Rangers' Hamilton sorry for alcohol relapse

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction, acknowledged he had consumed alcohol this week and apologized in a press conference at the Ballpark in Arlington.

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers during a press conference on February 3. Hamilton, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction, acknowledged he had consumed alcohol this week and apologized in the press conference.

"To everybody I hurt, everybody, fans, kids, people who have addictions who look up to me, I apologize," Hamilton said on Friday. "When you're doing this, you don't mean to hurt anybody. You're only hurting yourself. But as I know, I hurt a lot of people."

Hamilton said he had had some drinks at two Dallas establishments this week, but that no other drugs were involved.

"It was just wrong," said Hamilton, who was the American League Most Valuable Player in 2010.

He helped the Rangers reach the World Series in each of the past two seasons, but they lost the championship series both times.

The Rangers hoped to have added the piece they need to finally claim a World Series title when they inked Japanese star pitcher Yu Darvish to a six-year deal worth $60 million in January.

The club had already bid a record $51.7 million simply for the rights for a 30-day period to negotiate a deal with Darvish.