Josh Hamilton, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers, is my favorite professional athlete and, in this day and time, mine is a decidedly short list. Today Josh may truly be the best baseball player in the major leagues and I religiously check his batting average every day. Believe it or not, the sport of baseball has nothing to do with the great admiration and respect I carry for him in my heart.

You see, Josh is a fallen man, one who would probably be dead right now if it weren’t for a relationship with Jesus Christ. He was once banned from baseball, this after he relapsed nine different times in 2½ years of agony in his lifelong fight with drug and alcohol addiction. But in a path only God could have created, he picked himself up “one more time” and, in 2010, was the American League’s Player of the Year.

He recently relapsed again. Walked in a Dallas bar, knocked three or four drinks back, and was slammed once more by gruesome and terrifying demons that only those who have wrestled with the insidious disease of addiction really and truly understand. So today marks “Day 7,” as they’ll tell you in Alcoholics Anonymous, of the rest of his life.

He’s gotten up, dusted off his britches and is now man enough to tell the world he – once again – has made a terrible mistake that hurt a lot of people who trusted in him. Millions of us can identify with that. I know far many more “fellow strugglers” than I do saints and as long as Josh Hamilton wants to keep on trying, I can assure you just as many millions like me will join in the cheers.

If the truth be known, I guess I have given away more than 50 copies of his biography, aptly entitled “Unbelievable,” because I think it should be “required reading” for any male or female at any level of athletics. I think it should also be read by every eighth-grader in the United States and, further, by everyone considering public office, the ministry, a career in health and/or who is in jail.

The Texas Rangers recently called a press conference and Josh sat at the head table alone. He had no notes from any spin doctors, no consultants, no agents, no union representatives. No one. What follows is a complete transcript of what came off the top of his head – and from his heart – as he stared at the bright camera lights, the faces of Ranger executives and his very closest friends.

Further, Josh could only imagine how what he might say would soon be read and interpreted by every little boy and girl who marvel in such a way over the way he plays with all of his might that each one still wants to be like him. Last Friday was Day No. 4 in the rest of his life.

Today is Day 7 of his sobriety and this is what Josh, my favorite professional athlete, wants everyone to know, whether you or a loved one struggle with addiction or not:

I’m sorry this is under these circumstances. My life in general is based on making the right choices, everything as far as my recovery, as far as my baseball goes, it’s all based around my relationship with the Lord. And I look at it like this, you guys all know how hard I play on the field and give it everything I absolutely I have. When I don’t do that off the field, I leave myself open for a weak moment and I had a weak moment on Monday night in Dallas.

Personal reasons with a family member. But I walked to a restaurant to have some dinner … and ended up ordering a drink, and probably had three or four drinks. I ended up calling Ian (Kinsler, his all-star teammate) just to come kind of hang out with me. Ian did not know I had been drinking because once I do drink, I can be very deceptive, very sneaky in a lot of ways. So while he was there I did not drink in front of him.

This restaurant was closing, so we decided just to go across the street to another place that stayed open. We were just talking baseball, talking life, how are families were, we stayed 25-30 minutes. (Kinsler) drives me back where I need to be, quarter-mile away. His words were, ‘I’ll see you later. You’re not going to go back out or anything, are you?’ I said, ‘No, I am in. I am good.’ I did exactly what I told him I wouldn’t do. I went back to the last place we had just left … and had some more drinks.

When I talk about being sneaky, nobody saw me actually with a beer or drink in my hand. I can find ways where people don’t see it. That doesn’t excuse the fact that I was doing something that doesn’t work for me. No drugs were used at all. I’ve had two drug tests since Monday, so I have no concerns there at all.

But anytime I drink, there is a point that comes where the switch flips and you never know when that point will be reached. It might be first three or four, or the 15th, and that’s what’s so dangerous about it. Things happen to me personally that I’m not proud of after I drink, they are personal and being handled as that.

There (were) no pictures of me having a beer with somebody or anything like that. I did take pictures with people, and it was just wrong. That’s all it comes down to. I needed to be in a different place. I need to be responsible, period. And I was not responsible. Those actions of mine hurt a lot of people who are very close to me.

As far as baseball and the Rangers, they’ve shown nothing but support to me and tell me they’ll continue to support me. … I cannot take a break from my recovery, my recovery is Christ, my recovery is an everyday process. When I take that one day off it leaves me open for a moment of weakness, it’s always been that way.

For everybody I have hurt … fans, kids, people who have addictions who look up to me, I apologize to you. When you’re doing this, you don’t mean to hurt anybody. As I know, it hurts a lot of people. I have a lot to look at as far as things going on, inside, they aren’t bad things, not things that are worrisome as far as me running back out, going to drink.

It’s about getting to the point where I understand, I can’t take a break. Again, how hard I play on the field is how hard I need to take a relationship with my Lord.

I just ask everybody who is watching and listening to pray for me, pray for my family because it never gets easy. It never gets easy. I’ve put my wife through a lot in our marriage and she’s a very strong woman.

It’s about time I become the strong one in the relationship, take responsibility and take the lead in making choices, making decisions and stepping up and being the man I am supposed to be, not continuing to hurt her and put my kids in situations where they might hear things. It’s just not a good situation for anybody. I am going to be doing a lot of soul searching, really focusing on the Lord … I have a great support team.

But it’s about me getting to the point where, somebody asks me if I’m fine and 90 percent of the time I am fine. Well, everybody can’t be fine all of the time. It’s about me, before I make that bad decision to take a drink, to just call somebody, just talk to somebody.

It’s OK to be vulnerable; it’s OK to show weakness. Everybody has them. But the people are here for that reason, and they’ve done nothing but support me. It’s been an absolute blessing for me to have them in my life. And they’ll continue to do that.

I will be flying to New York at some point soon just to meet with the doctors, Major League side, players’ side. I’ll talk with them about what happened, and continue doing my testing as I have been for a long time.

Anytime something like this happens, you want to go back, you want to visit things, see where you went wrong, and let everybody that has helped you in the past and who wants to help you, really help you.

Like I said before, I feel terrible about this because I feel I let a lot of people down. I’ve beat myself up for the last four days with this. There’s nobody that feels worse than I do. I’m going to do everything I can to lean on some shoulders and hopefully I can get back to the point that people can lean on mine again.

I am going to do everything I can to take all the steps necessary, whatever the steps may be, whether it’s going to counseling, talking to somebody, everything is open at this point.

I am hurt by it, tremendously, more so for my wife and my kids. Then to the Rangers organization, they’ve been nothing but great. I appreciate everything they’ve done for me, support of me. It’s just awesome to be able to work for somebody who really cares for you and not just what you can do for them. And they’ve been great for my family.

I am sorry it had to be this way. It would’ve been nice if it was talking about a contract, but we’ll put that on the backburner for a while.

Please continue to pray for Josh Hamilton. He’s my favorite professional athlete but tomorrow will only be Day 8.