Just in his 3rd full season, he is getting over 50 stolen bases each season. He is now at 171 lifetime in just 3 years with over a month and a half left to play. Very possible this player could pass Joe Morgan and end up with a very rare 700 lifetime stolen bases. If he develops into a veteran hitter, no telling how close he gets to Henderson and Brock. That is for way down the road. He turns 26 in September and in 2017 could pass 250 stolen bases in just 4 years time. The man can steal bases. I think he has just begun and I see years where he will swipe 100 in a season. Why not, he holds the minor league season record for stolen bases in a season with 147 in 2012. So we could be watching the development of one of the best base stealers to ever play the game......

Add in his defense, which is very good in center field. A good defensive center field who is amazing at stealing bases.

OK, his batting average. So far .245 lifetime in first 3 seasons. So far this season he has improved to a .255 average, so we see a learning curve in the young player as he improves on the hitting. He is not a home run hitter, which is OK. He is close to 200 runs scored. He steals bases and he crosses home plate. He can score runs and isn't the idea of the game to score runs.

Of all the players on the Reds at the end of 2016, the career stat possibilities of young Billy Hamilton are huge. If he can play to around age 40 like a Rose or Ichiro, and stay healthy, No telling what the next 14 years in stats will bring. The sky is the limit. Sparky Anderson said young Dave Conception would learn how to hit and he did collect over 2,000 hits as Sparky said. I think as Billy Hamilton becomes a veteran major league player, the hits will come and the batting average will rise.

Billy Hamilton could still end up the best lead-off hitter in baseball as he progresses. A great defensive center fielder that is one of the best base stealers in baseball ever and puts up a good number of runs scored. That is very possible. This kid, we do not trade for some Joe Palooka in single A. Maybe never 3,000 hits like Henderson or Brock but better on defense than those two. The sky is the limit for young Billy Hamilton.

However his career plays out, he is indeed a spark of life in an otherwise dismal season.

So how many years till the reds trade him away =(

He is past 50 stolen bases and it is August 18th....60 would be nice...If he gets hot, 70 would be one of the top base stealing years in Reds record book, not the top, but up there....He has had over 50 steals his first 2 full seasons and now in season 3, look for at least 60. 

I'm going to keep an eye where Billy Hamilton is on Reds Modern Era List....You have to, because Reds were first major league team, there are records that go back to almost the Civil War. The game has changed greatly. ...So I'm going to see what players he passes that played from 1950 on.  ....56 puts him with Deion Sanders 1997 and himself in 2014....57 puts him with Bobby Tolan 1970 and himself in 2015........58 puts him with Joe Morgan in 1972 and 1974......60 puts him with Joe Morgan in 1976.....67 puts him with Joe Morgan in 1973 and 1975......79 puts him with Dave Collins in 1979.....80 puts him with Eric Davis in 1986......and Bob Bescher had 81 in 1911 which was at least when they had the World Series.  The pre World Series and just after Civil War, those stats are pretty wild and a whole different game. ...Oh, he just past Barry Larkin 51 in 1995.

Billy Hamilton is already the only player besides Joe Morgan to steal over 50 bases more than one season in the modern era for The Reds.....Billy Hamilton has done it 3 out of 3 years....Joe Morgan did it 5 out of 5 years from 1972 to 1976. ....So we are watching the Reds best base stealer since Joe Morgan and 2nd best of modern era, with many years ahead of him hopefully. 

He's also gotten all those steals while hitting in the low .200's. Now that he's up to .265, look how many he's getting. If he becomes a .280 hitter, which it's starting to look like he might, look out. If he ever became a .300 hitter, who knows how many he'll steal.

He is going to win a gold glove this year.

(08-24-2016, 09:42 PM)fredtoast Wrote: He is going to win a gold glove this year.

Just came to post the same thing.

For a full time player (600 ABs) the difference between a .300 hitter and a .255 hitter is one hit per week.

Hamilton takes away a hit a week with his glove, and the hits he takes away would almost always be extra base hits in the gap or off the wall.

The next Red to pass is Deion Sanders....Does anybody remember how fast Prime Time was in a Reds uniform...Talk about fast, pure speed. ....I was at a game and he went from first to home on a single. ...Of course he was in Super Bowls with 49ers and I think Cowboys. Playing both sports, he couldn't give the whole year. every year to baseball, but he was fast.......People remember Bo Jackson, but if I could have Bo Jackson the runner, Bo Jackson the power hitter, Deion Sanders the fast Baseball player, I would choose Deion Sanders the shut down cornerback and kick returner. He could shut down a WR all game long, too fast to beat. Most QBs didn't even throw in his direction, and if he picked it, it was a pick 6, he was going to the house. PLus those kick returns.....So for a rare time he showed that speed in a Reds uniform....When he was a Red, there was talk he might stay in Cincy with Bengals also. Never happened. Too bad, he was a great shut down corner, one of the best ever.

