* RK Review: The bigger comeback trail

July 3, 2009

Darryl Strawberry and Josh Hamilton. Brothers from different mothers.

Both had all the talent in the world. Both were number one draft picks (Strawberry in 1980, Hamilton in 1999) and were expected to do great things.Both became born-again Christians when their lives turned toward the dark side. And both have autobiographies in which they openly talk about their dependency issues.

In Straw: Finding My Way (Ecco, 2009), the former Met, Dodgers, Giant, and Yankee agonizes over the mistakes he has made over and over again. Like many young athletes, he was given too much too soon when he made it to the big leagues and didn’t know how to hand it. He spent what should have been his Hall of Fame years drinking, drugging, and womanizing. Even when he found God and became born-again, the problems persisted. Numerous trips to support groups might have been a temporary help, but after awhile he found his way back to depravity, including violence against his wives, despite — or maybe because of — the fact the he had to deal with domestic violence himself as a child.

Straw, written with John Straugbaugh, is the ballplayer’s purgative, it seems. He wants forgiveness and understanding. He knows he let his fans, family, and friends down and wants to be “good” again. The narrative is frank; he makes no excuses for his behavior other than a lack of discipline.

Then we have Josh Hamilton’s 2008 offering, Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, written with Tim Keown. Hamilton, the top pick by the Tampa Bay Rays, had the family support Strawberry was missing, but that ultimately didn’t help. He, too, fell in with a bad crowd, at first experimenting with tattoos, then turning to drink, then cocaine, and finally, crack. He too, lived with the shame of disappointing a family that didn’t know how to help him, and fans disgusted with the talent he wasted.

Beyond Belief seems to have become a favorite of the inspirational circuit, perhaps because it’s been a round longer, perhaps because Hamilton is still an active player and fresher in the minds of the public. His exhibit of power at the 2007 home run derby will be talked about for years. As a skeptic, I can only wish him the best. His story is even more graphic and frightening than Strawberry’s. At least Straw had relatively lengthy and successful career; Hamilton is still an open book. Unfortunately, he sustained another injury earlier this year. Let’s hope he doesn’t suffer a relapse: that’s how his first foray into substance abuse started.

Perhaps because Hamilton’s story has been out awhile, it’s become a favorite on the inspirational circuit. If either of these titles can do some good, if they can help readers of any age or race, I believe that would mean more to the authors than sales figures.

One is retired, his career, while good, could have been so much more. The other is still playing, and the jury remains out.  We have heard these promises too many times.

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