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Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Celebrating Billy Hamilton's Day

Billy Hamilton had a great day today at the plate:

Quite a relief given how much of a struggle it has been for the guy in the early goings.  Even more impressive, however, was how two of those four times on base led to runs.  Jeff Sullivan gives a delightful retelling of Billy's 5th inning hijinks.  

The steal:
It’s important to note that the Cardinals’ catcher was Yadier Molina. It’s important to note that Molina didn’t even fake an attempt of a throw. Billy Hamilton took off against the best defensive catcher in baseball, and the best defensive catcher in baseball was like, “welp.”
Jay Bruce's Sac "Fly" (Sac Pop-Up?)
Jay Bruce hit a pop-up the second baseman could’ve caught. Bruce got credit for a sac fly and an RBI. With literally anybody else in the game, Bruce would’ve returned to the dugout knowing he’d screwed up. He still knew he screwed up, but that’s one of the things about Hamilton — he can erase other people’s mistakes. Billy Hamilton, by himself, turned Jay Bruce’s negative into a positive.
You’re looking at probably one of the most shallow sac flies in baseball history. It’s hard to imagine a sac fly more shallow. Let’s look at the most shallow sac flies from 2013, shall we? We’ll move in chronological order. These are the sac flies hit to what were considered infield zones.
Hamilton could very well go 0 for his next 15 again. But I'm hopeful that this is the first sign we get this season of what could be a really fun year watching him fly down the basepaths.

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