It really pained me to see how the Los Angeles Angels’ front office, particularly owner Arte Moreno, treated Josh Hamilton after his relapse a month ago.

Hamilton has always been one of my favorite players in the league. There’s just something about that smooth, long power swing that’s just so satisfying to see (unless you’re an Angels fan during one of Hamilton’s extended cold streaks).

Very few guys can hit poor, unsuspecting baseballs as far as he does. And more than anything, I admired his courage to live with the mistakes he had made in life and fight through those mistakes to become the star that he is.

Hamilton showed us that regardless of how badly you mess up, it’s never too late to change for the better and make something tremendous out of your life. Hamilton taught us that everybody is entitled to his mistakes, so long as he makes an effort to better himself through those mistakes. Hamilton affirmed that it’s okay to make mistakes — that they’re just part of learning how to be the best person you possibly can.

So yes, I was pissed off when the Angels threw Hamilton under the bus and offered their star absolutely no support after his first moment of weakness in 10 years. I wasn’t alone — the overall reaction was harshly critical from fans and journalists alike.

In the end, though, the Angels being harsh to Hamilton — cold as it might have seemed at the time — is the best thing possible for the rehabbing slugger at this point in his career.

For a guy with Hamilton’s history, any relapse can be a serious slippery slope back into falling into old habits if not dealt with properly — and to the Angels’ credit, they brought down the hammer and made it very clear that they weren’t going to accept a slip-up without consequences.

Had they just shrugged it off, given him a pat on the back and put him back into the lineup, Hamilton wouldn’t have gotten the negative reinforcement necessary for this kind of behavior — regardless of how small the risk of falling back into addiction might actually be. The potential consequences are too significant.

We’ll never know how Hamilton’s addiction struggles would have proceeded had the Angels kept him around and forgiven him easily. But for the Angels, Hamilton was a long-term, $125 million investment — that’s no chump change. Can you really fault them for being firm in their attitude towards preserving the health and well-being of such a high-risk, high-reward investment?

They had enough faith in Hamilton to award him that deal in the first place, and he violated those terms and betrayed the trust of the Angels organization — regardless of the reasons. Everyone makes mistakes, but people also need to live with the consequences of those mistakes and build on them. It’s not why he did what he did — it’s the fact that he did. Looking back, I can’t help but think that the Angels did the right thing.

Hamilton doesn’t deserve to be coddled — he’s a grown man, and I think he understands why the Angels did what they did.

And even though the Josh Hamilton experiment in Los Angeles was a huge failure, the Angels are still swallowing the $68 million owed to Hamilton, which shows me that this entire occurrence wasn’t them looking for an excuse to opt out of the motherlode of money that they still owe — rather, they seem to be more concerned about making sure Hamilton doesn’t relapse again and that he realizes the real-world consequences behind his destructive behavior.

I have no idea whether those were the Angels’ true intentions or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case. Given the circumstances, that seems to make more sense to me than just dumping Hamilton off and eating $68 million just because he didn’t get along with the front office and didn’t meet the lofty expectations in two-plus years in Los Angeles.

And in the end, all is well for Josh Hamilton: According to the testimony of his former Angels teammates, Josh is in high spirits, doing well physically and mentally, and is ready to play. And play he will, back in Arlington where his lore was built and where he can start from scratch again — all the while enjoying one of the biggest salaries in the league being paid by a division rival.

Things could be much worse for Josh Hamilton.

Do-Hyoung Park will always remember the 2008 MLB Home Run Derby, in which Josh Hamilton knocked 28 out of the park in the first round. Of course, Hamilton didn’t end up winning the derby that year, but that’s not really the issue. Recount your favorite Josh Hamilton memory (unless you’re an Angels fan, in which case you probably don’t have any) at dhpark ‘at’ stanford.edu.