If anyone knew that David Hamilton had a chance of making it to the majors, it was his coaches.
Omar Washington, Cecil Espy and Bryan Webb all coached Hamilton throughout his career, during his epic journey to the majors.
“David had unparalleled athleticism,” Washington said. “Not only that, but his ability and passion to be better was unreal. He really put in all the hard work while being the player that he is now. He is special.”
In the case of both Washington and Espy, who both were drafted in the MLB draft and had experience at the professional level, they said they knew Hamilton had the raw talent to make it.
This is especially true for Espy, who had played eight years in the majors including four seasons with the Texas Rangers.
“David was a tremendous athlete at a young age,” Espy said. “We had a lot of players that came over to play, but he was one of the few that was really good.”
Washington agreed. “Having scouted for a long time and having played in the pros, I’ve seen David’s tools and intangibles,” Washington said. “His ability to know the game, his IQ, being a student of the game–he just did all the little things right. He did all the things you want to see a young man at his age trying to do to make it to the next level, to become successful. He was willing to take those next steps.”
Having coached Hamilton for four years over the summer break, Espy knew of Hamilton’s talent and knew what he needed to work on, similarly to what he needed to work on when playing in the majors.
“He had unbelievable speed and athleticism on the left side of the infield,” Espy said. “He could play shortstop, but just needed to learn some of the nuances and issues that I had when I was playing pro ball.
'Terry Hill and Ron Washington worked with me on my footwork so I had the chance to relay that information over to him in a period of about four years. He worked really hard at it, and he just took off.”
Hamilton was so good, the coaches could only look in awe.
“There were plenty of times you would be amazed at David,” Washington said. “Stealing bases standing up, taking third base at will, phenomenal at-bats and making plays in the infield that normally most people can’t make while making strong throws. It was ‘Wow, this kid is going to be something special.’” For Webb, the head coach of the San Marcos Rattlers baseball team, he said he knew automatically Hamilton was going to do big things, for not only the team, but in the future as well.
“I met David and his dad when he was 12,” Webb said. “I was down there working on the field, when I saw this kid hitting in the batting cages. I walked over there and saw three swings before asking David Sr., how old he was. When he said David was 12, I honestly thought he could have started varsity then.”
But despite Hamilton’s accomplishments, he still needed help learning the ropes of the game.
“The first game he played for me, he made three errors,” Espy said. “Then the next game, he made three more. They were not major errors, but rather ones that he could fix. He was down on himself, because the next day, I put him in the outfield though it was only for one day. He goes ‘I can’t play the outfield.' I asked him why not and he said ‘I can’t catch a popup.’ Just respond with ‘Well you can’t catch a ground ball either, so it shouldn’t be no big deal.'” Soon Espy and Hamilton were able to work out the kinks.
“We had a routine we used to do before every game,” Espy said. “We would do our teamwork, then me and him would just go down the line for five minutes before the game. That’s all we did to improve both his handwork and footwork.”
The years of hard work and dedication that came over the offseason paid dividends for Hamilton during his freshman year with the Rattlers.
“Dave came to practice in his first year,” Webb said. “We had heard how good he was but you had to see for yourself. I knew how athletic he was, watching the videos and seeing him in football but I didn’t know. We put him in the cages during tryouts on the first day. He swung three times and nearly killed the assistant coach there.”
After showing off his power, Hamilton then showed off his defensive skills before establishing himself as a consistent force within the Rattler lineup.
“I put him at third base and in the outfield before he finally wound up at shortstop by the end of the day,” Webb said. “He never relinquished that spot for the next four years. He missed only one game in his four years, because he had surgery on his teeth after taking a bad hop to the mouth and needed to have his teeth sewed in. He is a tremendous kid, has a great family and was awesome to coach.”
Hamilton helped the Rattlers qualify for the playoffs four straight times, including leading San Marcos to the Regional Quarterfinals in 2016.
The 2016 year remains the furthest the Rattlers have been in the playoffs.
But a constant theme with David, his coaches noticed, was his dad, David Hamilton Sr.
“They were inseparable,” Washington said. “Everywhere David was, his dad was there supporting him. David knew he could go to his dad during good times and bad. It was always a consistent ‘I got your back son, just go out there and play your best.' He (Hamilton Sr.) pushed him (David) to be great and David responded.”
coltonbmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
