Josh Hamilton says he drank over ‘personal reasons with a family member,’ calls relapse a ‘weak moment’

Josh Hamilton took some time on Friday to address the relapse he had on Tuesday at a local bar in Dallas.  He took full responsibility for his mistake and admitted that what he did was wrong.  Here is some of the transcript from Hamilton’s press conference on Friday that ESPNDallas.com passed along:

I had a weak moment on Monday night in Dallas, personal reasons with a family member. But I walked to a restaurant to have some dinner, and did just that, had dinner and ended up ordering a drink and probably had three or four drinks.

Ended up calling Ian [Kinsler] just to come kind of hang out with me. Ian did not know I had been drinking because once I do drink, I can be very deceptive, very sneaky in a lot of ways. So while he was there, I did not drink in front of him.

Hamilton then detailed his evening with Kinsler, saying Ian had to go home so he drove Hamilton back to where he needed to be.  Hamilton says Kinsler asked him, “You’re not going to go back out or anything, are you?” and Hamilton told him that he wasn’t. He then returned to the place where he was before and had “some more drinks.”

No drugs were used at all. I never thought about it. I’ve had two drug tests since Monday, so I have no concerns there at all. But any time I drink, there’s a point that comes where a switch flips and you never know when that point’s going to be reached, whether it’s the first three or four, or the 15th. And that’s what’s so dangerous about it…

I put my wife through a lot in our marriage and she’s a very strong woman. It’s about time I became the strong one in the relationship, take responsibility and take the lead in making choices, making decisions and stepping up and being the man I’m supposed to be and not continue to hurt her, put my kids in situations where they might hear things. It’s not a good situation for anybody…

Like I said before, I feel terrible about this because I feel like I let a lot of people down. I beat myself up for the last four or five days for this, four days. There’s nobody that feels worse than I do. I’m going to do everything I can to lean on some shoulders and hopefully I can get back to the point where people can lean on mine again.

Hamilton finished the statement by asking that the press not ask any questions and respect he and his family’s privacy. He said the Rangers have been very supportive and continue to support him, and that he is getting the help he needs to continue along the road to recovery.