180 Degrees Of Separation

"It's weird. You go all your life not having money. Then you've got it, and people want to give you everything. I guess that comes with success."

Of all the things his suddenly elevated status has brought, the one he could do most without is the media. Beckett freely agrees to meet with reporters but cringes at the questions about life as a Series hero that he is asked every day. "I'd like to be asked something different," he says. "Anything."

Here's one: Do you know what happened to Josh Hamilton?

Beckett rubs his chin. "Hmm," he says. "I know he's had some buzzard's luck but nothing specific. Why? Is there something I should know?"

Rumors of Josh Hamilton's drug use have spread throughout Tampa over the past year. Some said Hamilton was hooked on cocaine. "I would never [have believed] it," Jennings told SI in late February when asked about Hamilton's possible drug use. "Not that kid."

Believe it. On Feb. 17, Major League Baseball suspended Hamilton for 30 days and fined him an undisclosed amount for multiple violations of its drug policy. (Under the terms of the treatment and prevention program, a player who is suspended for 25 or more days has failed at least two drug tests. A player cannot be suspended for using marijuana.)

"He was getting a crapload of cortisone shots [for his injuries at Bakersfield in 2002]," says Justin Schuda, a former teammate. "And I'm pretty sure he was taking a lot of painkillers too. When I heard about the drugs, I was kind of surprised by it. But in one sense, I wasn't."

Like the Hamilton family, the Devil Rays aren't talking. Close, Josh's agent, says all matters regarding Josh are "private." Upon signing with Tampa Bay, Josh bought himself a six-bedroom house on 27� acres outside Raleigh. The place was up for sale this winter. "There are a lot of rumors and speculation," says Cameron Mitchell, one of Hamilton's high school teammates. "But no one knows for sure."

On March 19 Hamilton was eligible to return to organized baseball. However, on that day Major League Baseball announced that he was suspended without pay for the entire 2004 season, becoming the first player to be banned a full year for drug use since Darryl Strawberry in 2000. Under MLB's substance-abuse bylaws, the banishment meant Hamilton had failed at least two additional drug tests, for a substance deemed more severe than marijuana. "All we can do," says a stunned LaMar, "is hope that Josh Hamilton will be ready to participate in 2005 spring training."

Who knows what Hamilton's baseball future holds—if, indeed, he has one. He told Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times that he, Baldelli and Crawford could "still be the best outfield there is." Even if Hamilton were to return next spring, it will have been 2� seasons since he last played. Five years after being touted as can't-miss, Josh Hamilton just might join Steve Chilcott and Mark Merchant in the annals of baseball busts.