MLB PLAYER NEWS

Rangers OF Hamilton finally makes season debut

The Sports Xchange

May 26, 2015 at 3:44 am.

Josh Hamilton (right) greets Adrian Beltre (left) after a home run in the first inning in Cleveland. (David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)

The results — 0-for-3 with a walk and a run — were forgettable.

The mere presence of Josh Hamilton in the Texas lineup, however, represented a major moment for the outfielder and for the Rangers.

Hamilton made his major league season debut Monday, one month after the Rangers re-acquired him in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels and nearly four months after he underwent right shoulder surgery.

He batted fifth while starting in left field before finishing the game in right field.

“It was good to feel the energy in the dugout, fun to be hitting behind (right fielder Shin-Soo) Choo, (first baseman) Prince (Fielder) and (third baseman Adrian) Beltre,” Hamilton said after the Rangers’ 10-8 win over the Indians in Cleveland. “That’s something to look forward to on a day-in, day-out basis. It was good.”

Manager Jeff Banister was pleased to have another offensive threat to add to his lineup, although he acknowledged Hamilton is rusty.

“Looked like a guy playing his first major league game in a while,” Banister told the Dallas Morning News. “More than anything else, had a great smile on his face and energy. Fit in nicely. Came in and did exactly what we asked him to do.”

The Rangers rallied late to pull out their sixth win in a row.

“You start winning some ballgames and guys get a lot of confidence,” Hamilton told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It was exciting. I look forward to more of them. It was a really good day.”

Hamilton made his first appearance for the Rangers since the 2012 American League wild-card playoff game. He signed a five-year, $125 million free-agent deal with the Angels in December 2012, but in his two seasons with Los Angeles, he didn’t display the form that made him an All-Star in all five of the previous seasons with Texas. Hamilton was the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 2010.

In the wake of his subpar performances with his new team, Hamilton self-reported a drug and alcohol relapse last winter. While Hamilton escaped punishment from Major League Baseball, Angels owner Arte Moreno indicated he no longer wanted the slugger on his team. The deal with Texas eventually was completed, with the Angels agreeing to pay nearly all of the remaining $83 million on Hamilton’s contract that runs through 2017.

“Nobody is expecting me to come back and be that old me,” Hamilton told the Morning News. “But I’m expecting that out of myself.”

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