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Michael Eisner did not care for the rules. He would look out for his kingdom, in a way that would seem perfectly logical to Arte Moreno, and to a good many fans too. If a player on your team was involved with cocaine, how could the team be forbidden from taking disciplinary action? In Baseball Land, the employees have a powerful union to protect their interests. And so, on Friday, the commissioner of baseball was reduced to issuing a statement that essentially said, "Yes, I would have suspended Josh Hamilton, but I had no authority to do so." In 1997,...

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has suffered through a two-month slump, batting barely over .200 since June 1. There was rampant speculation as to what was ailing Hamilton, the five-time All Star, the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player. Some thought marital problems. Some others thought a relapse into the drug and alcohol abuse with which the 31-year-old struggled in a past life. But the Rangers basher ended the speculation yesterday, releasing a statement in which he attributed his recent problems at the plate to his disobedience to God. More specifically, his failure to quit chewing tobacco. Hamilton’s statement elicited...

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton said Wednesday that he's committed to figuring out why he had another alcohol relapse and is undergoing what he called a "Josh Hamilton makeover." Hamilton appeared on "Glenn Beck" on GBTV.com with guest host Dr. James Robison, Hamilton's pastor with LIFE Outreach, a Christian ministry based in Euless, Texas. The slugger, who told Robison he's going to "one-on-one" counseling sessions, said when he had his last relapse, in January 2009 in Tempe, Ariz., that he thought things would be fine and that he'd get on with his life. *snip* On Wednesday, in his first one-on-one...

....Talk about a brave little boy. You probably already know Cooper's story. Back in July, he attended a Rangers game with his father, Shannon. Hamilton noticed the pair in the stands and tossed the father and son a ball. Shannon lost his balance and fell 20 feet to his death, making national headlines and leading Hamilton to pledge that he'd meet with Cooper at "an appropriate time."

<p>ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - A fan attending the Texas Rangers game died after he fell out of the stands behind the left-field wall.</p> <p>The man fell after reaching to get a ball that was tossed into the stands by Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton.</p>

Editor's Note: This story appears in the July 16 edition of ESPN The Magazine, on sale beginning July 4. To let you know how far I've come, let me tell you where I've been. Not that long ago, there were nights I went to sleep in strange places praying I wouldn't wake up. After another night of bad decisions, I'd lie down with my heart speeding inside my chest like it was about to burst through the skin. My thinking was clouded, and my talent was one day closer to being totally wasted. I prayed to be spared another...