Josh Hamilton Calls Texas ‘Not a True Baseball Town,’ Rangers Fans ‘Spoiled’

In his final game with Texas, Josh Hamilton was booed by his home crowd after going 0-for-4 in a wild-card round loss to the Orioles. After the comments he made Monday, he can expect the same reaction when he returns to Arlington in a different uniform.

Hamilton, who signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Angels in December, ripped his former home during an interview with a Dallas-area CBS television affiliate.

“Texas, especially Dallas, has always been a football town,” Hamilton said. “The good with the bad is they’re supportive, but they also got a little spoiled at the same time, pretty quickly. You can understand a really true, true baseball town. There’s true baseball fans in Texas but it’s not a true baseball town.”

Though the Rangers never won a championship during Hamilton’s five-year tenure, Texas enjoyed its most successful stretch in franchise history, winning an pair of American League West division titles and reaching the World Series in 2010 and 2011. The slugger also experienced breakout success in Texas, being named to the All-Star team five times averaging a .305/.365/.549 slash line.

Rangers manager Ron Washington dismissed Hamilton’s comments, saying that the outfielder is no longer a concern of his.

“I’m not answering anything that Josh said,” Washington told ESPN.com. “That’s Josh. Josh is an Angel. That’s Josh’s opinion. My opinion is there were 3.5 million fans that came through the turnstiles. That answers it right there.”

Hamilton will return to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the first time as an Angel on April 5.

Photo via Facebook/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim