Tag Archives: billy hamilton

15 Jun

that was quick

Billy Hamilton, on base three times for Cincinnati on Sunday, stole a career-high five bases and reached 100 career steals in just his 219th big league game. “He’s an extremely unique talent when it comes to speed,” Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon told mlb.com. Taylorsville native Hamilton leads MLB with 31 steals. He swiped 56 last year, trailing only Dee Gordon’s 64. It’s worth noting that the record for career steals by a Mississippi native is 223, by Gulfport’s Gerald “Gee” Walker, who played in the 1930s and ’40s. Vicksburg’s Ellis Burks is second on the list with 181, followed by Greenville’s Frank White (178), Gulfport’s Matt Lawton (165) and Ellisville’s Buddy Myer (156). The active leader is McComb native Jarrod Dyson, who has 126 bags, six this year for Kansas City. Hamilton, who plays more regularly than Dyson, will catch him soon enough. P.S. The New York Yankees sent Mississippi State product Jacob Lindgren to the minors. The rookie left-hander had a 5.14 ERA in seven innings, allowing three home runs and four walks with eight strikeouts. The 2014 second-round pick had not allowed a homer in 46 2/3 minor league innings while fanning 77 and walking 23.

12 Jun

speed bump

After missing three straight games with a wrist ailment, Billy Hamilton is back in the Cincinnati lineup for today’s game against Chicago at Wrigley Field. The former Taylorsville High standout is hitting ninth for the injury-plagued Reds. Hamilton leads the majors in stolen bases with 25. The switch-hitting center fielder has three home runs, 17 RBIs and 29 runs in 51 games. He hasn’t made an error in 141 chances, and he has four assists. That’s the good stuff. On the flip side, he ranks 152nd in batting (.222) and 159th in on-base percentage (.264). He has walked only 12 times. Hamilton’s speed can be game-changing, but he has simply got to get on base more to have significant impact on the Reds’ won-lost record. Hamilton is only 24 in his second full MLB season, so he may yet improve. But how much time will the Reds give him?

22 Jan

looking up

MLB Network’s list of the top 10 center fielders in the game does not include Billy Hamilton. Rest assured, there are any number of teams that would love to have the Collins native and ex-Taylorsville High star – but he has work to do to crack the list of elite center fielders. Hamilton, in his first full MLB season with Cincinnati, stole 56 bases, scored 72 runs, drove in 49, hit six homers and legged out eight triples in 152 games. In the field, he made just two errors while registering 342 putouts and 10 assists. But Hamilton batted just .250, put up a sub-par .292 on-base percentage and drew just 34 walks while fanning 117 times. The apparent leader in the National League rookie of the year race much of the season, he scuffled late and wound up second to New York pitcher Jacob deGrom. For sure, Hamilton’s speed is off the charts. If he can get on base more in 2015, he just might climb into that top 10 chart heading into 2016. P.S. Connor Barron’s stock may be rising, which is good news for Southern Miss fans. The former Sumrall High star, a third-round MLB draft pick in 2011 who went undrafted last summer, has been rated the No. 8 senior in the country by Perfect Game. Barron was the Texas Collegiate League player of the year last summer after batting .344. The former shortstop, now playing center field for the Golden Eagles, hit .246 (.316 in C-USA play) with four homers and 20 RBIs as a junior. … Also on the rise is Greer Holston, a right-hander at St. Stanislaus High. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior reportedly made a big impression on scouts at last weekend’s Under Armour Preseason All-America Tournament in Arizona.

11 Nov

one of these years

Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, who once appeared to be a lock for the National League Rookie of the Year award, came up short in the end. Hamilton, Cincinnati’s center fielder, lost out to New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, who got 26 of the 30 first-place votes from media members. No Mississippi native has won the rookie award in either league since it was first instituted in 1947 to honor Jackie Robinson. (Ex-Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan, who is from Florida, won the NL award in 2009.) Hamilton, who faded in the latter part of the season, hit .250 with 56 steals and 72 runs in 152 games. P.S. On the list of minor league free agents with Mississippi ties is Matt Tolbert, the former Ole Miss standout from McComb. Tolbert, who broke into pro ball in 2004 and has 247 MLB games on his ledger, batted .172 in 21 games in Double-A with Philadelphia this season. He might be done. Also out there are Alcorn State alumnus Corey Wimberly (in Minnesota’s system in 2014), UM product Cody Overbeck (San Diego), Jackson native Donnie Veal (Chicago White Sox) and former Ole Miss star Justin Henry (Boston).

18 Sep

photo finish ahead?

Still think Billy Hamilton will win the National League Rookie of the Year award. But it has become a competitive race. Jacob DeGrom, David Peralta and perhaps even Yangervis Solarte may garner support from voters down the stretch. Former Taylorsville High star Hamilton, Cincinnati’s leadoff batter and center fielder, has 56 stolen bases. That’s his eye-grabbing number. He has also hit a surprising six home runs, scored 72 times and driven in 48 runs in 147 games. Plus, he’s played great defense. But a September swoon (.146) has pulled his batting average down to .256, and his on-base percentage is a weak .298. He also has been caught stealing 23 times. DeGrom has surged of late and has posted an 8-6 record with a 2.68 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 134 1/3 innings for the New York Mets. Playing in the Big Apple also helps the shaggy-haired right-hander. Peralta, an outfielder for Arizona, is batting .293 (.326 OBP) with seven homers, 34 RBIs, 38 runs and nine triples. And then there’s Solarte, San Diego’s third baseman, who is batting .263 with 10 homers, 48 RBIs and 53 runs. Hamilton may need to lean hard at the tape to pull this win out.

