[rob024420]

@yankeespride: That's what happened to me, read the back stories, home run derby, the power in his swing seemed easy. I got caught up in it all.
I'm really looking forward to getting this Sandberg deal rolling though.

[natejeffries]

Let you down?

How about he let himself down, his team down and his family down.

But he is only directly hurting himself.

He didn't assault anybody or rape anybody.

He is not accused of taking PED's.

This guy has personal addiction problems that he has to overcome for himself not for you.

His personal health and well being should be of concern to you if you actually care about him and root for him as a player.

That Home Run Derby performance didn't disappear from history.

If you were collecting him as an investment, that's a risk that you take with any player.

Any one of these guys can break their shoulder, ruin their knee, or pull a hamstring and end their careers.

But they don't owe you and they aren't letting you down.

[kelbysdaddy]

My man, I have 47 Ryan Braun autos (many with patches and low numbering), a bowman chrome superrefractor, countless refractors and parallels, over 2 dozen relics, and a triple threads 1/1 jumbo all star sleeve patch. I also have a complete set of printing plates from when he was on the cover of beckett. All we can do is hope for redemption.

[Hofcollector]

Let you down?

How about he let himself down, his team down and his family down.

But he is only directly hurting himself.

He didn't assault anybody or rape anybody.

He is not accused of taking PED's.

This guy has personal addiction problems that he has to overcome for himself not for you.

His personal health and well being should be of concern to you if you actually care about him and root for him as a player.

That Home Run Derby performance didn't disappear from history.

If you were collecting him as an investment, that's a risk that you take with any player.

Any one of these guys can break their shoulder, ruin their knee, or pull a hamstring and end their careers.

But they don't owe you and they aren't letting you down.

Yes, let "him" down. He has every right to feel let down. He invested in him emotionally as well as financially (not to mention what his times worth) and the man's demons overcame him. It's not a slight to the player to be let down, its a reaction based on believing in him. As you mentioned, the man did this to himself and while I really do feel for him, he did let down his teammates, fans and collectors. He signed on the dotted line and agreed to take his salary which the fans pay for. That contract to me means you'll do your absolute best to represent your organization. While it doesn't make me think any less of Mr. Hamilton I believe people do have the right to feel let down.

[rob024420]

natejeffries: Let me address each one of these individually

Let you down? Yes, and anyone who had faith in him as a player, role model, and man.

How about he let himself down, his team down and his family down. Yes he did.

But he is only directly hurting himself. Incorrect: He hurt his family, friends, the Angels, and baseball

He didn't assault anybody or rape anybody. Never said that he did. Not what this is about.

He is not accused of taking PED's. Never said that he did. Not what this is about.

This guy has personal addiction problems that he has to overcome for himself not for you. Not asking him to overcome anything for me. He should have the motivation to do it for himself and his family.

His personal health and well being should be of concern to you if you actually care about him and root for him as a player. It is definitely a concern to me, makes me sick, not because of the cards, because I just knew he would turn it around. He still might.

That Home Run Derby performance didn't disappear from history. True

If you were collecting him as an investment, that's a risk that you take with any player. I was not.

Any one of these guys can break their shoulder, ruin their knee, or pull a hamstring and end their careers. True

But they don't owe you and they aren't letting you down. I am not saying they owe me anything but he has let me down.

Respectfully,
Rob

[Odyssey]

@nate, I see what you are getting it but Josh would even admit that he let his fans down. I still have love for the guy and I hope he's able to get one more chance to play and end his career on a good note. Collecting certain players is always a risky investment but as Matt pointed out Rob invested in him emotionally, in a sort of way, and financially.

I feel your pain Rob but maybe after sometime has passed, you may feel differently about him. Sure the value of his cards are going to take a hit but maybe your feelings will change. Won't be much longer and you will have a trade for a Biggio auto from me coming. You could always go to collecting guys who've finished their careers on great standing and still get their stuff cheaply i.e., Biggio, Gwynn, Johnny Bench.

[rob024420]

@odyssey: Yes more so emotionally than financially. I am not selling off everything of his or burning it. I am simply not collecting him any longer. I also work on getting HOFer stuff. Biggio is actually part of that HOF project.

[natejeffries]

You knew he had addiction problems before you collected him and while you were collecting him so you knew a relapse was a good possibility.

If you are not collecting him for money, I don't see how this should affect you being a fan of him.

[Hofcollector]

You knew he had addiction problems before you collected him and while you were collecting him so you knew a relapse was a good possibility.

If you are not collecting him for money, I don't see how this should affect you being a fan of him.

Maybe he collected him because he thought he came out the other side and was inspired by his personal triumph story. Once again, I like the guy personally. I have no ill feelings towards him and I'd love to see him get better for good. But, you can't expect people who are emotionally invested in baseball and Hamilton not to feel let down.

[rob024420]

nate: Again, I never said I was not going to continue being a fan of his. I am simply stopping my collection of him. I collected him through his relapse in 09 and in 12. This time I am not continuing. Still a fan, wishing him the best. No longer collecting. I am a fan of a lot of guys that I don't actively collect. Just because I don't own a baseball card of a player doesn't make me not a fan of theirs.