It’s unreasonable for a 30 year old man to need to be accountable to someone in order to ensure he doesn’t fall into trouble. I have no doubt about this. But it’s also unreasonable to waste away a ton of promise and potential through excess alcohol and drug use.
Any sort of concern about Josh Hamilton's need for an "accountability partner" betrays a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of addiction and sober living. Addiction is an illness and sobriety, once achieved, needs to be maintained.
Of course it is unreasonable to ruin an infinite amount of talent and promise with excessive use of booze and drugs, but that is assuming there is any sort of reason involved in addiction. It's an illness in which a person violates a fundamental aspect of the human condition-self-preservation. His age has nothing to do with anything as addiction isn't age specific.
Sponsorship is considered a vital part of AA, as well as Narcotics Anonymous. Whatever "Jesus is my Homeboy" version Josh Hamilton employs is a variation of a pretty standard presence in the lives of many recovering addicts. It would be like saying, "it's unreasonable for Hamilton to employ a personal trainer- he should know how to work out" or "it's unreasonable for Hamilton to employ a nutritionist- he should know what to eat." Sponsors are usually fellow recovering addicts who have gone through the 12 step process. Sobriety is something that needs maintenance. This is not unusual. It would be more concerning if Hamilton didn't have one.
It may be unusual for one's employer to have the addict's sponsor on the payroll, but I think it's been well established that these aren't usual people. There's a lot of money piled up around them.
And whatever shady past Hamilton carries around with him, I think his play and his numbers over the past five years have made the Rangers satisfied with their investment. If (that's a big "if") the Rangers favour Fielder, it probably has more to do with age and injuries, not any kind of sobriety maintenance.
There's been a number of commenters on GB (myself included) who made a similar point.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm looking at signing Hamilton, his past drug/alcohol use is a concern, but only in how it may have affected his body, and how he seems to get hurt so often. The team certainly wants to ensure they get a return on their investment- if an accountability partner helps that, great.
It did seem weird for Parkes to draw that line in the sand when players often employ many, many others to help keep them on the straight and narrow in different ways, as you said (trainer, nutritionist, etc).
Well said. Having checks and systems like this in place isn't "unreasonable", it's basic risk management at the very least (and a potential life-saver at most). Treating it like a "harmless" indulgence of Hamilton is stupid.
DeleteWow. Whoever thinks it is unreasonable for an addict to be held accountable to someone (a sponsor) to stay out of trouble has no understanding of the disease that is addiction and would be best served by not speaking on a topic that they know nothing about. Unless, of course, the goal is to drive traffic. Then they are best served to maintain an ignorant perspective.
ReplyDeleteHe has a name you know? Does it make it easier to accuse Parkes of trolling for traffic when you don't name him? The point was made. There was really no need to throw in such a cheap shot and to make it even cheaper by hiding it behind the "whoever" moniker.
DeleteYeah Parkes has never been a condescending douche. He welcomes all opinions with an open mind. He's Wilner light with a fangraphs bookmark.
DeleteLet's call AA for what it is: a fundamentalist Christian recruitment group. Everyone lauds the 12 steps, but have you really read them? It's all about accepting god into your life. I'm sure this has worked for plenty of people, but let's not pretend this is clinically proven addiction science here. So, yes, it is ridiculous to expect Josh Hamilton to need a minder/sponsor/guardian/chaperone as these aren't his chemo meds we're talking about.
ReplyDeleteMy father-in-law is an alcoholic but he's never missed a day of work, never driven drunk, never hurt anybody but himself as a result of his drinking, was partner in a business where he was responsible and accountable to a dozen other people's livelihoods and never let them down. So it can be done, and it is reasonable for prospective employers of Josh Hamilton to doubt that he has the bottle to handle the lifestyle of a major-leaguer and pay him less than they might otherwise.
So, yeah, I think Parkes is justified in his criticism of Hamilton. Lou Gehrig had his career taken away from him through no fault of his own. Josh Hamilton is no Lou Gehrig.
You have absolutely no idea of what AA is, what it does. AA is more about coming to terms with one's self, and one's reality than it is about a higher power. Unless you have actually taken the actions suggested in the 12 steps, you would be unqualified to comment. All I have to say to you is – keep coming back – it works if you work it.
DeleteAs far as your alcoholic father-in-law goes, all I have to say is that he's a very lucky man.
google knows it :-D
ReplyDeletethanks
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that it's very unreasonable to waste away a ton of promise and potential through excess alcohol and drug use. If someone feels really bad, they might try to make it better by abusing drugs. Unfortunately, that doesn't usually work for very long. Instead they may become addicted to drugs, and then feel even worse than before.
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