Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton gave up valuable years of his career because of drug and alcohol addictions. While it seems that both of those habits have been kicked, another one cost him some playing time as the regular season winds down.
On Monday, the Rangers announced the Hamilton had been plagued by ocular keratitis. For those out there who aren’t in the medical field, that’s a condition that blurs vision and dries out the corneas.
In a game against the Angels on Sept. 18, Hamilton was pulled from the lineup for blurred vision and balance problems. Initially reported to be a sinus infection, the Rangers cleared up any speculation and announced the diagnosis.
ESPN Dallas’ Richard Durrett tweeted the announcement, and also the main reason why Hamilton was out of the lineup for the prolonged period.
#Rangers say Josh Hamilton has ocular keratitis, which is blurred vision from too much caffeine and sports drinks.
— Richard Durrett (@espn_durrett)September 24, 2012
”Drinking caffeine, coffee in the morning, coffee midday, Energy drink
before the game, chocolate after the game. All these things were
compounding and making it worse and worse,” Hamilton said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Hamilton made his return to the lineup on Monday against Oakland.
Moral of the story: While Red Bull may give you wings, it can also mean you’re flying blind.
