Josh Hamilton has struggled to remain healthy this season, and his relationship with Los Angeles Angels fans has suffered because of it. Hamilton played in just 89 games this season while battling thumb, shoulder, rib and back injuries. He went just 0-for-13 from the plate in the ALDS as the Angels were swept by the Kansas City Royals, but the 33-year-old wants some credit just for trying.
Hamilton was booed throughout the ALDS. He addressed the boos a few days after the season ended.
“I thought it was pretty funny, after my third at-bat of the first game, I got booed,” he said, via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. “I’m like, seriously? I’m out for a month, put all kinds of poison in my body to even attempt to play, and get booed. Whatever. It’s kind of comical.
“I don’t take offense to it because they don’t know me. There is no personal interaction.”
Hamilton received over a dozen cortisone injections over the final few weeks of the season in an attempt to manage his pain. He went on to say that the boos didn’t bother him because the Angels were playing for “each other” and not the “people in the stands.” It certainly seemed like he was annoyed on some level.
“It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Hamilton added. “The injuries weren’t like hamstrings. When you play the game you are going to get hurt. You can’t control that unless you play soft, and that’s a whole other issue.”
After belting 43 homers and driving in 128 runs with the Texas Rangers in 2012, Hamilton has hit just .257 through the first two seasons of his five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels. He’ll turn 34 early next season. While a resurgence can’t be ruled out, it doesn’t look like Hamilton will ever earn his money in LA.
Also see: Why did Josh Hamilton skip the Angels’ victory celebration?
H/T Hardball Talk
