2007 Topps, Josh Hamilton

#625 Josh Hamilton

Here is the second card that Josh Hamilton signed for me at a Rangers game in 2008. I posted the first card over five years ago and that one can be seen here.

The first card I posted of Josh showed him with the team that drafted him, Tampa Bay. Here he is with the Reds, the team that he made his Major League debut with. After being out of baseball for three seasons because of his drug addiction, Josh came back in 2006 and played in 15 games in the New York Penn League. He hit .260 with 3 doubles and 5 RBI. He must have shown signs that he was ready to break out because the Cubs picked him up in the Rule V Draft and promptly sold him to the Reds.

His time in Cincinnati lasted just one season. That year, he got into 90 games and hit .292 with 19 home runs and 47 RBI. That is really good considering that the highest level of baseball before that was 23 games of AA ball six years prior. After that season, the Reds shipped him to the Rangers for Edinson Volquez and another pitcher. Josh went off in the home run derby that next season and has pretty much been a household name ever since.

I got to see Josh play one time with the Reds. It was at Wrigley Field and Josh pinch hit in the eighth inning of a tied game. He hit a two run home run to propel the Reds to a win. It was pretty awesome. I have seen him play nine more times since then and have seen two more home runs. But, that first one, as a Red, was the most memorable.