I'm sorry I doubted you. :isurrender: I was disappointed that Choo left and we had an unproven, skinny project with freakish speed left to play center field. I didn't think you could play at the MLB level.:cry:

 

For the first half, you proved me wrong. Please keep playing at the level you are and the Reds will do just fine!:banana::ylsuper:

There are many of us in the group that thought he would struggle this year.

While the Reds have struggled at times they've also survived and performed pretty well when healthy. Could make for a great playoff team if they can keep it up.

I will say I didn't doubt Hamilton but I didn't see him contributing as much as he has.

I want some people to go look at Choos stats this year too. Wow, it's a blessing to have this kid

I think everyone has to be impressed with Hamilton's progress at the plate. He is getting better and better. His OBP over the past month is close to .350. A little more pop than we expected. Ironically, the most disappointing thing about his season is how frequently he has been thrown out trying to steal.

I was also one who would have been happy if he was just serviceable. He has been much more than that. He, Meso and Frazier have all played netter than I thought. Happy for the kid.

.....

 

Crazy, I was literally logging on this morning to post this exact post / comment. I was hardest on the Reds, and Billy especially, all winter, and I'm thrilled to have been so wrong on his production for this year.

 

We are getting far more out of Hamilton, Frazier, and Mesoraco than I ever expected and I'm certainly happy for it! If these three and Simon can be close to the same guy in the 2nd half, this team will far exceed my meager expectations.

Edited July 9, 201412 yr by MentschTrachtGottLacht

I think everyone has to be impressed with Hamilton's progress at the plate. He is getting better and better. His OBP over the past month is close to .350. A little more pop than we expected. Ironically, the most disappointing thing about his season is how frequently he has been thrown out trying to steal.

 

And even getting thrown out slightly more than we thought he would isn't that bad. After all, the defense knows it's coming.

.....

 

Crazy, I was literally logging on this morning to post this exact post / comment. I was hardest on the Reds, and Billy especially, all winter, and I'm thrilled to have been so wrong on his production for this year.

 

We are getting far more out of Hamilton, Frazier, and Mesoraco than I ever expected and I'm certainly happy for it! If these three and Simon can be close to the same guy in the 2nd half, this team will far exceed my meager expectations.

 

I told you last year I thought Hamilton would be a lot like Otis "My main man" Nixon. He has far exceeded those expectations so far. I've been beating Meso's drum for 2 years though. I knew Dusty was stunting the growth of a potential All Star, and keeping another big bat out of the lineup when the Reds already had too many holes in the lineup. It was one of the reasons I couldn't stand Dusty. As far as Frazier goes I never dreamed he would be hitting around .290. I knew he had some serious pop in his bat, but I saw him as always struggling to hit .250 or better.

I told you last year I thought Hamilton would be a lot like Otis "My main man" Nixon. He has far exceeded those expectations so far. I've been beating Meso's drum for 2 years though. I knew Dusty was stunting the growth of a potential All Star' date=' and keeping another big bat out of the lineup when the Reds already had too many holes in the lineup. It was one of the reasons I couldn't stand Dusty. As far as Frazier goes I never dreamed he would be hitting around .290. I knew he had some serious pop in his bat, but I saw him as always struggling to hit .250 or better.[/quote'] Gotta get Hanigan some at bats.

I have nothing to back this up, but I have a feeling that Billy Hamilton is a great locker room guy too. I'm not sure the true meaning behind the hand gesture thing they do after a big hit, but I always see Hamilton at the top of the dugout doing it back to the guy on the field who had the big play.

 

He's becoming a must watch baseball player, if he wasn't already because of his speed.

 

Has his first bobblehead Saturday.

I still wanted to keep Choo though. I wanted Hamilton in center and Choo in Left Field. Of course that may have altered how the batting order has looked because Choo/Hamilton probably would in in the 1 and 2 spots which bumps Frazier down. I also think that Hamilton's caught stealing stats are a little misleading because he got thrown out in April about three times or so when he was a pinch runner on a cold night.

Meso has been my favorite player this year followed by Billy and then Frazier. Whenever Meso swings he doesn't get cheated of an at bat, he has a contact swing but with power. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw such a compact swing produce so many hard hit balls, pretty amazing really. And Bily is a freak, that's the only way I can explain him. With Frazier I thought we were going to see an improvement this year, not all star improvement, but I thought he would hit .275 with 15 homers and the Reds would be fine.

I think he steal 3B much better than 2B because of the lead and ability to get to top speed quickly. I am sure they are working with him on recognizing MLB moves to 1B and stretching his lead with that knowledge. If he gets a good lead and a good jump, it's just mathematics -- takes a great POP time to even make it close.