The Rangers’ Josh Hamilton has been lost to injury yet again after a hard landing at home plate left him with a fractured humerus. After looking at his career numbers, I’m struck by how much playing time he’s missed. He’s now a superstar, a household name, and one of the very most feared hitters in baseball, but he turns 31 in May and he’s only played one season of more than 133 games.
Josh Hamilton’s Injury History: A Four-Year Odyssey Of Aches And Pains
Thanks to this injury, he isn’t likely to hit that mark this season, either. I looked up Hamilton’s injury history since 2007, and it’s a long list covering nearly every body part. Take a look (disabled list stays are in bold):
5-19-07, 15-day DL, gasteroenteritis
7-8-07, 15-day DL, sprained wrist
9-6-07, day-to-day, hamstring soreness (listed again as “strain” on 9-13-07)
6-25-08, day-to-day, knee inflammation
6-26-08, day-to-day, hand contusion (hit by pitch)
8-1-08, day-to-day, dizziness
8-27-08, day-to-day, abscessed tooth (listed again as “pain” on 8-30-08)
9-11-08, day-to-day, foot contusion
3-2-08, day-to-day, Achilles strain
4-22-09, day-to-day, trunk contusion
4-27-09, 15-day DL, trunk strain
5-18-09, day-to-day, groin strain (listed again as “soreness” on 5-21-09)
6-1-09, 15-day DL, sports hernia
9-3-09, day-to-day, lower back (listed again on 9-27-09)
2-24-10, day-to-day, shoulder contusion
3-16-10, day-to-day, hand contusion (hit by pitch)
6-5-10, day-to-day, knee soreness
6-23-10, day-to-day, hamstring tightness
7-31-10, day-to-day, knee inflammation (patellar tendinitis, listed again on 8-2-10 and 9-1-10)
9-5-10, day-to-day, ribcage fracture
4-13-11, 15-day DL, humerus fracture
This, of course, doesn’t include his 2001 car accident, or his years-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. We could wonder what sort of numbers Hamilton would have racked up by now had he possessed the physical resilience/luck of Cal Ripken, or we could appreciate his story for what it is: that of a fellow who sizes up literally dozens of setbacks, flips them the bird, and wrecks American League pitching anyway.
For more on Hamilton and the Rangers, check out SB Nation’s Rangers blog, Lone Star Ball.
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