Helton shows appreciation for pal Hamilton

This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Mike Hamilton is a heart and soul baseball figure who played in the Minor Leagues in the 1980s. He's not necessarily a household name, but that's what made him the perfect person to be mentioned by his nickname in Rockies legend Todd Helton’s Hall of Fame speech on Sunday afternoon.

Hamilton, known to his friends as "Milo," was nicknamed after the late Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton. His father, Carl, helped pioneer the use of visuals during a 31-year career as video coordinator for the Rangers (10 years) and the Mariners (21).

Hamilton grew up with the Texas Rangers as a bat boy and bullpen catcher. He eventually had a Minor League career as a catcher for the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Rangers, and he even made three pitching appearances for the Rookie-level Butte Copper Kings in 1988 and the Class A Gastonia Rangers in '89.

Hamilton took a video coach job with the Rockies in 2000 – the year Helton hit .372 with 42 home runs and 147 RBIs. Just one line of Helton’s speech on Sunday revealed that Hamilton did more than pop tapes into VHS machines (kids, ask your parents).

Helton was thanking “all the incredible Rockies fans” when he began discussing how special the ballpark was for him. There were many people that made it so. The brief reference to Hamilton only piqued the ears of those initiated to the inner workings of the Rockies.

“It [the ballpark] was my church, a place where I felt most comfortable,” Helton said. “I liked living in the long hours and doing the extra work. The early Saturday mornings, with ‘Milo’ throwing to me in the cage – that’s the kind of stuff I miss about baseball, working hard to compete in the relentless drive to win.”

Hamilton's career in video coordination prospered until 2006. He began professional scouting for the Rockies in '07. But those days in the batting cage forged a special bond between a behind-the-scenes worker and a future Hall of Famer.

“It is the closest thing I’ll ever come to having an honor like that,” said Hamilton, who works with young players as North Texas director of Canes Baseball – a youth development program that helps showcase players for scholarship or professional opportunities. “That just shows you what a guy Todd is and how much he appreciated so many other people that he didn’t get a chance to mention.

“That was the thing that drew us together – his love of competing and working hard. That’s what made us friends then and still today.”

The funny part was Hamilton ended up throwing extra batting practice to Helton because he wore out all the Rockies’ batting practice pitchers – in the same way he wore out opposing pitchers during games.

“I had a playing background, so I could throw, and Todd hit all the time,” Hamilton said. “Quite frankly, we started running out of arms. Our competitive spirit matched each other. We sat on the plane together and talked baseball and hunting. It became one of those things where I was lucky enough to watch a guy hone his craft.”

The mention came with little warning.

“He told me to make sure I listened to the speech,” Hamilton said. “But I didn’t come here for that. I came here to see him and celebrate with him.”