The safe bet is that if the game does not chew him up, then life will. There are obstacles, wrapped inside of hardships, protected by pitfalls. Also, there is a moat. Even Wednesday, it was impossible to squint into the empty outfield of Tropicana Field and try to project the image of Joshua H. Hamilton, dream bearer, without also acknowledging the improbability of him ever running onto it as a star. This is baseball, after all, where scouting is something like mining for gold with a teaspoon.
Failures are commonplace.
And even being tabbed as the best by-golly prospect in all the land guarantees nothing. The Devil Rays know that. Today, their fans should, too. In its most basic form, this was a gamble. What the Devil Rays accomplished over months of scouting, through dozens of trips, by watching Hamilton swing, again and again, by talking to teammates and parents and coaches and friends and darned near everyone else in Raleigh, N.C., was merely lessening the odds.