28 Aug

welcome to the club

It’s not a record, but Billy Hamilton swiped his 50th base on Wednesday in Cincinnati’s 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. “It’s just what I do: Steal bases,” Hamilton told The Associated Press. The rookie from Taylorsville High joins an exclusive fraternity of Reds in the 50-bag club. Among the group: Bobby Tolan, Joe Morgan, Eric Davis, Barry Larkin and Deion Sanders. The Cincinnati record for steals by a rookie is within Hamilton’s reach: 54, by Bob Brescher in 1909, back in the deadball era. Brescher also holds the overall franchise record with 81, which he set in 1911. Hamilton has some other nice numbers, too: 126 hits, 66 runs, 24 doubles, seven triples and eight assists. … Also on Wednesday, Corey Dickerson belted his 20th home run, joining a whole lot of players in Colorado’s 20-homer club. However, the ex-Meridian Community College standout hit his milestone bomb into McCovey Cove in San Francisco for the 100th splash hit in AT&T Park’s history. (Barry Bonds hit most of them.) Dickerson has a few other numbers of note, as well: 109 hits, 60 runs, 63 RBIs, 23 doubles, four triples and eight stolen bases. P.S. Worth noting from Wednesday: Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi CC product, put down a nifty bunt to squeeze home a run as first-place Kansas City rallied late for a 6-1 victory against Minnesota. It would have been Dyson’s seventh sac bunt of the year, but he beat it out for a hit, his 65th of the season.

18 Aug

the heat is on

Billy Hamilton shook out of a slump on Sunday, going 5-for-9 with four runs and a stolen base (No. 45) for Cincinnati in a doubleheader against Colorado. However, the Reds lost both games — the first in particularly gut-wrenching fashion — and fell to 61-63 on the season. They are in real danger of missing the postseason for the first time in three years. The games are getting more important now for teams with playoff hopes, and there will be a lot of scrutiny on individual performances under this pressure. Taylorsville High product Hamilton gave the Reds a kick last September in a bit role; he hit .368, swiped 13 bags and scored nine runs in 13 games. This year is very different. Hamilton, while still a rookie, is the everyday leadoff man for an offense that has sputtered, especially since the All-Star break. He entered Sunday’s play batting just .190 with three runs and one bag in his last 10 games. His big day lifted his average to .271 and he now has 64 runs in 118 games. But it went for naught as the Reds’ pitching let them down, allowing 20 runs to the last-place Rockies at Coors Field. Ole Miss alumnus Zack Cozart, who has been swinging the bat better of late, was just 1-for-7 on the day for the Reds and is at .226 on the season. From the other dugout, where there is no playoff pressure, McComb native Corey Dickerson went 4-for-9 with a homer (No. 17), five RBIs and three runs in the two games.

09 Jul

be a hero

He has 88 hits, 43 runs, 37 stolen bases, 36 RBIs, 18 doubles, five triples, five home runs and … one walk-off single. Billy Hamilton, the Taylorsville Tornado, delivered his first game-winner in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday night, giving Cincinnati a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Hamilton also had an RBI triple and made a great catch in center field as the Reds, on another run, rallied from a 5-0 deficit and completed a twinbill sweep at Great American Ballpark. Cincinnati has won four straight games to climb to 48-42 and is within 3½ games of first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central. The Reds look like a playoff contender again, and Hamilton, the NL’s rookie of the month in June, looks like a strong rookie of the year candidate.

18 Jun

just the highlights

On a good day — like Tuesday — Billy Hamilton is the baseball equivalent of former basketball star Dominique Wilkins: a Human Highlight Film. Hamilton, the pride of Taylorsville, had three hits for Cincinnati, including a double and a bunt single. He drew a walk. He stole three bases (28 for the year). He scored twice. And he even threw out a runner, Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen, at the plate. The Reds won the game 6-5 at PNC Park, sending Pirates fans home disappointed. But the true baseball fans among them had to be impressed with what they had seen from the visiting team’s wispy center fielder. P.S. Mycal Jones of the Mississippi Braves also did some box score-filling on Tuesday. He hit a homer, scored twice, drew a walk and stole a base for the South All-Stars in the Southern League All-Star Game at Chattanooga. Elmer Reyes also had a hit in the South’s 6-4 win. Matt Kennelly caught half the game and went 0-for-2. Williams Perez started for the South and put up a scoreless inning, while J.R. Graham and James Hoyt also pitched, both yielding home runs. Hoyt did record the final out.

16 Jun

good stuff, but …

Billy Hamilton led off with a home run at Milwaukee on Sunday, giving the former Taylorsville High star three bombs in his last eight games for Cincinnati. The 160-pound rookie leadoff batter has only two stolen bases over that span. Strange, but true. For the year, Hamilton is batting .264 with four homers, three triples, 18 RBIs, 31 runs and 25 steals (in 33 attempts). Those are good numbers, but this one isn’t: .301. That’s Hamilton’s on-base percentage. He has walked just 12 times in 63 games — and has fanned 43 times in his 220 official at-bats. He also has just six bunt hits. Considering his speed, he would seem capable of more. Bottom line: It’s been a good season for Hamilton so far, but there is room for improvement. P.S. Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier was back in Minnesota’s lineup at second base on Sunday against Detroit after missing a couple of starts with a sore back. He homered — his 15th — on Saturday as a pinch hitter, then went 0-for-4 on Sunday.