Josh Hamilton thinks he has solution to day-game woes

[Brutus]

Because of his blue eyes and sweat drying overnight, he's been having difficulties seeing the baseball in day games.

He thinks he finally has a handle on the problems:


Hamilton, who has 20-15 vision, unsuccessfully tried colored contact lenses to combat his dramatic dropoff in production during day games. It has been a mysterious problem that he now at least feels as though he understands.

The All-Star outfielder has been told that blue eyes allow more light into the cornea, making seeing the baseball more difficult in daylight. He expounded on that theory Thursday morning.

"I've got a good explanation for it. This is as clear as I can make it," Hamilton said. "We play at nighttime, sweat -- blue eyes, obviously, are harder anyway -- but playing at nighttime, you sweat a lot, you wipe your eyes, sweat gets on your cornea and dries overnight. Then, you come out midday the next day and instead of the light going straight through your cornea, it hits the dry sweat and disperses and makes everything brighter."

ESPN Dallas: Josh Hamilton wearing sunglasses (http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/6790568/new-plan-daytime-woes)

For those wondering if this is just a sample size issue, it's not. For his career, his splits are overwhelming:

Day: .720 OPS
Night: .980 OPS

The difference is as night and day :D

[reds44]

I thought his solution would be to do some blow before the game.

Too soon?

[westofyou]

Because of his blue eyes and sweat drying overnight, he's been having difficulties seeing the baseball in day games.

He thinks he finally has a handle on the problems:



ESPN Dallas: Josh Hamilton wearing sunglasses (http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/6790568/new-plan-daytime-woes)

For those wondering if this is just a sample size issue, it's not. For his career, his splits are overwhelming:

Day: .720 OPS
Night: .980 OPS

The difference is as night and day :D

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/sports/baseball/light-eyed-players-deal-with-glare-and-doubts.html?scp=2&sq=blue%20eyes&st=cse


Phil Nevin can relate. A former No. 1 draft pick of the Houston Astros with piercing blue eyes, Nevin played 12 seasons in the majors but still remembers the criticism he took from teammates and opposing players when, as a junior at Cal State Fullerton, he wore wraparound sunglasses during the 1992 College World Series.

“The games were on TV and it was nonstop,” said Nevin, who retired in 2006 and now manages the Class AAA Toledo Mud Hens. “But having eyes that were very sensitive, I was having to squint so much, I couldn’t see. With the sunglasses, I didn’t have to squint. I used them all through pro ball.”

[Brutus]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/sports/baseball/light-eyed-players-deal-with-glare-and-doubts.html?scp=2&sq=blue%20eyes&st=cse

I often remember seeing him with various shades. Always thought it was just a coolness factor. Now I know differently!

[RollyInRaleigh]

I thought his solution would be to do some blow before the game.

Too soon?

Terrible comment.

[paintmered]

As someone who "suffers" from very blue eyes, a bright sunny day can be quite painful.

I thought was common knowledge that blue eyes are more sensitive to bright light. It's a small price to pay, though. ;)

[mth123]

I didn't read the article, but if sweat in his eyes drying overnight is the issue, there are lots of eye drops to fix that before going to bed. Seems like a no brainer and makes me a skeptic that this is nothing more than BS.

[Larkin Fan]

I didn't read the article, but if sweat in his eyes drying overnight is the issue, there are lots of eye drops to fix that before going to bed. Seems like a no brainer and makes me a skeptic that this is nothing more than BS.

Which is exactly why his solution includes eye drops.

[mth123]

Which is exactly why his solution includes eye drops.

So, why would it take so long for them to figure this out? Seems like a no brainer.

[OesterPoster]

So, why would it take so long for them to figure this out? Seems like a no brainer.

Jim Edmonds would blame this on the horrible Reds medical staff.

[Brutus]

I didn't read the article, but if sweat in his eyes drying overnight is the issue, there are lots of eye drops to fix that before going to bed. Seems like a no brainer and makes me a skeptic that this is nothing more than BS.

