The Giants are in the World Series.
As somebody who travels in circles largely devoid of professional sports fans, I’ve often felt a duality of personality; namely, I’m an intensely voracious sports fan in a non-sports fan’s mold, one who rarely if ever discusses such things outside the confines of a familial chat or internet message board. I rather like this, because honestly, none of my friends give a shit, and I’d feel kind of childish opining about my love of what are essentially macho, irrelevant diversions. My affinity for sport is mostly born from the rare times I find myself relating emotionally to the event, or team, I’m watching. The 2010 San Francisco Giants might be the strongest example of that (despite the fact that I’ve always considered myself a basketball fan first and foremost), but that’s a tale for another day. Hopefully a happy tale, told about a week from now.
The team lining up against these vaunted, orange-clad heroes are the Texas Rangers, led by their superstar outfielder Josh Hamilton. Now, Josh Hamilton, as it happens, is a drug addict of a rather prodigious streak. While out of baseball with an injury in 2001, he started riding the H-Train, and by all accounts it fucked up his life pretty good. When he cleaned up in 2006, he began the comeback path to return to the Major Leagues, and ultimately, to reclaim the mantle of baseball virtuoso that his addiction very nearly washed away. Let it be said now that I’m very happy for him, and wish him continued success in staying sober and happy for the rest of his life. He confessed to a brief relapse in a Tempe, AZ bar in 2009, and reportedly takes great pains to insure himself against his own cravings for drugs; he explicitly avoids enduring long periods of time by himself. According to him, though, cannabis has never been his thing.
That said, the man has a nose for it:
“I could smell weed in the outfield,” Hamilton said. “It was crazy. I was looking at the cops a couple of times during the game.”
The Crater 