Josh Hamilton, then and now

In 2001, Major League baseball player, Josh Hamilton, began to use drugs at the age of 20 to cope with a car accident he and his parents had. Hamilton felt the use of drugs was his only way out.

Hamilton’s parents were there for him at every game, and the night of the incident brought changes to him and his whole family. The accident left his mother, Linda Hamilton, suffering major injuries and Josh with back injuries. His parents returned to Raleigh to get medical treatment. Hamilton, alone, began to hang out with a group of people at a tattoo shop. They weren’t bad people, according to him, but they would drink and smoke. Eventually he became addicted to cocaine and excessively drank alcohol.

“I had my first drink of alcohol and did my first line of cocaine in the same night,” he said. “I can’t say why I did it, other than just curious about both of them. When I first got into drinking and using drugs, it was because of where I was hanging out, it was whom I was hanging out with. You might not do it at first, but eventually, if you keep hanging around long enough, you're going to start doing what they're doing,” Hamilton said on CBN.com.

Hamilton could not control his drug use. He failed the MLB drug test multiple times and got suspended for 25 days and eventually didn’t play baseball from 2004 to 2006, suffering a fine of about $25,000. “I sat out three years and played only 15 games last season in A-ball,” said Hamilton in an ESPN.com article.

Eventually, Hamilton decided he needed to get his life together. He decided to visit his grandmother where he had dreams about his addiction. “Within my first week of sobriety in October 2005 -- after I showed up at my grandmother's house in Raleigh in the middle of the night, coming off a crack binge -- I had the most haunting dream. I was fighting the devil,” said Hamilton. “I GET cravings, and I see it as the devil trying to catch me in a weak moment. The best thing I can do is get the thought out of my mind as soon as I can, so it doesn't turn into an obsession. When it happens, I talk to him. I talk to the devil and say, ‘These are just thoughts, and I'm not going to act on them.’”

Hamilton continuously fought against his temptations and after a couple of months, he learned to be completely resistant.

After five years, Hamilton has been doing well in his career and has been drug-free. He won the BBWAA Most Valuable Player award in 2010. "I would say a 99 percent chance that this would never happen. It's an absolutely great honor. I think about where I was at my lowest time and how God has brought me through that and sustained me,” he said.

Hamilton is glad that he was able to go through everything, yet manage to earn his position in the MLB. “This may sound crazy, but I wouldn't change a thing about my path to the big leagues. I wouldn't even change the 26 tattoos that cover so much of my body, even though they're the most obvious signs of my life temporarily leaving the tracks. You're probably thinking, Bad decisions and addiction almost cost him his life, and he wouldn't change anything? But if I hadn't gone through all the hard times, this whole story would be just about baseball. If I'd made the big leagues at 21 and made my first All-Star team at 23 and done all the things expected of me, I would be a big-time baseball player, and that's it.”

The Mets take a gamble with Pedro Beato

Pedro Beato / Nicholas Diunte

As an up and coming young prospect, Pedro Beato has produced the numbers necessary to gain the attention of Major League teams. In the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft, the New York Mets drafted him in the 17th round; however, were not able to sign him. At the time, Beato was enrolled in Xaverian High School and although he showed talent, it was not clear whether he was ready for the major leagues. The Baltimore Orioles were willing to take a chance on him in the 2006 Amateur Draft and that same year he struck out a fifth of the batters he faced. After only a season playing for Baltimore's Class-A minor league affiliate, Beato was ranked the 99th best prospect by Baseball America magazine.

With new found recognition under his belt, Beato was able to further develop his skills through in-game experience in the 2007 season. He pitched twice as many games, all of which he started; and struck out 106 batters. Beato's invitation to the 2007 All Star Futures Game solidified his position as a prospect that major league teams would want to keep an eye on.

Soon enough, Beato's years of consecutive success once again caught the attention of the Mets who were now certain of his capabilities. The Mets were finally able to obtain Beato in the 2010 Rule 5 Draft, thereby marking an active investment in him. Last month, the aspiring pitcher noted, "coming around a second time is very exciting," during an MLB.com introductory segment. MLB's Rule 5 draft prevents minor league teams from withholding players that other franchises would have play in the majors. Now the Mets will have to keep Beato for the entirety of the season or trade him back to the Orioles and pay half of his fee. Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen had high hopes for Beato in a recent interview, "So far [The Mets] have been very excited about the life of his arm." With this added pressure, Beato will have to put out his absolute best to guarantee his place on the Mets roster and continue his endeavor to become a star pitcher.