Josh Hamilton didn't wait very long to pour some fuel on the potential inferno that will be the rivalry between the Halos and Rangers this season.
Hamilton said in an interview with CBS' Dallas radio affiliate KTVT that the Dallas-Fort Worth market was not a "true" baseball town.
"There are true baseball fans in Texas, but it's not a true baseball town," Hamilton said.
Hamilton later said that Dallas has "always been a football town."
The comments came just a week before the start of Cactus League play that will kick off in-game preparation for the 2013 season.
While it is no secret that the state of Texas in general and the Dallas area in particular has an infatuation with the pigskin, the comments will still surely ruffle some feathers among Rangers fans and even non-baseball fans who will surely take offense to words from a guy who is perceived as taking the money and running.
One thing is for sure: we'll find out just what Rangers fans think of Hamilton and his statements beginning on April 5th when the Angels head to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington during the season's first weekend.
"It will be mixed feelings from the crowd," Hamilton said. "People who really get it will cheer and the people who don't will boo. Either way, I'll do what I got to do to help my team win."
UPDATE: Predictably, Rangers manager Ron Washington was asked about the comments at the team's training complex in Surprise. Just as predictably, Washington wanted no part of it.
"I'm not answering anything that Josh said," Washington told reporters on site. "That's Josh. Josh is an Angel. That's Josh's opinion."
"My opinion is there were 3.5 million fans that came through the turnstiles. That answers it right there."
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