The Voice Tribune - Billy Hamilton
2
By IGOR GURYASHKIN Staff Writer B illy Hamilton is late. But he’s coming, appar- ently. Fifteen minutes go by. Tick. No Hamil- ton. The amiable Louisville Bats media rela- tions inform us that he’s definitely coming. Tock. He’s in batting practice. Getting settled in. On his way. “Billy’s a great guy,” offers Chadwick Fischer, Director of Media and Public Relations at the Lou- isville Bats. “He just hates interviews. He’s the guy who everyone wants to talk to, gets the most interview requests and they always ask the same things.” Hamilton eventually walks into the dimly lit inter- view room in the lower bowels of Louisville’s Slugger Field. No eye contact. Glove in hand, ball repeated- ly thrown into glove. He slouches into his chair – the expression of an arrested suspect, fully aware of the questions the police officer is about to throw his way. He’s heard this before. “How are you, Billy?” Silence. “So apparently you hate interviews? I’m guessing you know what I’m going to ask you. Stealing bases, the record.” The glare continues. So the tape-recorder is moved aside and notepad discarded. “Well let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about you. No questions on stealing bases. Just on you.” The dissipation of tension is palpable. A smile streaks across the 22 year-old center fielder’s face. It must be hard being Hamilton, the center field- er for the Louisville Bats and ranked as one of the best pros- pects in baseball. You train and strain for an all-round game –a well equipped arsenal ready for any eventuality. Yet as a “freak” and “phenom” in sport you get asked about one thing – the thing you naturally do better than everyone else. A peg for one hole, even if you try to fit in several. Hamilton’s niche? He steals bases – a lot. He stole 155 of them last season in the Minor Leagues breaking a 29 year-record of 145 set by Vince Coleman. An eye- brow raising season for any other player would be 50. So for the past year, that’s what Hamilton has been asked and he’s patient- ly answered. Why is he so good at stealing bases? What’s it like being a one man time capsule – a throwback to the baggy pant wearing days of the 1920s? Finally, when is he going to the majors? “I have the same answer everytime,” laughs Ham- ilton. “I don’t even have to think about it anymore. But no one asks me how I hit to get on base, so I can then steal.” If the Bats’ star attraction is to be defined by one thing, it’s not stealing but running. It’s all Hamilton remembers from his youth spent growing up in Tay- lorsville, Miss., a town of 1,300 people. “My town is small and there is nothing to go and do,” explains Hamilton. “There are no malls, no stores so all you could do is play sport. Everyone from Tay- lorsville is an athlete because that’s all we did. Whatever the season, that’s the sport we’d play. Running is just something I love to do. Most guys hate, I love it. It feels so good. Even just running sprints.” So while media focus on Ham- ilton’s base stealing, it seldom shines on his rare, raw athleti- cism and unadulterated love of running. Rarely is the Hamilton who relief pitched in high school at 92 m.p.h mentioned. Nor the fact that he turned down a wide-receiver scholarship at Missis- sippi State to follow his baseball dreams and attempt to emulate his childhood hero, Derek Jeter. In the minors he has quickly started turning singles into scored runs, making doubles into unexpected triples. But there are other stories of Hamilton’s almost Paul Bunyon-esque escapades. Like the time he was clocked running from the plate to first base in 3.78 seconds. More remarkable was the episode when play- ing at shortstop, Hamilton decided to sprint across the diamond to make a diving catch for a ball on the foul side of the right-field line. The ball was located safely in his glove, while he landed midway between the first-base bag and the foul pole. If that wasn’t enough he’s been notching inside the park home-runs (that involves rounding the bases) in 13.2 seconds - the beluga caviar of baseball. It’s no surprise then that in 2009, he was drafted in the second round for the Cin- cinnati Reds with a $623,000 signing bonus to boot. “I remember I played on some summer teams in high school with the guys from the same area and when we played we would go and beat everyone,” recalls Hamil- ton. “I remember the scouts kept calling my dad when I was in high school. No one in Taylorsville would go and watch our games but by the end of the year, the stands were just full of scouts they kept pouring in.” SPECIAL SECTION D: FALL BRIDAL WWW.VOICE-TRIBUNE.COM Thursday, AUGUST 1, 2013 VOL. 27, NO. 17, 62 PAGES, 4 SECTIONS WHAT’S INSIDE Profile Meet our newest contributing sports columnist. See Page A-3 Special Section Introducing the new Mr. and Mrs. Siva. See Page D-8 ©2013, The Voice-Tribune, Louisville, Ky. A member of the Blue Equity family of companies $1.00 Profile.................. See Page A-3 Business Briefs.... See Page A-4 Classifieds ........... See Page A-7 Obituraries.......... See Page A-8 Sports ................ See Page A-12 Society ................. See Page B-1 Life & Style ......... See Page C-1 - See Page A-2 Photos by CHRIS HUMPHREYS | The Voice-Tribune “Getting home runs is fun but I prefer seeing someone getting a steal.” - Billy Hamilton BILLY KID THE
-
Upload
igor-guryashkin -
Category
Documents
-
view
224 -
download
2
description
Billy Hamilton steals bases than anyone else and is on his way to The Majors - he just doesn't like to talk about it.
