Cole Hamels Blames Off The Field Distractions For Poor Start And Spring Training Injury
April 22, 2009 – 9:15 am by Jimmy ShapiroPhiladelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels was on top of the baseball world after winning the MVP in the NLCS and World Series last October after compiling a 4-0 record with a 1.80 ERA in the playoffs. He followed up his on the field success with appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Ellen Degeneres, a cover story on Sports Illustrated, and many promotional appearances.
Hamels injured himself in spring training, and missed his opening day start this year. He’s been hit pretty hard in both of starts and is currently 0-1 with an 11.17 ERA. It’s still early, but the Phillies need an exceptional Hamels to have any chance to repeat as World Series Champs. Philadelphia Inquirer writer Jim Salisbury broke a story on Tuesday where Hamels admits that off the field distractions caused a delay in his training regimen and when he tried to catch up, that’s when he was injured in training camp. We’ve all heard the expression to the victors goes the spoils…well, for Phillies fans let’s hope the spoils don’t spoil their season.
Inquirer writer Jim Salisbury spoke to WIP in Philadelphia about his Cole Hamels story.
On his interview with Hamels:
“He said, “My arm slot is still coming around, my release point down the slope is slow coming around; it varies, it comes for different guys it comes at different points, it’s just coming slow for me this year.” I asked him, “Why is it coming slow?” and he very bluntly said, “I just had too many distractions” and that’s where it came from and then he zeroed right in on January.”
On why he allowed this to happen:
“Well, he’s 25. They just won a World Series; they’re kind of on top of the world. I think any of us would have that level of exuberance and kinda want to sample some of the spoils that go with being a world champion…He really zeroed in on January, when the calendar turned and he needed to turn his attention to throwing, to his regimented throwing program. He said January didn’t go the way he would have liked it to. He was a couple weeks pushed back because of his appearances. It sounds like the bulk of his appearances were personal…One of the comments that didn’t make it [in the original story] was he basically said, “I said yes to some of this stuff for security reasons. It was a tough economy and it was a way to make a buck…There was a chance to make a few bucks and I did it.”
Listen to Jim Salisbury on WIP in Philadelphia with Angelo Cataldi
Tags: Cole Hamels, Cole Hamels injury, Philadelphia Inquir, Philadelphia Phillies, WIP
