I spent 8 days last June in Louisville, KY. I worked during the day, but the evenings were mine, and largely devoted to bourbon, the NBA playoffs, and a drag show. I twice made my way to Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Cincinnati Reds's AAA affiliate, the Louisville Bats. Granted, the first time was really only to gorge myself on ribs and a beer sampler at Against the Grain, but the second visit involved an actual baseball game.
And Billy Hamilton.
By that point, Hamilton was already in the news, stealing bases like mad, and I wanted to see him play. I sort of did. He didn't have much chance to do anything interesting afield, and he never got on base. Instead, I was treated to a weak dribbler, a shallow pop-up, and a chopper back to the pitcher (and I think a strikeout). No times on base, no base-stealing opportunities. I realized it was only one game, and I shouldn't judge based on such a limited sample, but I checked his batting stats and yep, they pretty much seemed to fit what I'd seen. Disappointing. I didn't imagine him making it to the next level any time soon, if he was struggling that much in AAA. I left the ballpark disappointed, not sure we'd ever get to see the guy running around on national TV.
Fortunately, the Reds brought him up late in the year and he made it pretty clear he doesn't need to hit much to be an offensive factor. Jeff Sullivan has done a great job explaining and showing why that is--watch Molina stand up as Hamilton slides into 2nd--and why we should still be excited. As much as I admire guys like Albert Pujols, who is/was fantastic at everything, I love unconventional players who find success--R.A. Dickey, Ichiro Suzuki, Adam Dunn, these guys fascinate me, and I want Billy Hamilton around and doing the same.
*And also, the only other Billy Hamilton I can find was a base-stealer, too, and he's in the HoF, so there.
Interesting. Thanks.
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