Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won consecutive American League pennants in 2010 and 2011. A five-time All-Star, Hamilton won three Silver Slugger Awards and was named the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2010. He also won an AL batting championship along with an AL RBI title. During his major league tenure, he also played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Hamilton was chosen by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the first overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft. He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries sustained in a 2001 car accident and a drug addiction derailed his career. Prior to the 2007 season, Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft; the Cubs traded him to the Cincinnati Reds, where he made his MLB debut in 2007. Before the 2008 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he had a breakout season in 2008 and helped the team reach the World Series in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Hamilton received more fan votes than any other player in the history of the All-Star Game. On May 8, 2012, Hamilton became the 16th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game; on that date, he also set an AL record for total bases in a game with 18. Hamilton was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2019.
