Billy Hamilton Makes Major League Debut for Cincinnati Reds, Immediately Steals Second Base

Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Billy Hamilton wasted no time making an impact in his Major League debut last night, stealing second base on the first pitch after entering the game as a pinch runner. Here’s the video from MLB.com:

Most impressively, Hamilton was able to get the best of St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina despite the fact everyone in the ballpark knew he was going to be taking off for second. This is bad news for catchers around the league. Molina has thrown out an impressive 44 percent of base stealers over his career. Swiping one against the five-time Gold Glover has to give Hamilton the confidence he can beat anybody.

My favorite part of the video is how berserk the Great American Ballpark crowd goes. Hamilton went on to score the game’s only run. Not a bad first day on the job.

Hamilton had a down year at the plate, hitting .256/.308/.343 while getting his first exposure to Triple-A pitching and adjusting to a position change from shortstop to center field. He was still a terror on the bases, stealing 75 bases at an 83 percent success rate. Of course, last season he was put on the map by breaking the all-time minor league stolen base record with a whopping 155 thefts.

Here are a few great quotes from C. Trent Rosecrans’ article on Cincinnati.com:

From Reds manager Dusty Baker:

"“I didn’t send him out there to paint. It’s not a secret.”"

From Hamilton:

"“I had chills running down my spine, but I knew I couldn’t be afraid. This was a big situation, so I knew I had to get second base, that’s my job.”“It was exciting to go against Molina. He’s the best catcher in the league, I think, in my opinion. It’s great to get the first one off of him. I’ve got plenty more to come.”"