4 Fun Facts About New Twins Outfielder Billy Hamilton

Once upon a time, Billy Hamilton was viewed as one of the best young players in baseball, thanks to his transcendent and potentially game-changing speed. A second-round draft pick by the Reds in 2009, he appeared in back-to-back Futures Games in 2012 and 2013. He reached as high as #11 overall on MLB.com's top prospect rankings. He was Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2014, and went on to amass more than 3,000 major-league plate appearances before his 30th birthday – despite, well, not hitting at all.

Hamilton's offensive game never developed remotely. He has a career .239/.293/.326 slash line and at this point, as a 31-year-old, he's barely even usable at the plate. There is a reason he was freely available to the Twins in August, after being cut loose by both the Mariners and Marlins this summer.

Still, he's an intriguing piece to have on hand for late-game situations as the Twins face the prospect of playoff-intensity baseball throughout September. 

1. Hamilton is a highly specialized weapon, suited for high-stakes games.

In assessing the veteran speedster's utility, it's easy to think back to players like Kansas City's Jarrod Dyson, who was a dynamic weapon in the playoffs despite similar offensive ineptitude.

Compared to his athletic prime, Hamilton may have lost a step, but he's still REALLY fast and really effective on the basepaths. His sprint speed in 2021 ranked in the top 3% of all big-leaguers, and he's stolen his last 19 consecutive bases successfully, dating back to 2020.

2. Hamilton set the minor-league record for most stolen bases in a season.

To say he's always had a knack for swiping bags would be a major understatement. While coming up through the minors, Hamilton was an unstoppable force once he got aboard, terrorizing helpless batteries. In his first full minor-league season in 2011, he stole 103 bases in 135 games.

The next year he would set the all-time minor-league record for steals in a season, when he stole his 146th base on August 12th to surpass Vince Coleman's record from 1983. Hamilton set the (still standing) new record as a member of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, who would briefly become the Twins' Double-A affiliate several years later.

Hamilton finished the 2012 season with a mind-blowing 155 steals on 192 attempts (81%) in 132 games.

3. In an alternative dimension, Hamilton might've been catching footballs from Dak Prescott.

Before he decided on baseball and got taken by Cincinnati in the 2009 MLB Draft, Hamilton had signed a letter of intent to play wide receiver at the Mississippi State University. In 2012, which would've been Hamilton's senior year, a quarterback by the name of Dak Prescott started working his way into the Bulldogs' quarterback rotation, although he didn't become the full-time starter until 2013.

4. He's not the first guy named Billy Hamilton with a legendary rep for stealing bases.

This isn't so much a fact about the current player of focus, but it's a quirky little nugget that I find quite amusing. If you look up the name "Billy Hamilton" on Baseball Reference you'll find two results: the guy who debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in 2013, and the guy who debuted for the Kansas City Cowboys back in 1888.

The "old" Billy Hamilton, who played 14 seasons before retiring in 1901, was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961 primarily because he – guess what – was an incredible base-stealer. Hamilton swiped 100+ bags in four different seasons and led the league five times. He ranks third all-time in stolen bases (914) behind only Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock.

I'll venture to guess the "new" Billy Hamilton, with 321 career steals, won't be catching his namesake. But he might be able to inch a little bit closer during his time with the Twins. 

It'll also be fun to see Hamilton on the same team as Byron Buxton. As of five years ago, they ranked #1 and #2 for fastest men in the game.