Hamilton works out at Durham

Josh Hamilton's troubled baseball career took a small step in the right direction Monday.

Hamilton worked out with the Devil Rays' Triple-A affiliate in Durham and is expected to work out with the team for the rest of the season.

But Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said Hamilton will not be activated to play for Durham and will not travel with the team.

"We're going to take it one day at a time, but we think it is great that Josh is involved in baseball activity again," LaMar said. "It has been a long year without baseball for him, and it's good to see him back in some capacity."

This could have been a breakthrough season for Hamilton, the Rays' top pick in the 1999 draft, but off-field problems that never have been explained publicly derailed those hopes.

Hamilton left the team for unknown reasons during spring training but returned May 3 after a six-week absence.

His return barely got off the ground. On May 12 the Rays released a statement saying Hamilton, 21, had "requested and been granted a personal leave for the remainder of the season. The purpose of the leave is to provide Josh an opportunity to address certain private non-baseball matters."

LaMar said he visited with Hamilton, who lives in Raleigh, N.C., during a trip to Durham two weeks ago to scout the Bulls. That led to Hamilton's return.

It isn't known if Hamilton will be able to play in one of the fall instructional leagues. For now, LaMar said the Rays simply are happy to have Hamilton on the field again.

Hamilton could not be reached for comment, but his agent, Casey Close, said: "It's always a positive sign when a player can get back on the field after being away from the game."

Close declined comment on what Hamilton has been dealing with, but he said there might come a time when Hamilton would address the issues.

"For now, he just wants to get reacclimated to the game," Close said. "We can't say what the next step will be. We don't want to put the cart before the horse. Let's just take this first step and see where it goes from here."

PROSPECT INJURED: Joey Gathright, selected by Baseball America last season as the fastest player in the Rays organization, will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his left shoulder. It isn't known if he will be able to play in one of the fall instructional leagues.

Gathright, a 32nd-round pick in the 2001 draft, injured the shoulder while playing for Double-A Orlando. In 22 games with Orlando, Gathright was hitting .376 with 12 stolen bases.

COOL RUNNINGS: Rays manager Lou Piniella thinks his team has had enough of the long, hot summer. After playing in temperatures near 100 degrees last week in Baltimore, Piniella thinks the rest of the season will be played in cooler weather.

"It was hot and steamy last week," Piniella said. "And that can be hard on your players, particularly pitchers. It definitely has an effect on them. The rest of the season, though, should be all right. We'll start to see cooler temperatures."

The Rays are on the road this week in Seattle and Oakland, where temperatures are expected to peak in the low 60s. The other trips will be to New York and Boston in mid September, then Toronto later that month.

"The rest of the games are (at Tropicana Field) where it's climate-controlled," Piniella said. "So the hot weather should be over for us, and I think you'll see our pitchers respond well because of that."

REST FOR THE WEARY: Even if the Rays hit more reasonable weather, Piniella said he expects to continue resting his regulars to keep them fresh.

Carl Crawford, Travis Lee and Damian Rolls took time off last weekend, and giving starters a breather here and there remains in Piniella's plans.

"Some of our younger guys have never played in September," Piniella said. "They've never been through this. So it's important to keep them fresh both (mentally and physically)."