Two Billy Hamiltons–Then And Now

The Billy Hamilton who is scorching the base-paths in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system is only in Class A, but he is putting up throwback numbers as a base stealer. And it’s hard to throwback much further than to Billy Hamilton.

Sliding Billy Hamilton played in the majors between 1888 and 1901 and he stole 937 bases. Even though he has been retired for 111 years and dead for 71, this Hamilton is still No. 3 on the all-time career stolen bases list behind Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock.

The modern-day Billy Hamilton is 21. He was selected by the Reds out of high school in Mississippi in the second round of the 2009 amateur draft. Last year young Billy stole 103 bases in Class A. Playing for the high Class A California League Bakersfield Blaze this season, he had 31 steals in his first 27 games and was batting .374.

He is 6-foot-1 and weighs 160 pounds as a shortstop and given that the journey is a long one from Class A to the majors the current Billy Hamilton’s career could run out of steam before he reaches the Reds. Either way, it will be some time before we read his name in big-league box score.

No matter how great a base stealer youthful Billy turns out to be it will take some doing for him to match the career of the late Billy. Billy Hamilton of yesteryear had a career batting average of .344 and a career on-base percentage of .455. He played two seasons for the Kansas City Cowboys of the American Association when that circuit was a major league.

He played the bulk of his Hall of Fame career for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Beaneaters. In 1891, he stole a career-high 115 bases for the Phils. In 1894, Hamilton batted .399 with 196 runs scored, a .523 on-base percentage, 223 hits, 99 stolen bases, and he had a 46-game hitting streak. That season, too, he stole seven bases in one game. The pretty fair production that year followed Hamilton being sidelined for much of 1893 by typhoid fever.

There is no doubt Mr. Hamilton was very proud of his prowess stealing bases. (By the way, he always slid head-first.) In December of 1937, responding to a perceived slight he read in The Sporting News, Hamilton penned a note to the publication from his Worcester, Mass. home. In it he rather archly wrote, “I’ll have you know, sir, that I was, and will be the greatest stealer of all times.”

It seems it was bad policy to get Billy Hamilton riled up. His 74-year-old statement may or may not be accurate, but if they ever put together a photo of the top five, Hamilton would likely be in it.

If the present-day Billy Hamilton is considered slender, the other Billy Hamilton weighed just 165 pounds himself. However, he was only 5-foot-6 and described as stocky.  But he was regarded as speedy, and not just going from first to second, but also covering center field.

It was said that Hamilton was gruff and Ty Cobb-like in demeanor at times with a hard-nosed attitude. But he also had a sentimental side, always scanning the grandstands for his wife and daughters. It has been suggested that he never played his best if his wife wasn’t there to watch.

Given the nature of his competitiveness and that feisty letter to The Sporting News, it’s not difficult to imagine what Billy Hamilton would make of Billy Hamilton’s 103 stolen-base season last year.

Call me back when you’ve done it in the big-time, old-time Billy would likely say.

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