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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Josh Hamilton is too good a guy, in a friendly, great-smile, hey-how-ya-doin', once-or-twice-a-week way. He wields that swing gifted by God or Ted Williams or somebody. The story — how he got here, and how it speaks to us — endures, because the stuff that chases him chases everyone in one way or another.

So, there's a reason he's been terrible. For a year. But there are signs he won't be terrible anymore, right? There's a mechanical thing to be sorted out, bad luck to turn, a hitting coach to show up and tuck his elbow or flatten his bat or raise his hands. Something.

This is — was, maybe still is, it's blurry now — one of the finest athletes many had ever seen on a baseball field. The ball flies — well, flew — from his bat, from his hand. The way he runs — ran. The way a ball into the outfield finds — found — his glove. The way he plays — played — the game, rather than it playing him, which is how most people find it. It is — was — so special.

So, what's up with Josh Hamilton?

Thirty-two years old, apparently healthy, presumably clean, Hamilton is a .217 hitter in 2013. Against lefties: .153. With runners in scoring position: .132. In June: .207. Yes, he's a .217 hitter, up from .212 earlier this month, down from a high this month of .220.

The folks who chart such things say he swings at too many pitches out of the strike zone, and that pitchers rarely throw him strikes, or at least decent ones. And so Hamilton trudges to the plate, takes his hacks, often returns disappointed, and then does it again. For going on three months. For going on a year.

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In 71 games as a Los Angeles Angel, he has 10 home runs. His OPS is more than 200 points below his career average and going on 400 points beneath his career best.

But you probably don't need the numbers, the charts, the on-pace-fors. He just doesn't look right. Not in the box, not in the outfield, not on the basepaths. It's like he feels uncomfortable in the uniform, out of place in the ballpark, knocked unsteady by the contract. Something.

"It's been weird, man," Hamilton said.

Not weird to be here or away from the Texas Rangers or Dallas or anything. Just weird that he hasn't hit, and can't seem to pick a pitch to hit, for so long now. An "off-and-on" video guy for much of his career, Hamilton said he's trying to get back to his mechanics of 2007 and 2008, his first two major-league seasons. His hands were set different then, and his swing was simpler, and the results came because he could hit, not necessarily because he knew why.

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