Billy Hamilton continuing to excel at AA

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Liar. You would absolutely throw on a cape.

"You can't cast aspersions on someone just because they're wearing a cape. Superman wore a cape! And I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand here and let you say something bad about him."

[Jamz]

I would actually like to see what kind of time he could put up in the 100m. The guy is blazing fast.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by MikeS21

You are talking about our Andrew Means?

I just seems as if the Reds' minors has a lot of speed. It would be interesting to know who the fastest players are.

Yes I am. The fastest two guys are Hamilton and Bowe, in some order. I haven't been convinced that Bowe isn't as fast as Hamilton. I think there is probably a bit of a gap between them before getting to a few other guys, though I will be honest that I haven't had a good time on Means in two years either.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

http://mississippistate.scout.com/a....=1&nid=3589821

Surprised he was only a 2-star.

[j_m_t_us]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Yes I am. The fastest two guys are Hamilton and Bowe, in some order. I haven't been convinced that Bowe isn't as fast as Hamilton. I think there is probably a bit of a gap between them before getting to a few other guys, though I will be honest that I haven't had a good time on Means in two years either.

If Means is so fast, why has he stole only 2 bases with Pensacola when he's been on base 40 times! What am I missing here?

[camisadelgolf]

Originally Posted by j_m_t_us

If Means is so fast, why has he stole only 2 bases with Pensacola when he's been on base 40 times! What am I missing here?

It's because he's on base so rarely that they want him to savor the moment and try to get used to it.

[OGB]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

It is worth bringing up the Andrew Means ran a 4.36 40 at the IU pro day and Hamilton is considered faster than him and no one ever questions it.

Doug speaks truth. It is not uncommom for college football players to run a sub 4.4 forty. In fact, i believe the Bengals have 3 rookies who have been timed at under 4.4. The rarity is guys who run low 4.3 or 4.2 anything. Either way, it amounts to how that speed translates. The fastest sprinter in the world might not be able to run a pass route or defend against a WR as well as someone slower. Similarly, the fastest sprinter might not be able to move laterally to field a ground ball, or navigate a base path as well as an accomplished baseball player. Hamilton has world class speed, but you just rarely see guys that fast decide on a career in baseball.

[Scrap Irony]

I'd also argue that it's far, far different running it everyday on a baseball diamond and running it from starter's blocks in a straight line at a combine.

Hamilton has as much game speed as anyone in baseball. Perhaps ever. Whether that equates to a 4.4 or a 4.3 or whatever, I don't know. I suspect, if you timed him, Hamilton would run in the 4.25 to 4.3 range.

[Pony Boy]

The thing that I love about Hamilton is that he is really learning the art of stealing bases in the minors. He will have lots of practice by the time he gets to MLB. It will get a lot harder when he moves up to AAA and to the majors. Pitchers are better at holding runners, catchers are much better at making the throw to second, etc.

Deion Sanders was among the fastest players to ever play baseball (maybe the fastest), but he wasnt a very good base runner. He was caught stealing a little over a third of time. Its not all speed. You have to have a feel for it and you have to be smart about it.

[Scrap Irony]

Anything below 70% doesn't help the team.

Thankfully, Hamilton is well above that so for his career. As pitchers and catchers have to focus more on hitters and less on him stealing (ie, good hitters are going to crush fastballs if they're thrown every pitch he's on base), Hamilton's CS percentage isn't, IMO, going to rise all that much. I do believe he'll be more judicious with his attempts, however.

Still, a SS that can steal 100 bases in a year while only getting caught 25 times is a difference-maker to keep an eye on.

[19braves77]

I heard and read that Bo Jackon was faster then Sanders but Jackson never really tried... Its said that Bo never liked baseball and he only played it to stay in shape for football. Same article said that if he would have kept at it, he would have probable hit 500 HRS stole 700 bases and been the all time strikeout leader.

Micheal Jordan was fast also.

[texasdave]

CNNSI article on Slidin' Billy Hamilton.

Rickey. Rock. Vince. Otis. Neon Deion. He saw them all in their primes, all those great burners. So when Ken Griffey, Sr. started hearing the great tales about this kid named Billy Hamilton in the Reds system -- this kid who was so fast he would steal second as the catcher was flipping the ball back to the pitcher, this kid who was so fast he would run from his shortstop position and make outrageous catches at the warning track, this kid who just might be The Fastest Ballplayer Ever -- when he listened to all the great tales, Griffey, of course, would roll his eyes. He's seen enough of these Next Big Things come and go.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz21YP1xjqt

[Mario-Rijo]

Hamilton #8 on Keith Laws Trade Value list.

Insider Link

Guidelines:

As a follow-on list to my ranking from earlier this month of the top 50 prospects in the minors, here's a ranking of the top 10 prospects on contending clubs -- i.e., potential deadline "buyers" -- based on their immediate trade value. To draw the line between contenders and non-contenders, I used ESPN's playoff odds, and limited the list to prospects from teams with at least a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs prior to Monday's games.

This list isn't specifically my evaluation of the values of these players, but represents my understanding of (and speculation) on what the players' actual values are to current GMs. This list ignores players who can't be traded because they just signed their first professional contracts this summer, and players who are currently out with a significant injury (e.g., Travis d'Arnaud).

[Steve4192]

Originally Posted by 19braves77

I heard and read that Bo Jackon was faster then Sanders but Jackson never really tried... Its said that Bo never liked baseball and he only played it to stay in shape for football. Same article said that if he would have kept at it, he would have probable hit 500 HRS stole 700 bases and been the all time strikeout leader.

That doesn't make much sense, considering Bo chose baseball over football.

Baseball always came first for Bo. That's why he took less money to play baseball rather than what he could have made as the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft. It's also why he never played a full NFL season, only coming over to play after the baseball season had ended.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Originally Posted by texasdave

CNNSI article on Slidin' Billy Hamilton.


Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz21YP1xjqt

Sorry dave, you picked the wrong quote IMO. :O)

The moment Griffey became a believer was during a game in April, two weeks into the season at Single-A Bakersfield, where Griffey is the manager and Hamilton was the shortstop. It was a scoreless game in the bottom of the ninth. Hamilton was at third base -- earlier in the inning he'd singled, stole second, and stole third. "The hitter was kind of jammed and he hit a pop fly to second," says Griffey. "I look over at third and I see Billy going back to the base, looking like he's getting ready to push off, and I'm thinking, Now what the hell is he doing? The second baseman had his back to the plate, he was on the edge of the outfield grass behind second base, and the moment he touched the ball, Billy took off. And he was gone. This is a pop fly to second base, and Billy tagged up and scored. Standing up."
Griffey laughs. "Thought I'd seen it all -- but I'd never seen that," he says. "I've seen all the great ones who could change the game with their speed. But Billy -- it's true, he's a little bit different."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz21ZVw5OWX