On this date in Texas Rangers history, Josh Hamilton finished off May the way he finished off April — on his way to American League Player of the Month honors.
On May 31, 2008, Hamilton wrapped up his second month with the Rangers, after being traded to the team in December of 2007. Hamilton finished off May with a batting average of .322, along with eight home runs and 29 RBI.
That’s a great month for any player. But, when you were coming off the April that Hamilton had, well, it’s not hard to see why he became the first AL player to win the award in April and May in the same year.
For April, Hamilton hit .333 with six home runs and 32 RBI.
Josh Hamilton
Josh Hamilton
His start was, to say the least, unexpected. He was Tampa Bay’s No. 1 overall pick in 1999 and substance abuse problems not only derailed his career but nearly his life. He didn’t make his Major League debut until April 2, 2007, with Cincinnati, where he hit .292 with 19 home runs and 47 RBI in 90 games. The trade was a risk for the Rangers that paid off handsomely on the field.
Hamilton’s 2008 season ended with him hitting .304 with 32 home runs and an AL-high 132 RBI as he earned the first of his five All-Star appearances with the team. He helped the Rangers to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, won the AL MVP award in 2010 and left the team after the 2012 season for a free-agent deal with the Los Angeles Angels. He returned to Texas in 2015 but played just 50 games for the Rangers that season.
Hamilton was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame, but the addictions that fueled his early life continued to chase him. He had a few well-documented relapses. In 2019, he was arrested and charged with physically assaulting his oldest daughter, which eventually led to a guilty plea to unlawful restraint. Hamilton was sentenced to a year of probation, community service and anger management counseling.
Also on this date …
May 31, 1975: Rangers designated hitter Cesar Tovar broke up a no-hit bid by Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter with a hit in the sixth inning of the Rangers’ 6-0 loss to the Yankees. Tovar had the only hit
May 31, 1985: Toby Harrah completed a team-record 41 straight games reaching base as the Rangers defeated the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Harrah hit leadoff for the Rangers and went 3-for-5 while driving in a run.
Harrah’s streak started on April 8, which was Opening Day in Baltimore. Harrah again hit leadoff that day, going 1-for-4. During the 41-game streak, Harrah hit .291 with 37 hits, 2 home runs, 9 RBI, and 49 walks. Harrah’s streak ended the next day, June 1, as he went 0-for-4 against Boston in a 6-0 loss.
Buddy Bell
Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers
By 1985, Harrah was playing out the final two years of his career with the franchise he broke in with in 1969, when the Rangers were the Washington Senators. The Sissonville, West Virginia, native wasn’t drafted coming out of high school because most MLB teams expected him to go to college. Instead, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Harrah out of a factory job in Marion, Ohio.
From there, Harrah rose through the minor leagues, earned a starting job with the Senators and then came with the Rangers when the franchise moved to Arlington in 1972.
In a 17-season career that saw him play with the Rangers, the New York Yankees, and Cleveland, Harrah had a career average of .264 with 195 home runs and 918 RBI. Harrah made four All-Star Game appearances, including the Rangers’ first All-Star Game appearance in 1972.
Harrah then became a bench coach with the Rangers under Bobby Valentine, eventually taking over as Rangers manager in the wake of Valentine’s firing in 1992. Harrah went 32-44 as the interim skipper but was replaced before the 1993 season by Kevin Kennedy. He also spent time as a bench coach with Cleveland, Detroit, and Colorado, working for old Rangers teammates like Mike Hargrove, Buddy Bell and Larry Parrish.
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