(08-30-2016, 01:45 PM)kevin Wrote: The next Red to pass is Deion Sanders....Does anybody remember how fast Prime Time was in a Reds uniform...Talk about fast, pure speed. ....I was at a game and he went from first to home on a single. ...Of course he was in Super Bowls with 49ers and I think Cowboys. Playing both sports, he couldn't give the whole year. every year to baseball, but he was fast.......People remember Bo Jackson, but if I could have Bo Jackson the runner, Bo Jackson the power hitter, Deion Sanders the fast Baseball player, I would choose Deion Sanders the shut down cornerback and kick returner. He could shut down a WR all game long, too fast to beat.  Most QBs didn't even throw in his direction, and if he picked it, it was a pick 6, he was going to the house. PLus those kick returns.....So for a rare time he showed that speed in a Reds uniform....When he was a Red, there was talk he might stay in Cincy with Bengals also. Never happened. Too bad, he was a great shut down corner, one of the best ever.

Bo Jackson played 8 years in major league baseball.

Deion Sanders played 9.  In 1992 sanders hit .304 and lead the National League in triples with 14.  In 1997 he hit .273 and finished second in the league in stolen bases with 56 in only 115 games.  Tony Womack was #1 with 60, but he played 155 games.

Ok people, settle down here.

Hamilton is indeed a base-stealing prodigy AND a gold glover in the field...

But he is an absolutely putrid hitter and he will NEVER even crack the top 10 most stolen bases of all time. He doesn't walk, has horrible at bats and simply cannot get on base enough. Reaching Brock or Henderson? O_o I know you said its a far way off, Kev, but, really?

Unless he learns how to walk, but that will most-likely not happen.

And anyways, the ORIGINAL Billy Hamilton will always be better then the modern Billy Hamilton at base stealing anyways.

Hope he stays with you guys for a while though.

(08-30-2016, 07:14 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Ok people, settle down here.

Hamilton is indeed a base-stealing prodigy AND a gold glover in the field...

But he is an absolutely putrid hitter and he will NEVER even crack the top 10 most stolen bases of all time. He doesn't walk, has horrible at bats and simply cannot get on base enough. Reaching Brock or Henderson? O_o I know you said its a far way off, Kev, but, really?

Unless he learns how to walk, but that will most-likely not happen.

And anyways, the ORIGINAL Billy Hamilton will always be better then the modern Billy Hamilton at base stealing anyways.

Hope he stays with you guys for a while though.

He's gone from being a .225 hitter last year to a .260 hitter thus year.  He is making progress.  Plus, he is a spectacular center fielder.

(08-30-2016, 08:16 PM)McC Wrote: He's gone from being a .225 hitter last year to a .260 hitter thus year.  He is making progress.  Plus, he is a spectacular center fielder.

And I said that.

But his career is much more Tom Goodwin (which isn't bad) at this point than it is Eric Young (which is significantly better).

Trust me, I know everything that you guys do, but the overhype is a bit ridiculous. We all thought Lyle Overbay would blossom into a 30 HR hitter in Toronto, due to our park being a hitters' park and guess what? He still never cracked 22 (was it 26?) HRs with us and was just a poor-man's John Olerud.

Temper your expectations.

(08-31-2016, 11:25 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: And I said that.

But his career is much more Tom Goodwin (which isn't bad) at this point than it is Eric Young (which is significantly better).

Trust me, I know everything that you guys do, but the overhype is a bit ridiculous. We all thought Lyle Overbay would blossom into a 30 HR hitter in Toronto, due to our park being a hitters' park and guess what? He still never cracked 22 (was it 26?) HRs with us and was just a poor-man's John Olerud.

Temper your expectations.

Billy has improved VASTLY in the second half of this season compared to his first 2.5 years in the league. It would be foolish to give up on Hamilton already. I think he is finally starting to get it. 

(08-31-2016, 03:45 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Billy has improved VASTLY in the second half of this season compared to his first 2.5 years in the league. It would be foolish to give up on Hamilton already. I think he is finally starting to get it. 

Guys, I'm not saying he's not good or he's not going to further improve; he's a faster Tom Goodwin at this point, that's a GOOD thing.

But to say he'll hit 800 steals and "possibly challenge Rickey or Brock," come on now.

He still is deplorable at getting on base and unless he figures that out (and soon), he'll be lucky to get on base enough to get 650 steals.

(08-31-2016, 04:13 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: Guys, I'm not saying he's not good or he's not going to further improve; he's a faster Tom Goodwin at this point, that's a GOOD thing.

But to say he'll hit 800 steals and "possibly challenge Rickey or Brock," come on now.

He still is deplorable at getting on base and unless he figures that out (and soon), he'll be lucky to get on base enough to get 650 steals.

He's still young and already 3rd on the all time list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_stolen_base_records

(09-01-2016, 03:39 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: He's still young and already 3rd on the all time list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_stolen_base_records

lol! See my first post!

(09-01-2016, 10:57 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: lol! See my first post!

Not sure if you saw, but that's a Billy Hamilton from the 1800's.

(09-01-2016, 03:11 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Not sure if you saw, but that's a Billy Hamilton from the 1800's.

I know!

I love the pre-1900 guys, they all had different names and weird characters... Could you imagine Pete Browning in today's MLB? He'd be suspended, demoted ad nausea. And they were all bonafide stud ballplayers in their era; VERY few bad ballplayers back then, compared to now.

(09-01-2016, 04:11 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: I know!

I love the pre-1900 guys, they all had different names and weird characters... Could you imagine Pete Browning in today's MLB? He'd be suspended, demoted ad nausea. And they were all bonafide stud ballplayers in their era; VERY few bad ballplayers back then, compared to now.

There were a lot fewer teams back then, they kind of had the talent pool condensed.