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Josh Hamilton Admits Alcohol Relapse

Josh Hamilton press conference
Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton pauses during a baseball news conference at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Max Faulkner) MAGS OUT
hamilton
Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton pauses during a baseball news conference at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Max Faulkner) MAGS OUT

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton admitted to a relapse with alcohol during a news conference called specifically for the outfielder to address what he called a “moment of weakness.”

Hamilton, who is a recovering addict, said he went to a restaurant where he had “three or four” drinks on Monday and then had some more drinks later in the evening.

“I’m doing what I had to do today,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “I am fessing up. I am going to be a man about it, I am fessing up. People are going to call me a hypocrite, but I am a sinful man.”

Hamilton also hinted that people may have taken pictures of him while he was out drinking and he wanted to address the issue.

“Things happened that me, personally, I’m not proud of after I drank, and they are personal and are being handled as that,” the 30-year-old slugger said.

He didn’t elaborate as to what personal problems he is dealing with.

Hamilton has a history of drug addiction and was suspended for more than three years while in the Tampa Bay organization. But Hamilton has turned his career around, winning the AL MVP in 2010 and contributing to a team that has won the last two AL pennants.

While out on Monday night, Hamilton said he called his teammate Ian Kinsler to hang out with him, but the second baseman had no idea that Hamilton was drinking, the slugger said.

“Ian did not know I had been drinking,” he said, “because once I do drink I can be very deceptive, very sneaky in a lot of ways.”

Said Hamilton: “When you’re doing this, you don’t mean to hurt anybody. You only think you’re hurting yourself. But as I know, you’re hurting a lot of people.”

-With Associated Press