychological issues caught up with him and he was sent down. After several years of struggling with command and never making it back up to the bigs, he abandoned pitching and tried to make it as a hitter in 2005. Two years later in 2007, he finally made it back to St Louis as a power hitting, rifle armed centerfielder. He's now one of the best hitters in the game and plays Gold Glove defense in CF


Although both stories are pretty incredible, I think Hamilton's is better. For anyone who's struggled with addiction or depression, you know how difficult it is to overcome. Not to mention the added pressure of being called the "biggest bust in major league draft history." For those of you too young to remember, Hamilton was the most hyped draft prospect since Arod. For years, he was the laughingstock of baseball and the poster boy for how not to live your life. He overcame it all and he's now the superstar everyone thought he'd be....It just came 8 years after everyone expected

[impala454]

they're both too long

[woody]

[Aaron]

Ugh, you're asking me to choose between a Ranger and a Cardinal?

No thanks, brother.

[Oasis]

How do you hold a job when you have no ability to read anything longer than a few lines?

[Epic]

i think that the ankiel story is better. part because i'm a cards fan, part because he switched his game around completely to succeed.

I also hate when former drug addicts get to make money as motivational speakers (just an analogy) for beating their addiction. Yeah its tough, but should the fact that you were a loser addict who got lucky enough to have your rehab paid for doesn't mean that you deserve to tell others how to succeed. And yes, I know that's not what Hamilton is doing full time, but he is making these appearances already.

[woody]

How do you hold a job when you have no ability to read anything longer than a few lines?

cause what i read isn't about which ball players cock i want to suck cause of the injuries/difficulties he's had to overcome to play.

[Oasis]

cause what i read isn't about which ball players cock i want to suck cause of the injuries/difficulties he's had to overcome to play.

Adding nothing of substance to a thread, a Woody Techsans tradition since 2/23/06

Seriously, why bother posting in a thread you have zero interest in? To show everyone how much of a douche you are? I don't get it

[woody]

oh don't get your vagina all in a wad cause i don't like your thread. there are 2 other posts in here that didn't give a shit either

[James]

Gonna have to go with Ankiel for pretty much the same reasons as Blue, but I'm taking mine one step further and saying the dumbass should've been smart enough to avoid the situation in the first place. The only kind of role model he's going to be is, "Hey kids, look at me, I did drugs pretty hardcore and everything turned out alright in the end. You can too!"

Psychological problems...well, some people can't suck it up, I guess. Could give a rats ass about that, too. The guy completely changed his game from pitcher to hard-hitting CF - this is the story to me.

[Oasis]

Gonna have to go with Ankiel for pretty much the same reasons as Blue, but I'm taking mine one step further and saying the dumbass should've been smart enough to avoid the situation in the first place. The only kind of role model he's going to be is, "Hey kids, look at me, I did drugs pretty hardcore and everything turned out alright in the end. You can too!"

Psychological problems...well, some people can't suck it up, I guess. Could give a rats ass about that, too. The guy completely changed his game from pitcher to hard-hitting CF - this is the story to me.

I'm not defending drugs seeing as I fucking hate them and everyone who does them. But everyone makes mistakes, be it substance abuse, bad judgement, whatever. Everyone faces tough times, self imposed or otherwise. It's how/whether you can get over those problems

I see Ankiel as a better baseball story and Hamilton as a better life story

[Oasis]

Hamilton put on the best display of hitting I've ever seen. You can say whatever the fuck you want about him and his past struggles, but if he's not a role model, I don't know who is. He fucked up and learned from it. He goes to local schools on his off days and gives speeches about the dangers of drugs and alcohol



Bow down to a nigga that's greater than you. It's really unfortunate he ended up losing in the final round, even though he had more total homers in the FIRST ROUND than Morneau did in the entire Derby. The inane scoring system actually ended up hurting him. Oh well, now everyone knows who Josh Hamilton is

[impala454]

he's an awesome guy for sure but the home run derby is stupid IMHO. it's just batting practice and gets boring after about the 3rd homer.

[Oasis]

he's an awesome guy for sure but the home run derby is stupid IMHO. it's just batting practice and gets boring after about the 3rd homer.

I've always thought of the HR derby as boring, mainly because of the camera angles used. Seriously, when they pan to the ball in the air I can't tell if it's going out of the stadium or it's a lazy fly to right center. I guess you can kind of tell by Chris Berman having an orgasm on air every time someone hits a homer, but I'd kinda like to know without that

[impala454]

yeah they keep trying to make it sound interesting. and when berkman was up his second time, and they basically IGNORED him the whole at bat because they were yapping that really pissed me off.