Team Celebrations

The clubhouse is covered with tarps and the bubbly is on ice.  The last out is made and one team celebrates.  They are one step closer to a championship.  But what happens when a member of that team is a recovering alcoholic?  As the Texas Rangers ran off the field last night in Tampa with a 5-1 Game 5 victory over the Rays,  they were ready to celebrate.  And why shouldn't they be?  This was the first Texas Rangers team to ever win a postseason series.  Ever.  Texas was the only major league franchise to never win a playoff series.  Until last night.  As they made their way to the clubhouse, one member of the team distanced himself from the rest.  Josh Hamilton, a recovering alcoholic, stayed away from the celebrations inside the visitor's clubhouse, just like he had when the Rangers celebrated their AL West championship.  He wanted to stay away from one of the things, alcohol, that ruined his life and derailed his baseball career.  Well, unlike their last celebration in late September, the Rangers could not have their MVP teammate on the sidelines for this one.  Instead, ginger ale was being sprayed all over the clubhouse, and more importantly, all over Hamilton.  It may seem like a small gesture, but it shows a great deal of team unity by the players.  Something they will need when they begin a best of seven series tomorrow night at home against the heavy favored New York Yankees with a chance to play in the World Series.