Ian Kinsler says he didn’t know Josh Hamilton was drinking, nor did anyone else

When the details began emerging about Josh Hamilton’s relapse earlier this month, many people were outraged to learn that he was with Ian Kinsler the night he decided to drink. Those who jumped to conclusions wondered, “What type of friend and teammate is Kinsler?” As Hamilton explained during his statement after the relapse, he was extremely deceptive the night he had what he described as a “weak moment.” Over the weekend, Kinsler reiterated the fact that he was unaware Hamilton had been drinking.

“Josh is taking care of it,” Kinsler said according to the Star-Telegram. “He’s open and up-front about it. It’s not really my place to talk about it. I know I was there for part of the night. I’ve kind of gotten over it. I’m focused on the season. I support Josh. I’m completely supportive of him. I think all of his teammates are and all the coaches are. We’re going to be here for him and whatever he needs.

“I’m not too concerned about what people say. I was there. I know what happened. People can say what they think was happening or what they want to say about the situation. There were, seriously, eight people in that bar. I don’t know how many people were focused on us. We weren’t out in the middle of the bar.”

The shadiest part of the story for me was Hamilton’s assertion that he dropped Kinsler off and insisted he was going home. Assuming Kinsler is telling the truth about being unaware that Hamilton was drinking, wouldn’t he be concerned that his teammate — who happens to be a recovering alcoholic that suffered a relapse in 2009 — was just hanging out in a local bar with less than a dozen people? Kinsler may not have actually known Hamilton had a drink, but that would have raised a major red flag for me.

H/T Eye on Baseball