People ask me on occasions who is the best player that I’ve seen come through Greensboro during my broadcasting of the Bats-Grasshoppers games. Based on this year and in particularly this year’s World Series, I’d have to say Cole Hamel’s of the Phillies takes the trophy.
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Hamels was drafted in the 2002 draft, being the 17th. overall player picked by Philadelphia. I remember when The Lakewood Blue Claws,1A affiliate of the Phillies, came to town back in 2003. One thing I always do as part of my pre-game routine is check the roster of the visiting teams for first round draft picks. Of course, there in black and white was the young lefty, Hamels. I remember when he pitched against The Bats-the final score I don’t remember-but the stuff the kid had was impressive. Hamels went 6-1 with a .84 ERA, before being promoted to Clearwater later in the year. Hamels went back and forth, up and down with the Phillies before being promoted to the big show in 2006.
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Tonight in Game 5 of The Series, if Philly wins, Hamels is in line to be MVP. He was named MVP of the NLCS earlier as Philadelphia advanced beating Los Angeles 4 games to 1.
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One of the good things about single A baseball is that we get the chance to see young stars before they hit the big-time. Cole Hamels was certainly one of those before hitting the really big time-The World Series.