Write It Down

What can you say about White Sox utility outfielder Billy Hamilton? Well, he’s a long drink of water who wears his socks to the knees. Oh, and he hustles. Hamilton used to start in center field for the Reds until they got tired of waiting for him to figure out how to take advantage of his speed at the plate. But put a glove on his left hand, and he knows what to do (think ten career errors in 1889 chances), as he demonstrated in game two of a doubleheader yesterday with the Orioles. The O’s had bases loaded, nobody out when Maikel Franco hit a sinking line drive out of the afternoon shadows in Hamilton’s general direction. Hamilton charged the ball and made a diving, head-first catch to record the out. The Sox went on to win 3-1 and sweep both games. Hamilton also hit a homerun, which was impressive for two reasons. First, he’s only done that 23 times in a nine-year career. Second, he didn’t stand there to admire his feat. No, Hamilton exploded out of the box, running full bore to second base before realizing the ball had reached the seats in left field. And he still kept running. After the game, Hamilton explained how he was thinking inside-the-park homerun or at least a triple. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Sox and various unwritten rules of baseball. Somebody take pen to paper and write this one down, the Hamilton Rule: Always hustle. It'll keep you employed.