Casey Affleck - Casey Affleck To Direct Baseball Biopic

The Texas Rangers prodigy fell from grace at the beginning of his professional career after struggling with alcohol and drug addiction issues.

After several stints in rehab, outfielder Hamilton got his life back on track and he has since earned a name for himself as one of the best home-run hitters in the league.

And now Hamilton's story is set to get the big screen treatment from the Gone Baby Gone star, who will also serve as executive producer of the biopic.

The Town producer Basil Iwanyk, who has also signed on for the project, tells Deadline.com, "I truly think this guy's story is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever read. It's also tailor-made for a movie: it has the mythic quality of The Natural, the faith-based angle of The Blind Side - and faith is a major part of our story - and the romance of Walk the Line.

"Casey has totally captured those elements in his take for the movie. It is an extraordinary odyssey that took him (Hamilton) from the depths of drug addiction, estrangement from his family, and suspension from baseball to a spectacular rebirth of his life, faith, marriage and major league career."