Josh Hamilton Going Back to One of His Vices?

There is no player in baseball today that has the kind of story that Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton has. He has overcome more demons than the Winchester boys on Supernatural (that's a lot if you don't watch the show).

However, last season it appeared that his attempts to overcome one more demon was getting the better of him professionally. It now appears that he may have given up trying to beat it since his slump appears to continued with the Angels.

I'm talking about his chewing tobacco habit. During his last season with the Rangers he tried to quit the addictive habit, and had one of the most infamous slumps in recent history. He even had to miss three games do to blurred vision due to withdrawal symptoms.

The slump led to him being thrashed by the fans and media in Texas and his subsequent departure from the Lone Star State. Fans in Texas certainly didn't mind too much when his slumping ways appeared to continue with the Angels.

When a player appears to have lost his mojo like Hamilton there is typically nothing that they will not do to get it back. Over the last seven games Hamilton appears to have possibly done it hitting .350 with three doubles.

His slump busting move might be using chewing tobacco again.

For most guys it would be a clear coincidence and nothing else, but for someone with his addiction history the withdrawal symptoms from an addictive substance like tobacco could be serious--enough so that his game could be affected.

Of course if you ask him there is no correlation. It's an issue he has not been too eager to talk about, but he did say this:

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hamilton said. “It could be anything. It could be one of those protein bars. Is this really a story?”

Sorry Josh, but in the internet crazy world that we live in it is.