Cole Hamels has come a long way from where he was a year ago. After going through a poor 2009, Hamels endured a heavy amount of criticism.
Some of it was justified. Hamels took his offseason workouts too lightly, and spent too much time celebrating his success of 2008. Hamels would often show his immaturity by losing his cool during games, such as the NLCS when he put his hands up in the air as Chase Utley made an errant throw on a play that would have gotten Hamels out of an inning.
However some took their criticisms of Hamels too far. There were cries to trade him, and there was talk that he would never be the same again. Hamels was criticized in every way imaginable, from his pitching to the sound of his voice. Some were ready to be done with Hamels altogether.
This is where Hamels deserves a ton of credit. It would have been easy for Hamels to fire back at his critics. He could have used his World Series MVP performance of 2008 to portray his doubters as ingrates. The national media has always been quick to attack the Philadelphia fan base for being too hard on their players. Potentially, the situation with Hamels could have grown significantly uglier.
But Hamels didn’t go down that road. Instead, Hamels kept his head after the 2009 season, and re-dedicated himself. He worked hard to develop his cutter and curveball. He said all the right things. He had something to prove and was going to do it the right way.
Despite a slow start to the season, Hamels kept his head up and kept focused. As the season progressed, he gradually rose from a question mark, to a reliable starter, to a legitimate number two starter.
That transformation wasn’t an easy road. The lack of run support must have been frustrating for him. If Hamels wasn’t mentally tough, as his critics suggested in the past, it wouldn’t be hard for him to become discouraged and fall apart. But Hamels has been unfazed, has acted like a professional, has said all the right things, and has kept a positive attitude. His performances have remained superb even though his teammates have rarely been able to help him out.
Hamels was considered one of the keys to the Phillies season. He has answered his critics, and returned to the pitcher who was dominate in the 2008 playoffs. He’s overcome a lot of adversity to reach his current level of play, and never turned on the fans that gave up on him. For that, he deserves a lot of credit.
I agree 100% G,
I admit that I have proabably been the hardest person on Hamels over the last year and a half of not living up to expectations and being more concerned of being a media darling than a top flight MLB Pitcher. He has proven me wrong about his maturity,mental toughness and overall wrok ethic. He has had a hell of a year pitching and should have about 15-16 wins easily (if the Phils scored more runs)
I think the biggest difference in him this year is that he trust’s his stuff more and is staying aggressive and going after the batters instead of getting too cute and wasting pitches and then having the batter with the advantage. It’s all a part of the maturity of becoming a top MLB pitcher and he has worked hard on his overall game which I tip my hat to him…Finish strong Cole for the team needs you.
funny thing i was just thinking like alot of ppl on gcobb were ripping my boy hollywood
very good article
u get ripped when u stink
but u also get praised for looking like the 08 mvp