Hamilton Gets A Second Chance

Josh Hamilton was supposed to be a star. A North Carolina kid with Justin Timberlake  looks and astonishing skills at the plate and on the mound, he was so focused on the game he couldn't be bothered to go to the senior prom. But then he discovered cocaine. The drugs cost him three years of his baseball career.

Now he’s back. Writer Jeff Pearlman fell hard for Hamilton eight years ago: Here was a talent that could make a sportswriter giddy as a kid again. He watched miserably as his golden boy turned into tattooed drug addict. Now Pearlman's  got his fingers crossed as Hamilton reemerges as a force for the Reds. (More Josh Hamilton stories.)