Billy Hamilton reminded everyone how fast he is by scoring from second base on a passed ball
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Billy Hamilton is a very, very fast baseball player, and he doesn't want anyone to forget it. So, he reminded everyone during Tuesday's Reds-Cubs matchup by scoring on a passed ball ... from second base:
Hamilton drew a walk in the first inning, then quickly stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Now, "scoring position" typically doesn't include passed balls, but when John Lackey's pitch got past David Ross, Hamilton decided to argue otherwise, sprinting around third and sliding safely into home. And with Hamilton's speed -- plus Lackey's failure to cover the plate -- it's quite a compelling argument. Note: Statcast™ measured his top speed at 21.6 mph -- his 36th-highest max speed as a baserunner this season -- so, yes, he was actually going kind of slow for Billy Hamilton.
The Reds outfielder talked to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon postgame:
"You see guys who are, not lazy, but not getting to where they need to be like that, you have to take advantage of things like that. It was big and we needed all the runs we could get. You don't think about that situation happening at second base. You think about passed balls where you can score. Usually people score like that when it bounces around - maybe down by third base or down by first base - but not too many people can score when it's right behind home plate. I knew I saw Lackey - I don't know if he was mad at the pitch or mad at the catcher - I saw him just sitting back there and thought I'd take a chance and it worked out."
Just add it to the list of explanations for how fast Hamilton is, including "historic base-stealing pace" and "fastest home run trot recorded by Statcast™."