Josh Hamilton Leaves Game With Back Spasms

Josh Hamilton plays the game hard.  As a result, he often injures himself.  He broke his arm last year.  He’s

hurt his shoulder smashing into the outfield wall.  He hurts himself so often, the Rangers toyed with the idea of moving him to left field full-time where he could potentially do less damage.  Unfortunately, that plan didn’t seem to work last night.  Hamilton had to leave the game in the fifth inning with back spasms after is misplaying a ball in left field.

Hamilton tried to recover on the misplay and made a long throw from the left field warning track, but he had to leave the game after the error and throw.  It was reported as back spasms, but the extent of the injury is not yet clear. Hamilton talked about the injury with local reporters and the Associated Press after the game.

"“I’ve iced it three times already. It feels a little better than it did,” Hamilton said. “It kind of scared me when it first happened because I didn’t know what to expect from a spasm like that. I had some weakness in my legs.”"

Hamilton is hitting .314/.384/.641 this season with 26 home runs.  He was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game and slated to start for the American League in the outfield.  He opted out of the Home Run Derby because he knew that one swing could land him on the DL, and that would do nothing but hurt his club.

The Rangers have a four game lead on the Angels in the AL West,  and they own a record of 50-34.  They were the first team to reach 50 wins, but the Yankees have since joined them and now have a better winning percentage.

For the time being, Hamilton’s injury doesn’t seem to be serious, but back injuries are hard to predict.  If the spasms don’t go away, Hamilton may be held out of Saturday and Sunday’s games to prepare for the All-Star Game and the second half.

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