withallyourmind.net

One of the most memorable moments in my sports-watching history (which is quite extensive) occured on Monday night as I sat before the screen watching Josh Hamilton blast ball after ball over the Yankee Stadium wall and into the anticipating hands of fan. I’ve never seen such a prodigious display of power in my years of watching baseball. By the time the first round was over, Hamilton had hit 28 home runs, an all-time record, far outdistancing the closest competitor who had 8 home runs. This feat in itself is astounding, but adding to the spectacle is the story of Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton was the number one overall draft pick in the 1999 baseball draft. He was drafted out of high school by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2001, injuries led to a downward spiral in which he wasted much of his $4,000,000 signing bonus on drugs and alcohol. He was officially out of baseball. Here’s what happened a few years later according to Josh in this ESPN piece:

Within my first week of sobriety in October 2005 — after I showed up at my grandmother’s house in Raleigh in the middle of the night, coming off a crack binge — I had the most haunting dream. I was fighting the devil, an awful-looking thing. I had a stick or a bat or something, and every time I hit the devil, he’d fall and get back up. Over and over I hit him, until I was exhausted and he was still standing.

I woke up in a sweat, as if I’d been truly fighting, and the terror that gripped me makes that dream feel real to this day. I’d been alone for so long, alone with the fears and emotions I worked so hard to kill. I’m not embarrassed to admit that after I woke up that night, I walked down the hall to my grandmother’s room and crawled under the covers with her. The devil stayed out of my dreams for seven months after that. I stayed clean and worked hard and tried to put my marriage and my life back together. I got word in June 2006 that I’d been reinstated by Major League Baseball, and a few weeks afterward, the devil reappeared.

It was the same dream, with an important difference. I would hit him and he would bounce back up, the ugliest and most hideous creature you could imagine. This devil seemed unbeatable; I couldn’t knock him out. But just when I felt like giving up, I felt a presence by my side. I turned my head and saw Jesus, battling alongside me. We kept fighting, and I was filled with strength. The devil didn’t stand a chance.

Congratulations to Josh Hamilton for his success in the home run derby, but more importantly, in the contest of life. He has given his life to Christ, and it is to Christ that he gives all the credit for where he is today. His story inspires many others who struggle with addictions.