A 260-point split in OPS between day & night games should alone suggest it's not BS.

Clearly there is something problematic for him during the day.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I thought his solution would be to do some blow before the game.

Too soon?

That's way out of line. Josh wasn't even into blow. He was a straight crackhead.

(Too soon?)

:beerme:

[mth123]

A 260-point split in OPS between day & night games should alone suggest it's not BS.

Clearly there is something problematic for him during the day.

Not saying the performance split is BS, but maybe this excuse, which seems as though it should have been solved long ago, might be.

[Brutus]

Not saying the performance split is BS, but maybe this excuse, which seems as though it should have been solved long ago, might be.

Well I tend to agree they should have figured it out long ago, but I think the explanation makes perfect sense. I guess now that they think they know what it is, we'll see if it improves his performance any.

[mth123]

Well I tend to agree they should have figured it out long ago, but I think the explanation makes perfect sense. I guess now that they think they know what it is, we'll see if it improves his performance any.

There are other explanations you know. Bronson Arroyo has the same problem with day games.

[Brutus]

There are other explanations you know. Bronson Arroyo has the same problem with day games.

OK but what's the point? Sure there are other explanations, but why does that mean this one isn't legit?

[mth123]

OK but what's the point? Sure there are other explanations, but why does that mean this one isn't legit?

Because this one is so easily solved and the obvious explanation of too much night life the night before a day game might not be one that this particular player would want to acknowledge. That would certainly better explain why it hasn't been resolved as easily as this one should.

[Brutus]

Because this one is so easily solved and the obvious explanation of too much night life the night before a day game might not be one that this particular player would want to acknowledge. That would certainly better explain why it hasn't been resolved as easily as this one should.

That explanation makes less sense than this one. I'd have a hard time believing he's doing something along those lines that would impact his performance in day games, but yet would continue to hit at an All-Star level in night games.

If he were doing what you are insinuating, it would effect his overall performance in total, not just day games. Unfortunately I'm seeing my brother go through a dependence problem and it doesn't discriminate between day and night. And remember, Hamilton had to get out of baseball because his addiction overcame his entire life, not just day games.

I think you're reading way too much into it.

[mth123]

That explanation makes less sense than this one. I'd have a hard time believing he's doing something along those lines that would impact his performance in day games, but yet would continue to hit at an All-Star level in night games.

If he were doing what you are insinuating, it would effect his overall performance in total, not just day games. Unfortunately I'm seeing my brother go through a dependence problem and it doesn't discriminate between day and night. And remember, Hamilton had to get out of baseball because his addiction overcame his entire life, not just day games.

I think you're reading way too much into it.

Didn't say it was a dependence problem, but maybe he's not the staright arrow he wants to portray himself as (sounds kind of phoney to me anyway) and is out on the town late every night and doesn't get enough rest for day games. He wouldn't be effected for night games if he could sleep till mid-afternoon.

[signalhome]

As someone who "suffers" from very blue eyes, a bright sunny day can be quite painful.

I thought was common knowledge that blue eyes are more sensitive to bright light. It's a small price to pay, though. ;)

Same thing here. If I'm not wearing sunglasses, bright sunny days can be torture. This is especially true when I'm driving.

[RBA]

Maybe he should shower after the night game to get the sweat off?

[Brutus]

Didn't say it was a dependence problem, but maybe he's not the staright arrow he wants to portray himself as (sounds kind of phoney to me anyway) and is out on the town late every night and doesn't get enough rest for day games. He wouldn't be effected for night games if he could sleep till mid-afternoon.

I'm not sure what's phony about it. It's not that he thinks it's wrong to be out on the town, it's that he was in a situation where he didn't have the willpower to stay out of trouble if he was, so he had to avoid the situations all together.