Transcript of The Voice Tribune - Billy Hamilton
By IGOR GURYASHKINStaff Writer
Billy Hamilton is late. But he’s coming, appar-ently.
Fifteen minutes go by. Tick. No Hamil-ton. The amiable Louisville Bats media rela-
tions inform us that he’s definitely coming. Tock. He’s in batting practice. Getting settled in. On his way.
“Billy’s a great guy,” offers Chadwick Fischer, Director of Media and Public Relations at the Lou-isville Bats. “He just hates interviews. He’s the guy who everyone wants to talk to, gets the most interview requests and they always ask the same things.”
Hamilton eventually walks into the dimly lit inter-view room in the lower bowels of Louisville’s Slugger Field. No eye contact. Glove in hand, ball repeated-ly thrown into glove. He slouches into his chair – the expression of an arrested suspect, fully aware of the questions the police officer is about to throw his way. He’s heard this before.
“How are you, Billy?”Silence.“So apparently you hate interviews? I’m guessing
you know what I’m going to ask you. Stealing bases, the record.”
The glare continues.So the tape-recorder is moved aside and notepad
discarded. “Well let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about you.
No questions on stealing bases. Just on you.”The dissipation of tension is palpable. A smile
streaks across the 22 year-old center fielder’s face. It must be hard being Hamilton, the center field-
er for the Louisville Bats and ranked as one of the best pros-pects in baseball. You train and strain for an all-round game –a well equipped arsenal ready for any eventuality. Yet as a “freak” and “phenom” in sport you get asked about one thing – the thing you naturally do better than everyone else. A peg for one hole, even if you try to fit in several.
Hamilton’s niche? He steals bases – a lot. He stole 155 of them last season in the Minor Leagues breaking a 29 year-record of 145 set by Vince Coleman. An eye-brow raising season for any other player would be 50. So for the past year, that’s what Hamilton has been asked and he’s patient-ly answered. Why is he so good at stealing bases? What’s it like being a one man time capsule – a throwback to the baggy pant
wearing days of the 1920s? Finally, when is he going to the majors?
“I have the same answer everytime,” laughs Ham-ilton. “I don’t even have to think about it anymore. But no one asks me how I hit to get on base, so I can
then steal.” If the Bats’ star attraction is
to be defined by one thing, it’s not stealing but running. It’s all Hamilton remembers from his youth spent growing up in Tay-lorsville, Miss., a town of 1,300 people.
“My town is small and there is nothing to go and do,” explains Hamilton. “There are no malls, no stores so all you could do is play sport. Everyone from Tay-lorsville is an athlete because that’s all we did. Whatever the season, that’s the sport we’d play. Running is just something I love to do. Most guys hate, I love it. It feels so good. Even just running sprints.”
So while media focus on Ham-ilton’s base stealing, it seldom shines on his rare, raw athleti-cism and unadulterated love of
running. Rarely is the Hamilton who relief pitched in high school at 92 m.p.h mentioned. Nor the fact that he turned down a wide-receiver scholarship at Missis-sippi State to follow his baseball dreams and attempt to emulate his childhood hero, Derek Jeter. In the minors he has quickly started turning singles into scored runs, making doubles into unexpected triples.
But there are other stories of Hamilton’s almost Paul Bunyon-esque escapades. Like the time he was clocked running from the plate to first base in 3.78 seconds. More remarkable was the episode when play-ing at shortstop, Hamilton decided to sprint across the diamond to make a diving catch for a ball on the foul side of the right-field line. The ball was located safely in his glove, while he landed midway between the first-base bag and the foul pole. If that wasn’t enough he’s been notching inside the park home-runs (that involves rounding the bases) in 13.2 seconds - the beluga caviar of baseball. It’s no surprise then that in 2009, he was drafted in the second round for the Cin-cinnati Reds with a $623,000 signing bonus to boot.
“I remember I played on some summer teams in high school with the guys from the same area and when we played we would go and beat everyone,” recalls Hamil-ton. “I remember the scouts kept calling my dad when I was in high school. No one in Taylorsville would go and watch our games but by the end of the year, the stands were just full of scouts they kept pouring in.”
SPECIAL SECTION D: FALL BRIDAL
w w w .v o i c e -t r i b u n e . c o mThursday, August 1, 2013v o L . 2 7, n o . 17, 6 2 P a g e s , 4 s e c t i o n s
What’s InsIde
ProfileMeet our newest contributing sports columnist.see Page a-3
Special SectionIntroducing the new Mr. and Mrs. Siva.see Page D-8
©2013, The Voice-Tribune, Louisville, Ky. A member of the Blue Equity
family of companies
$1.00
Profile ..................see Page a-3
Business Briefs ....see Page a-4
Classifieds ...........see Page a-7
Obituraries ..........see Page a-8
Sports ................ see Page a-12
Society .................see Page b-1
Life & Style .........see Page c-1
- See Page A-2
Photos by CHRIS HUMPHREYS | The Voice-Tribune
“Getting home runs is fun but I prefer seeing someone getting a steal.”
