Reds’ Billy Hamilton races around the bases like only he can
Everything Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton does on the baseball field, he does fast. His speed is his calling card, racking up stolen bases and chasing down balls in the alleys for outs that would otherwise go for extra bases.
Monday night Hamilton showed even when he dips into his limited power reserve that his speed is going to come into play.
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Hamilton socked a home run off Cubs left-hander Jon Lester in the third inning of Cincinnati’s 5-3 loss to Chicago. The home run itself isn’t all that notable, Hamilton hit four last season and six in 2014, but there is an aspect that makes this particular one stand out. MLB’s Statscast measured Hamilton’s trip around the bases at 16.2 seconds, the fastest over-the-wall home run recorded in the tracking system’s history.
“I didn’t know it was a home run. If you don’t know it’s a home run, you can’t expect it to be home run when you don’t hit home runs. My motto is, ‘If that ball falls, I’m trying to get an inside the park home run.’ I’m going full speed all the time. If it falls at the wall, I won’t be standing on first base. I’ll be on second or third where somebody has a chance to drive me in.”
Spoken like a true speedster. The next time Hamilton sends a ball out of the park, and it might be awhile, we won’t be concerned with how far the ball traveled, but rather how fast Hamilton rips around the bases this time around. He’s set a high bar.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