What you're saying is certainly possible. I'm sure he's been tempted to have a drink now and again or go to a bar now and again. But nonetheless if those habits are enough to effect his day games, they'd spill over into night games too because if you've a reason to sleep until noon, then you've been out on the town until late or were drunk and if either of those things are true, you're probably not going to be terribly sharp to hit a baseball coming at you 95 MPH that same evening.

I just don't think it's that. You've certainly a reason to be somewhat cynical, but such partying habits tend to spill over into all facets of life.

[signalhome]

I'm not sure what's phony about it. It's not that he thinks it's wrong to be out on the town, it's that he was in a situation where he didn't have the willpower to stay out of trouble if he was, so he had to avoid the situations all together.

What you're saying is certainly possible. I'm sure he's been tempted to have a drink now and again or go to a bar now and again. But nonetheless if those habits are enough to effect his day games, they'd spill over into night games too because if you've a reason to sleep until noon, then you've been out on the town until late or were drunk and if either of those things are true, you're probably not going to be terribly sharp to hit a baseball coming at you 95 MPH that same evening.

I just don't think it's that. You've certainly a reason to be somewhat cynical, but such partying habits tend to spill over into all facets of life.

Yep. If the problem is his substance abuse resurfacing, it likely would spill over into all facets of his life -- night games included. The more logical explanation, to me, is the one he has provided. As someone with bright blue eyes that really struggles with bright lights, I can vouch for what he's saying. I found it exponentially more difficult to hit during mid-day than at night. So while I guess it's possible that he's partying it up at night and it's affecting his performance, it seems more likely to me that he really does struggle to see the ball during bright, sunny days.

[traderumor]

Geesh, does every Josh Hamilton thread have to turn into "I wonder if he's using again?" :thumbdown:

[VR]

Geesh, does every Josh Hamilton thread have to turn into "I wonder if he's using again?" :thumbdown:

cincinnati.com-ish

[Blitz Dorsey]

Geesh, does every Josh Hamilton thread have to turn into "I wonder if he's using again?" :thumbdown:

C'mon, the few comments that were made were clearly tongue-in-cheek. Also, the same people "making fun" of Josh would take him back in a heartbeat if we could have a re-do on the disastrous Edinson Volquez trade. Josh has turned his life around. It's not like people are having a little fun about someone who just had a relapse. Pretty sure Josh is clean (or at least "clean enough") considering the numbers he puts up each year. It's like we traded a Joey Votto-type player for Volquez. No, I'll never get over it. But a few TIC comments from Reds fans about Hamilton are harmless. We actually like him and are just jealous that we gave him away for basically nothing. This is our defense-mechanism. :)

[traderumor]

C'mon, the few comments that were made were clearly tongue-in-cheek. Also, the same people "making fun" of Josh would take him back in a heartbeat if we could have a re-do on the disastrous Edinson Volquez trade. Josh has turned his life around. It's not like people are having a little fun about someone who just had a relapse. Pretty sure Josh is clean (or at least "clean enough") considering the numbers he puts up each year. It's like we traded a Joey Votto-type player for Volquez. No, I'll never get over it. But a few TIC comments from Reds fans about Hamilton are harmless. We actually like him and are just jealous that we gave him away for basically nothing. This is our defense-mechanism. :)There's a night-life debate as an alternative explanation. I don't see anything tongue-in-cheek about it.

[757690]

There are other explanations you know. Bronson Arroyo has the same problem with day games.

Bronson Arroyo has the exact same ERA, 4.28, in day games and night games.

[Blitz Dorsey]

There's a night-life debate as an alternative explanation. I don't see anything tongue-in-cheek about it.

Fair enough. I wasn't referring to that post in particular. I was talking more about my post and 44's. I personally like Josh and wish he were still a Red, but I don't think it's crossing the line to poke some fun at him. (Out of complete jealously of course. Ha.)

[kaldaniels]

Has Hamilton always performed poorly during the day? Why is this just now being addressed? I really don't know, so I could look really dumb here.

