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Ian Kinsler surpasses Josh Hamilton as most despised man in Texas

Ian Kinsler won't be a popular guy in Texas anymore.
Ian Kinsler won’t be a popular guy in Texas anymore.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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TEMPE, Ariz.—There was a bit of a silver lining for Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton in an ESPN the Magazine piece in which Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler torched his former general manager in Texas, calling Jon Daniels “a sleazeball” and saying of the Rangers, “I hope they go 0-162.”

Said Hamilton: “At least I won’t be the only villain in Texas now.”

Hamilton was a five-time All-Star and 2010 American League most valuable player during his five years (2008-2012) in Texas before signing a five-year, $125-million deal with the Angels before the 2013 season.

When he returned to Texas as an Angel for the first time last April, Hamilton was booed viciously throughout a three-game series in which Rangers fans, furious over Hamilton’s spring-training comment that Texas was more of a “football town” than a baseball town, gave him a standing ovation after every out.

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Hamilton received similar treatment during each of the Angels’ three trips to Texas, but after Kinsler’s comments, which were posted online Tuesday, he may not be Public Enemy No. 1 in Arlington.

“He’s his own man,” Hamilton said of Kinsler, who was traded for first baseman Prince Fielder in November. “He can speak how he wants to speak.”

Hamilton, who suffered a left-calf strain on Feb. 26, is hitting and throwing but has not yet tried to run. He is expected to be sidelined for at least another week or two.

“I can’t put a time frame on it because I don’t know what the team is thinking,” Hamilton said.

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