Even if you don’t like baseball, Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back is a good book that tells an inspiring and amazing story about a drug addict, baseball player.
Josh Hamilton as a young athletic boy played baseball as a kid, always played an age group above his peers. When he was six years old Hamilton played on a Tar Heel Little League team with his brother Jason Hamilton. Jason is six years older than Josh. Growing up Josh was bigger stronger and did everything better than the kids his age. Parents and other kids were scared of josh because of how fast he threw and how far he hit the ball.
During one game in the tar heel little league team josh through behind one kid his first at bat, the second at bat the kid had he was so scared he did not want to face Josh because of how hard he through. The kid was crying so much and he was scared out of his mind the coach of the kid told him that “Josh would not hit him”, but guess what happened? Josh nailed him right in the middle of his back. The kid never played baseball past little league because of Josh. Josh scared him to death.
Josh Hamilton was the first pick of the 1999 draft by the Tampa bay devil rays. Josh played a couple of years in the minors, but a memorable moment of his is that in spring training the year that he drafted he beat Jose Conseco in a home run derby at practice. During a minor league game josh was playing out field he looked up into the clouds and saw the devil. That was basically when josh started on his downfall. In 2001 josh his mother and father were in a car accident they were all injured but josh didn’t realize he was, until it was to the point that he couldn’t run. When Hamilton was hurt that was when he started doing drugs. By the 2004 season josh was going late to practice doing drugs and his life pummeled from there. Josh was suspended from the MLB many times because of all the drug violations he had. After the suspensions josh turned into a drug addict, he stopped caring about everyone he love he spent all his money on cocaine and marijuana.
Josh tried to go to rehab many times, but when you’re a drug addict you can’t get clean for someone else’s benefit you have to do it for yourself or it won’t work. Josh never thought he had a problem he ignored and avoided his family and friend that were trying to help him. One night when his addiction was really bad he showed up at his grandma’s house at 3 in the morning and josh’s grandma took him in when no one else would. The way josh stayed clean was because of god and his grandma. Josh’s grandma fed him, gave him clothing, and shelter and he started to get clean.
Once josh got clean he started playing baseball again for the Cincinnati Reds, and then he was traded to the Texas Rangers where he is today.
I don’t read books at all I think there boring and I just can’t stand them, but Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back kept me interested and I could not put it down. Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back was an amazing and inspiring story about a young drug addict that is trying to get over his addiction to drugs.