[Brutus]

Has Hamilton always performed poorly during the day? Why is this just now being addressed? I really don't know, so I could look really dumb here.

I posted early in this thread his career day-night OPS split was .980-.720

So it appears it has been.

[kaldaniels]

I posted early in this thread his career day-night OPS split was .980-.720

So it appears it has been.

Ok, why now though?

[Brutus]

Ok, why now though?

Why now what?

[kaldaniels]

Why now what?

Why in 2011, 12 years after he was drafted, is it a huge issue that Hamilton has problems in day games.

[Brutus]

Why in 2011, 12 years after he was drafted, is it a huge issue that Hamilton has problems in day games.

He's only been in the majors five years and his first stint in the minors before leaving baseball didn't last terribly long.

Considering why he left baseball in the first place, I doubt troubles in day games were his biggest priorities until more recently.

That said, he did say it was something they couldn't figure out. So it's hard to say how long they've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

[kaldaniels]

He's only been in the majors five years and his first stint in the minors before leaving baseball didn't last terribly long.

Considering why he left baseball in the first place, I doubt troubles in day games were his biggest priorities until that time.

That said, he did say it was something they couldn't figure out. So it's hard to say how long they've been trying to get to the bottom of the issue.

So has he just not noticed he doesn't see well in daylight all his life? That's the part I'm not getting.

I see Signalhome noticed it when he batted and he is only 24. And he hasn't played in the bigs as far as I know.

[kaldaniels]

By the way Brutus I'm not one suspecting his off field activities are involved, I'm just someone scratching my head.

[Brutus]

So has he just not noticed he doesn't see well in daylight all his life? That's the part I'm not getting.

Until he started playing professionally, consider that almost all of his games were probably in the daytime, and the competition would have been considerably less, so he probably wouldn't have known better. Heck, he's still batting .720 against Major League pitching, so I imagine he had no problems hitting in day games against high school.

In the minors, he was struggling with other issues, so this wasn't likely on the list of priorities. Thus, it's really only since he got to the majors where the problems probably manifested themselves more clearly.

It seems like he's known it was an issue for the last couple years, but just finally got to the breaking point where he needed to find out the cause. From the interviews, it seems like they've been trying to get it figured out for a while.

[Brutus]

By the way Brutus I'm not one suspecting his off field activities are involved, I'm just someone scratching my head.

No worries. I didn't get that impression at all.

[mth123]

Geesh, does every Josh Hamilton thread have to turn into "I wonder if he's using again?" :thumbdown:

Funny. Nowhere in my post about nightlife or any of the others did I ever say he was using again. After another poster made that comment I even pointed out that I wasn't talking about a dependence problem.

My point was and still is that if Josh was out late and not getting enough rest the might nefore a day game it wpould explain his issues in the day time while not impacting him at night, but given his past he would probably want to keep any hint of a "night life" a secret. Seeing how four seperate posters in this very thread made the connection that nightlife = using again even after I pointed out that it is not what I'm talking about, it seems that the point of him wanting to keep it secret would seem to be a logical and good idea.

BTW, my eyes are bright blue and in over 50 years on this earth I've never experienced the problem that I'm hearing in this thread as an explanation for his troubles in the daytime.

[reds44]

Fair enough. I wasn't referring to that post in particular. I was talking more about my post and 44's. I personally like Josh and wish he were still a Red, but I don't think it's crossing the line to poke some fun at him. (Out of complete jealously of course. Ha.)
Don't worry, I knew you were joking lol

[signalhome]

Funny. Nowhere in my post about nightlife or any of the others did I ever say he was using again. After another poster made that comment I even pointed out that I wasn't talking about a dependence problem.

My point was and still is that if Josh was out late and not getting enough rest the might nefore a day game it wpould explain his issues in the day time while not impacting him at night, but given his past he would probably want to keep any hint of a "night life" a secret. Seeing how four seperate posters in this very thread made the connection that nightlife = using again even after I pointed out that it is not what I'm talking about, it seems that the point of him wanting to keep it secret would seem to be a logical and good idea.

