Michael Dean Chadwick, Josh Hamilton's father-in-law, has been named as a special assistant by the Texas Rangers.

Chadwick is expected to travel with the team and be an accountability partner to Hamilton.  When the Rangers acquired Hamilton four years ago, the club brought in Johnny Narron to be Hamilton's accountability partner. Narron has accepted a position as Milwaukee's hitting coach for the 2012 season.

Josh Hamilton is following Scotty.

Is another Josh Hamilton waiting to emerge from the Triangle's baseball ranks?

He might get some help from an Eastern North Carolina baseball family.

On Jan. 8, the Narron family and friends will conduct a free skills clinic for players in the seventh grade.

Former Athens Drive High baseball star Josh Hamilton was named the American League co-player of the week for his play last week. The Texas Rangers outfielder has rebounded from a slow start to move among the leaders in most AL offensive statistics.

Josh Hamilton and the feel-good story of his battle back from substance abuse problems continues to make the former Athens Drive High star one of the most popular players in baseball.

Despite missing more than half of the Texas Rangers' games this season because of injuries, Hamilton received 2,412,359 fan votes for the All-Star Game to rank third among American League outfielders and grab a starting spot for the July 14 game in St. Louis.

Josh Hamilton's baseball season was put on hold Monday when the Texas Rangers announced that the former Athens Drive High star will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair a partial tear in an abdominal muscle.

Hamilton is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks.