Josh Hamilton hit a game trying two-run homer in the ninth inning to help his Los Angeles Angels eventually beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5. Hamilton was especially appreciative of the homer because it gave reporters something to ask him about other than his alleged use of smokeless tobacco, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Most baseball players would never come under scrutiny for chewing tobacco; if anything chew has been glorified over the years. Due to his past problems with alcohol and drug addictions Hamilton is held up to higher scrutiny than most players. Hamilton has also had noted issues with chewing tobacco, issues that some speculate caused his swoon down the stretch while playing for the Texas Rangers last year.
After Hamilton quit using smokeless tobacco he started using caffeine excessively; Hamilton missed three games in September because of blurry vision caused by his caffeine use, according to the Los Angeles Times.
When the issue came up this past week that Hamilton may have resumed chewing tobacco he was hounded by the media wanting an answer, an answer that Hamilton did not provide.
"I just don't have any comments on it," Hamilton told reporters. "It's one of those things where if I give you guys any kind of story, your story's going to be different from his story, and his story is going to be different from his story. And then other people who aren't in this clubhouse with you guys are going to take your story, and it's going to be an absolute mess. No, nothing is coming from these lips."
Luckily for Hamilton the only thing people wanted to ask him about on Thursday was the Edward Mujica changeup that he smashed to straight away center field.
"It was just a good feeling to hear that sound come off your bat," Hamilton told the Associated Press. "It couldn't happen on a better day for the crowd on the Fourth of July. They got a little more fireworks and a little more bang for their buck than they thought they were going to get. It was cool. Anytime you can contribute like that, especially in the late innings and have a comeback like that, it's a pretty special feeling."
As long as Hamilton keeps crushing pitches he should be able to avoid having to answer questions he doesn't want to answer.