- Billy Hamilton
BILLY KIDthe
Ad ServicesBridgette [email protected]
Director Of Salesdavid Harris
Designer And Chief PhotographerCHris [email protected]
Thursday, auGusT 1, 2013 | THE VOICE-TRIBUNEA2
Deadlines: Display Ads – Noon Monday | Classified Ads – Noon Friday
The Voice-Tribune (ISSN 1076-7398) is published weekly on Thursdays. Periodicals postage paid at Louisville, Ky. Subscription rate: $39/year.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Voice-Tribune | 735 East Main Street | Louisville, KY 40202.
Account ExecutiveJulie spenCer
Chairman & Managing Director of Blue EquityJonatHan s. Blue
Account ExecutiveJonatHan [email protected]
Sports Columnistearl Cox
ColumnistCarla sue BroeCker
Staff Writerigor guryasHkin
Circulation Administratortodd Zeigler
Newspaper DeliveriesClarenCe [email protected]
Account ExecutivesHari [email protected]
Account ExecutiveBill melillo
Account Executivekaren pierCe
ReceptionistCHaddie [email protected]
BLUE EQUITY, LLC
w w w . b l u e e q u i t y . c o m
A Note From the Publisher
PhotographerJoHn [email protected]
735 East Main Street • Louisville, KY 40202 • 502.897.8900 • Published by Blue Equity Publishing, LLC
w w w . v o i c e - t r i b u N e . c o m
PublisherTRACY A. BLUE
Style Editorlori kommor
Executive Assistant to the Publisher lauren [email protected]
Lead DesignerJoanna Hite sHelton
Designermalissa [email protected]
Vice Chairmandavid m. rotH
Executive Vice PresidentJuan reFFreger
Controller moniCa s. kelley
There is surely nothing more wholesome and traditional than getting a hot dog, peanuts and soda and settling down to watch America’s great pastime - baseball. At Slugger Field, Louisvillians have often had the chance to catch superstars in the making before they depart to find fame and fortune in the Majors. From the likes of Joey Votto and Todd Frazier to Aroldis Chapman. This week’s cover story (A1) looks at the Louisville Bats’ latest sensation, Billy Hamilton whose breathtaking speed has been wowing fans nationwide.
If baseball is not your thing though, perhaps a look at our profile of Rocco Gasparro (A3) the Assistant Sports Information Director for U of L football will get you itching for football season kickoff. This might also be the perfect time to announce him as The Voice-Tribune’s latest columnist.
The Society section looks back at the engagement party of Cordt Huneke and Rachel Keens (B10) as well as the Governor’s Cup Kickoff Luncheon (B12). In Life & Style we bring you a look at Amici (C4), a restaurant that represents a small slice of Italy in the heart of Old Louisville.
Another treat is my executive assistant, Lauren DePaso, despite stern warn-ings snuck out to talk to Peyton Siva and his now wife Patience McCroskey (D8) at their rehearsal dinner. This is the cherry on top of a jam-packed special brid-al section.
Finally though, I would love everyone to pick up an issue of The Voice-Tri-bune Magazine, where pride of place is given to an exclusive in-depth preview of Cardinals’ head coach Charlie Strong.
See you all next week!
Editors Note: In Earl Cox’s column titled “One Hillbilly Beat Stumbo,” Greg Stumbo, Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives was mis-takingly indentified as Grady Stumbo, who for-merly ran in the Kentucky Governor race. We apolo-gize for this mistake.
By EARL COXSports Columnist
Greg Stumbo. Greg Stumbo. Greg Stumbo.
In this business, when you goof there are plenty of people to let you know.
I had the wrong first name of the Speaker of Kentucky’s House of Representatives in a story about his trip to Morocco.
I knew that The Voice-Tribune has readers all over Louisville, but now I can make that “from all over Kentucky.”
The calls started Fri-day, the day after publi-cation of The Voice-Tri-bune and I was still get-ting them on Monday of this week when my friend Todd Hollenbach was kind enough to call.
Correction
BILLY KIDthe
- From Page A-1Today though Hamil-
ton realizes that it’s up to him to realize the potential that the scouts saw all those years ago. There are whis-pers he may go to the Majors before the end of the season. But Hamilton has yet to get the call. He knows his own weaknesses even though oth-ers choose to overlook them. Right now the most obvi-ous is that he needs to up his average. After all, “you can’t steal first base,” as goes the old adage in baseball.
“Everybody in Taylors-ville is looking up to me, I feel like kids there real-ize that it’s now possible to be spotted. They know I’ve been through it too. But I need to become a better bunter. I can hit a little bit, but I know if I can become a better bunter then I think my game will be okay.
Later that balmy Friday evening the Bats took on Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. As the scoreboard flashed bottom the tenth inning, the score read 6-5. Two outs and Hamilton made his way to the plate. Strike. What was once a boisterous crowd had grown restless, fewer in number too. Strike. Hamilton had the chance to win the game. The ball blurred through the air, cascading at Hamilton’s bat. But a slither of air resided between the ash bat and the leather of the ball. Strike.
Hamilton knows he can’t steal first base. But he wants to get to The Show - that’s why he’s trying so hard.
