CINCINNATI — The People’s Choice is in the house — The Billy Hamilton Era has begun with the Cincinnati Reds. Hamilton, the player for whom they count stolen bases by the dozens, reported for duty on Labor Day, a September call-up.
While manager Dusty Baker realizes that Hamilton is a useful tool, he issued a cautionary statement about the 22-year-old converted outfielder (from shortstop) who set a minor-league record in 2012 with 155 stolen bases. “I know everybody wants to see him, but he is not the focal point here,” said Baker. “Our focal point is us to win the division and the World Series. He hope he can help us in some small way or big way to get us there.”
It, of course, is hard not to realize what Hamilton can do when on the basepaths. He stole 75 bases this season for Class AAA Louisville. “It’s not like he is a stranger, we know him from spring training,” said Baker. “I talked to him as soon as he got here and told him, ‘Just do what is asked whenever you are called upon. Stay ready. And sit in the dugout and learn. Don’t just b.s. and watch the game. You can learn a lot.” Baker knows from experience, from his days as a September call-up with the Atlanta Braves when they had Hank Aaron and Rico Carty. “I was 19 years old, then 20 and 21 when I was a September call-up,” said Baker. “I didn’t play much, but I learned a lot. When I did start to play it didn’t feel foreign to me and I wasn’t in awe of anybody or anything. The hardest thing to do for a young man is to get the nerves out.” Hamilton admits he was in shock and awe when he walked into the clubhouse for the first time Monday morning. “I wasn’t thinking about a call-up, but they hinted around now and then about,” said Hamilton, a second-round draft pick in 2009 out of Taylorsville, Miss. “They told me to stay ready and they told me on Saturday. It is feels great coming into the clubhouse with all these guys but it will take me getting into a game then it will feel real.” After a slow start this year, Hamilton got better and better in Triple-A and finished extremely strong. “The first half I put a lot of pressure on myself and wasn’t playing my game, thinking too much, tryng to force it by playing too hard,” he said. “After the first half I went home and my mom said, 'Be yourself. Just relax a little bit. Play the game your way. And things started going for for me.'" Momma knows best. Hamilton said he knows his role is as a late in the game situational player, most likely as a pinch-runner. “It’ll be to run bases and play defense, whatever they need me for, I’m here,” he said. Hamilton signed as a shortstop but was converted late last season to center field. He worked diligently during spring training and played the entire season in the outfield at Louisville. “When I first went out there I thought it would take me a couple of years to learn it,” he said. “But I learned a lot from E.D. (former Reds outfielder Eric Daivs) and I’m enjoying myself. There is a lot of running out there and that’s what I do best. It’s fun.”
Hamilton played shortstop all his life and said it wasn’t easy to abandon home. He still sometimes looks at it fondly from deep in the outfield, “And I still sneak in there and take a few ground balls during batting practice, but I can run more in the outfield and that’s good for me.” Hamilton just happened to be summoned right into one of the biggest series of the year, the start of a four-game series with the first-place St. Louis Cardinals, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Reds. “The Reds and St. Louis is always a great series and it's good to have a chance to go right in there against the Cardinals,” he said. “I’m excited to be here, no matter against who. I’ll get my work in and be ready when they need me. Right now I’m shocked and amazed.”
And Reds fans hope they’ll be shocked and amazed when he runs the bases. Baker knows the fans want to see Hamilton prominently and often but says, “Everybody wants to see the young man play, but what do I do with the guys who have been here all year. Is it fair to them? They have a bubblegum card, too. Everybody doesn’t like to hear that.” When a team is in contention it is even more difficult to fit in the September call-ups, even one as high-end as Hamilton.
“I like being in contention because you don’t hear the pressure from upstairs to play certain guys,” Baker added. “A couple of years ago we had that experiment late in the season with (first baseman) Yonder Alonso in the outfield, even though I knew better. We’re here to win. We just want them prepared to not make mistakes. No young player wants to make a mistake that might cost you that one important win late in the season.”