BTW, my eyes are bright blue and in over 50 years on this earth I've never experienced the problem that I'm hearing in this thread as an explanation for his troubles in the daytime.

From what I've learned, it's not as if having blue eyes means you will definitively, 100% have problems with sunlight; having blue eyes just means you have a much higher predisposition to sunlight troubles. In the same way that being a certain race puts you at a much higher predisposition to acquire certain diseases/disorders, having blue eyes makes you much more likely to have trouble seeing on a bright, sunny day.

[traderumor]

Funny. Nowhere in my post about nightlife or any of the others did I ever say he was using again. After another poster made that comment I even pointed out that I wasn't talking about a dependence problem.

My point was and still is that if Josh was out late and not getting enough rest the might nefore a day game it wpould explain his issues in the day time while not impacting him at night, but given his past he would probably want to keep any hint of a "night life" a secret. Seeing how four seperate posters in this very thread made the connection that nightlife = using again even after I pointed out that it is not what I'm talking about, it seems that the point of him wanting to keep it secret would seem to be a logical and good idea.

BTW, my eyes are bright blue and in over 50 years on this earth I've never experienced the problem that I'm hearing in this thread as an explanation for his troubles in the daytime.I must just not be hip enough to make a distinction. Using "hip" probably makes me not hip. Even with this explanation, it still pulls in his substance abuse, does it not?

But, just to date myself even more, I'll quote a song: "Josh loves the nightlife, he loves to boogie..." I'll go on record as saying, regardless of this distinction without a difference, that "I wonder if my eyes are extra senstive to light, and I've heard that is true of people with extremely blue eyes, maybe I'll try something to explore that idea" to "If they know its just because I'm out too late they'll think I'm using again because I used to be a user but now I'm just staying out too late" is quite a leap, and the leap would not be made if one were not dragging in SA yet again.

[mth123]

I must just not be hip enough to make a distinction. Using "hip" probably makes me not hip. Even with this explanation, it still pulls in his substance abuse, does it not?

But, just to date myself even more, I'll quote a song: "Josh loves the nightlife, he loves to boogie..." I'll go on record as saying, regardless of this distinction without a difference, that "I wonder if my eyes are extra senstive to light, and I've heard that is true of people with extremely blue eyes, maybe I'll try something to explore that idea" to "If they know its just because I'm out too late they'll think I'm using again because I used to be a user but now I'm just staying out too late" is quite a leap, and the leap would not be made if one were not dragging in SA yet again.

So the explanation that "I get sweat in my eyes that dries overnight" under the circumstances of years and years of playing profesional ball and experincing this same problem consistently while having the best healthcare money can buy at his disposal and nobody thought of using a few eye cleansing drops until now is supposed to be believable?

I'm simply theorizing the same issue for him as has been theorized about Arroyo's day game troubles right here on this very board. I'm also providing a very real reason why he might not want to talk about it. A reason that you yourself have shown will cause people to come to the conclusion that its substance abuse related because that is exactly what you did in your off the mark post.

[traderumor]

So the explanation that "I get sweat in my eyes that dries overnight" under the circumstances of years and years of playing profesional ball and experincing this same problem consistently while having the best healthcare money can buy at his disposal and nobody thought of using a few eye cleansing drops until now is supposed to be believable?

I'm simply theorizing the same issue for him as has been theorized about Arroyo's day game troubles right here on this very board. I'm also providing a very real reason why he might not want to talk about it. A reason that you yourself have shown will cause people to come to the conclusion that its substance abuse related because that is exactly what you did in your off the mark post.Right, Arroyo's is not denied by him and documented, which is not a comparison to "have you stopped beating your wife yet" type of insinuation. I just think its tacky to make such wild accusations that are clearly a stretch in the vein of the lawyer trick "but, it is possible." I'm guessing if you were a reporter and posited such an accusation, you would get an "are you serious?" look.