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Nolan Ryan on Josh Hamilton quitting chewing tobacco

The Rangers outfielder quit chewing tobacco during the 2012 season. The Rangers president says that was a bad idea.

Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton quit chewing tobacco during the 2012 season. Hamilton was quoted as saying, during the season, that quitting might have been partly responsible for his second-half slump.

Rangers president Nolan Ryan told a Dallas radio show he thought Hamilton’s timing was bad:

“His timing on quitting smokeless tobacco couldn’t have been worse,” Ryan told Dallas radio program “Galloway and Company.” “You would’ve liked to have thought that if he was going to do that that he would’ve done it in the off-season or waited until this off-season to do it. So the drastic effect that it had on him and the year that he was having up to that point in time that he did quit, you’d have liked that he would’ve taken a different approach to that. So those issues caused unrest, and it’s unfortunate that it happened and the timing was such as it was.“The Rangers have recently stated that they will let Hamilton test free agency. After Ryan’s comments, it would seem that the possibilities of Hamilton returning to Texas are becoming more and more remote.

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