One-time baseball phenom Matt Bush who is serving four years in prison for nearly killing a man while driving under the influence said he hopes to overcome his addiction like current Major League Baseball star Josh Hamilton.
Bush made the comments during an interview with former teammate Gabe Kapler for
Fox Sports.com for a story posted Monday. Hamilton overcame a drug addiction to become an All-Star with the Texas Rangers before signing a $125-million contract with the Los Angeles Angels,
according to the Los Angeles Times.
Bush, a former star with the Tampa Bay Rays, told Fox Sports that Hamilton's story of redemption caught his attention while he battled through alcoholism. In 2012, he pleaded no contest to driving under the influence with serious bodily injury after he hit and nearly killed Tony Tufano in Florida,
according to the Tampa Bay Times.
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He received a 51-month prison sentence for the plea, wrote the Times. Bush could be released in 2016, Fox noted.
"(Hamilton) gave me hope when his story came out ... my issues were alcohol," Bush told Kapler. "But it's the same. It's the same kind of battle."
Bush told Fox Sports that like many addicts he told himself he could control his demons while refusing to acknowledge that he was out of control.
"You know, I'd have days where I'd go to the field to rehab from surgery and I'd have every intention of going back to my house, having a good meal, resting, being a professional and the next thing you know I'm stopping off and buying drinks and drinking without the intention of ever wanting to do it," said Bush.
"I ended up drinking more and more after telling myself, 'I'm just going to have one or two drinks.' The next thing you know, I'm all the way drunk and I can't even remember how many I had. And that's when I knew, yeah, I am definitely. This isn't just a problem. I'm an alcoholic," he continued.
Kapler said a Major League general manager told him that it would be tough for a baseball executive to trust Bush again but Bush said he wants to prove he has changed.
"I want people to know that I'm very sorry for what had occurred," said Bush. "I really wish things had been a lot different. I would've made a lot better choices."
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