Josh Hamilton: Slugger's 4-Homer Game Makes It Clear Rangers Are Team to Beat

As if it wasn't already clear from their MLB-best 20-10 record, the Rangers made it official on Tuesday night: they are the team to beat in baseball. 

A big reason for that is a certain slugger who blasted four home runs in one game. In Tuesday's 10-3 win over Baltimore, Josh Hamilton became the only active player in baseball to register a four-homer game and he had a double, too, to set an American League single-game record with 18 total bases.

After a game like this, it's easy to slip into hyperbole. It's easy to say, "Josh Hamilton is the greatest player ever." Where Hamilton ranks among the game's best is unclear, and his utter lack of consistency throughout his career makes it even more difficult to deem him one of the greatest ever. 

But after Tuesday's Hamilton-induced demolition of the Orioles, one thing about this team is clear: they have more weapons to throw than any other team in baseball, and Hamilton has proven he's just the latest.

Once upon a time, Hamilton was in the conversation as one of the best contemporary players in the sport. In 2008, when he slugged 32 homers and had 130 RBI, there wasn't anyone else who could compete. His was the ultimate redemption story as a former No. 1 draft pick in 1999 who didn't debut in the majors until 2007 because of drug and alcohol addictions.

Then there were injuries, there were relapses—as recently as February—and now this. Now, hitting .406 with 14 homers and 36 RBI, Hamilton has proven he is back.

After the game, he told ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett: 

"

It reminds you of when you're in Little League and a little kid, and just the excitement and why we play the game. Things like that. You never know what can happen. It was just an absolute blessing. 

"

It also reminds the Rangers that they still owe him a contract extension, and now, it's kind of hard for to overlook all the reasons he deserves it. Why would the Rangers want to give another team an opportunity to try out their most lethal weapon?

After accomplishing one of the greatest feats in baseball, Hamilton is once again the talk of the major leagues, just like he was in 2008. Each of his homers on Tuesday were two-run bombs, and he leads the American League in both homers and RBIs.  

Hamilton, who has led the Rangers in batting average and in homers for two of the last five years, is perhaps the biggest reason the Rangers are the best team in baseball and have won 11 of their last 13. When he's on—the way he was on Tuesday night—there's no team that can beat them. If he's playing like this, there's no reason to believe the Rangers won't be right back in the World Series again, where they've been for each of the last two seasons. 

Except with him playing like this, they might actually win it.