100 Greatest Phillies: 40 – Cole Hamels
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Sun, February 15, 2009 02:08 PM | Comments: 17
100 Greatest Phillies, Posts
Cole Hamels
Starting Pitcher
2006-Present
Career w/Phillies: 543 IP / 38-23 / 3.43 ERA / 518 K
On May 12, 2006, a legend was born. Cole Hamels pitched well against the Reds, starting him on a career that has already become epic. The 25-year-old left-hander has fast become one of baseball’s top pitchers. He finished that 2006 season with an impressive 4.08 ERA as a rookie, then turned into a top-shelf arm with a 15-5, 3.39 ERA season in 2007, earning him a top 10 Cy Young vote. His 2008 was stronger (3.09 ERA), but Hamels suffered from poor run support, garnering only a 14-10 record. It didn’t matter — Hamels legend took real shape in the postseason, when he won four of five starts, took MVP honors in both the NLCS and World Series and established himself as the total big-game pitcher. Though he’s automatically Phillies property until 2012, he signed a three-year raise that has confirmed his accomplishments.
Comment: Not since Steve Carlton have the Phillies possessed such a great pitcher. No offense to Jamie Moyer, Tommy Greene, Brett Myers, Terry Mulholland and even Curt Schilling, but Hamels is of a different breed. Using given ability, power and intelligence, Hamels has carved himself a superior position in recent pitching lore. His playoff dominance wasn’t otherworldly, but completely assured, which is why the confidence for Hamels’ career reigns high. At 25, he has become a top pitcher and world champion. Hopefully there’s much more to come.
Posts: 0 Jim
fittingly at number 40. give it a few more years and he should crack the top 20. and when he retires (hopefully a phille) who knows where we will put him
Posted: 02:10 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 mets09
Yea, I like this spot for him.
Posted: 02:16 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 mets09
maybe higher because of how good he ws in the playoffs. and since the World Series is the most important thing in th Major Leagues and he was a Huge part in winning.
Posted: 02:18 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Chutley
i know its only been 3 years but how may other other Phillies have an NLCS and WS MVP? And if it wasn’t for the rain delay he would have been the only player is history to every start and win 5 games. i’m not saying top 10 but shoulda been a few spots higher
Posted: 02:20 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Mazinman
I like this spot for Cole too although he won’t be in it for long. He had the physical ability and now I think we are seeing all the mental ones click into high gear. Asuming the offense supports him, he’ll be a 20 game winner this year.
Posted: 02:32 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Jim
chutley, i think the problem is his short career so far. i
Posted: 02:35 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 KM
Makes sense to put him at 40 at this point, 2.5 years into his career. In 5 years, if the Phils have another title or 2, he will definitely crack the top 10.
Posted: 02:48 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 NateB
this is a future top 5 of all-time phillies history! world series MVP!!
Posted: 03:00 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 ryan
i know he’s only been around for a few years, but i still might place him even higher on this list than 40. think about it, the phillies have only one two world series titles in almost 130 years of baseball. only two!!! and without King Cole Hamels, they certainly wouldn’t even have that second one. this guy stepped up so huge in the playoffs and he is a red light player as Jim Fregosi used to say. he really steps up in the spotlight and he is a legitimate superstar.
anybody see the article about him on philly.com today? with the little video showing his apartment near the top of two liberty place. holy crap balls is that a nice place. looking down on top of billy penn’s hat. what a view.
Posted: 03:09 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Brooks
Interesting spot for Cole.
It’s way to early for comparisons to the greatest Phillies pitcher ever. Nah, we should wait for a CY award or 2 (or 4?) before making comparisons.
I’m sure Super Steve will be in the top 3 as well he should be.
Does Cole show similarities to some of the mechanical attributes that Super Steve possessed?
Super Steve had 10 AS seasons, won more than 20 games 6 times (5 for the Fightins);was in the playoffs 8 seasons – 4 times in the WS (2 rings) the first at the age of 22; has 4 CY awards and even a gold glove winner in 1980.
The accolades go on for Super Steve and eh, it is too early to draw comparisons , right?
Man did Steve make opposing batters look foolish at the plate!
Posted: 03:21 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Jim
a valid point ryan but i think that if he were to never play baseball again after today he would not go any higher than this. he has yet to prove himself over a whole season
Posted: 03:21 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 philsphan
Sure Hamels is young and hasn’t been a Phillie for too long, but he deserves this spot for leading the Phillies to win only their second World Series by being the NLCS and World Series MVP.
Posted: 04:02 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 Brian D
guys are talking about another title (or 2) in the next 5 years. Man, what a great time to be a Phils fan! With a healthy team, especially Cole, another title is almost a given.
Posted: 05:57 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 therookie300
Hey Jim. He has yet to prove himself over a full season? What about last season? If he got the proper run support of an ace he was an easy 20 game winner. But what he did in the postseason is just ridiculous.
Posted: 06:32 PM on February 15, 2009
Posts: 0 willie the phillie
1. Schmidt
2. Carlton
3. Ashburn
I love Hamels and don’t care that he is 40 now. He could eventually crack the top 5 if we keep him in Philly. Utley will be in my top 5 too, ahead of Robin Roberts. I have a man crush on him with the way he plays the game.
Posted: 12:58 PM on February 16, 2009
Posts: 0 Griffin
don’t forget Grover Cleveland Alexander. He will be top 4, maybe top 3.
Posted: 11:10 PM on February 16, 2009
Posts: 0 Даниил
Хм… Пока это у нас не сильно развито, так что придётся чуть подождать.
Posted: 08:59 PM on May 23, 2009