Cole Hamels
Philadelphia Phillies — No. 35
Starting pitcher
Born: December 27, 1983 (1983-12-27) (age 25) San Diego, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 12, 2006 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Win-Loss	48-34
Earned run average	3.67
Strikeouts	686
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (2006–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2007) NLCS MVP (2008) 2008 World Series MVP World Series champion (2008) Babe Ruth Award (2008)

Colbert Michael "Cole" Hamels (born December 27, 1983 in San Diego, California) is a left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. Hamels throws a standard four-seam fastball, changeup, and a curveball.^[1] He was named Most Valuable Player of the 2008 World Series and National League Championship Series after posting a 4–0 record in the playoffs.

[edit] Biography

[edit] High school and draft

He attended Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego, California. According to Tony Gwynn, lots of scouts were interested in Hamels while he was pitching for RBHS because his fastball was clocked as high as 94 mph. However, he broke his arm in his sophomore year, so some teams, like the San Diego Padres, lost interest. Nonetheless, Hamels was drafted in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft by the Phillies.^[2]

[edit] Minor league career

Hamels began his professional baseball career in 2003, pitching at Single-A Lakewood. Later that season, he was promoted to Advanced-A Clearwater. After the 2003 season, Hamels received the Paul Owens Award as the best pitcher in the Phillies' minor league system.^[3]

However, Hamels was plagued by injuries the next two seasons, pitching only sparingly. He missed most of the 2004 season with an elbow injury. In 2005, he broke his pitching hand in a bar fight before the season began,^[4] and once he recovered, then hurt his back, and was shut down for the rest of the season.

In 2006, a healthy Hamels started again at Clearwater, and after a brief stint at Double-A Reading was sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where in just three games, he struck out 36 batters while giving up only one walk and one run.^[5] His minor league totals were 14–4, with 273 strikeouts in 35 games pitched.^[6]

[edit] Major league career

[edit] 2006

Hamels was called up to the Phillies in May 2006.^[5] In his MLB debut on May 12, he pitched five scoreless innings in which he allowed only one hit, striking out seven batters but walking five, but earned a no-decision against the Cincinnati Reds when reliever Ryan Madson gave up a 2-run lead.^[7] In his second career start, Hamels was dominant until the seventh inning, in which he was pulled after he allowed several baserunners, but again received a no-decision.^[8] A shoulder injury scratched Hamels from the lineup of what would have originally been his third major league start. He was put on the 15-day disabled list^[9] and returned on June 6 to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10–1, for his first Major League victory. On August 14, 2006, Hamels had his best start of his rookie campaign, shutting out the New York Mets over eight innings and striking out nine in the 13–0 victory.^[10]

[edit] 2007

Hamels pitching in 2007

On April 21, 2007, Hamels struck out 15 Reds in his first career complete game. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks, setting a career high for strikeouts.^[11] On May 16, 2007, he carried a perfect game into the seventh inning, where he walked leadoff man Rickie Weeks and then surrendered a home run to the next batter, J. J. Hardy. He struck out 11 batters in a 6–2 decision over the Milwaukee Brewers.^[12] On June 12, 2007, Hamels went eight innings to become the first National League pitcher of the season to win nine games.

On July 1, 2007, he was named to the NL All Star Team for the first time.^[13] On August 22, Hamels was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a mild left elbow strain. On September 28, he pitched the Phillies into first place by striking out 13 Washington Nationals over 8 innings in a 6–0 win.

Hamels finished with an impressive regular season record of 15–5.

[edit] 2008

Before the season got underway in March, Hamels made a complaint about the Phillies underpaying him, saying it was a "low blow" and he was "caught off-guard" with the gap between what he and agent John Boggs felt was a fair reward for his performance last season and what he was paid.^[14]

Hamels led the Phillies throughout the first month of the season in most pitching categories, including wins (3), ERA (2.70), and innings pitched (43⅓). Continuing his dominance into May, Hamels recorded his first career complete game shutout against the Atlanta Braves on the 15th of that month.

Less than one month later, Hamels followed with a repeat of that complete game, beating the Reds, 5–0, on June 5. Though the Phillies were a picture of inconsistency through June, posting a long streak of wins followed by a prolonged team-wide slump, Hamels posted a 3–1 record and a 2.61 ERA in the month.^[15]

For the season, Hamels was 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA; he had the lowest OBP-against in the majors, .272.^[16] He was also judged as having the most effective changeup in the majors.^[17]

Hamels pitched in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Brewers, pitching eight strong innings and striking out nine while notching his first career playoff win. He was named the MVP of the National League Championship Series, going 2–0 in the NLCS with a 1.93 ERA, winning the series clincher on October 15 in Los Angeles. He also recorded the win in Game 1 of the World Series, surrendering two runs in seven innings of work. Overall, Hamels made five postseason starts in 2008, going 4–0 with a 1.80 ERA.^[18]

Cole Hamels in World Series Victory Parade on October 31, 2008

Hamels was named Most Valuable Player of the 2008 World Series, making him only the fifth player to win two post-season MVP awards in the same year. The previous double-winners were Willie Stargell in 1979, Darrell Porter in 1982, Orel Hershiser in 1988 and Liván Hernández in 1997.

[edit] 2009

Hamels started his 2009 season by signing a 3-year, $20.5 million deal with the Phillies.^[19] On February 14, the first day of spring training for pitchers and catchers, when asked who the Opening Day starter would be, manager Charlie Manuel responded:

Yeah, you might as well go ahead and pencil him in [...] I don't think there's any sense in me playing games. Go ahead, pencil him in.^[20]

However, Hamels left training camp on March 16 and flew to Philadelphia to have his left elbow examined by Dr. Michael Ciccotti. Hamels felt tightness in between innings and after he was done pitching for the day. "This will obviously set me back a couple of days, and I don't think that should be a big deal", said Hamels.^[21] Ciccotti found no structural damage in his arm.^[22] Hamels did not pitch on Opening Day, even though no structural damage was evident.^[23][24] Hamels posted a 10–11 record and a 4.32 ERA in the regular season, his first major league season in which he posted a sub-.500 record, and the worst ERA of his career to that point.

Hamels started the second game of the 2009 National League Division Series, allowing four earned runs through five innings to take the loss. The Phillies, however, won the series, three games to one. Hamels earned the win in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, as the Phillies beat the Dodgers, 8–6. Hamels started Game 3 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, pitching 4+¹⁄₃ innings, allowing 5 earned runs and taking the loss.

[edit] Personal life

He lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Heidi Strobel, whom he married on December 31, 2006. Strobel was a contestant on the sixth edition of the reality show Survivor. They welcomed their first child, son Caleb Michael, on October 9, 2009.^[25] Cole is the oldest of three, with a younger brother Mitchell and a younger sister Jillian, who lives in San Francisco, California, and attends San Francisco State University. Hamels' parents, Gary and Amanda Hamels, reside in San Diego.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cole Hamels

• Cole Hamels's official website
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)