Billy Hamilton or....Billy Hamilton?

Amazing defensive outfielder. Terror on the basepaths. Not a power hitter. Does this sound familiar? Billy Hamilton fits the mold. Billy Hamilton also fits the mold. Both Billy Hamiltons...well they fit the mold.

When baseball fans hear the name Billy Hamilton, they think of the Royals, and former Reds, centerfielder. Hamilton is currently roaming centerfield, making amazing defensive plays due to his blazing speed. He also is one of the most dangerous on the basepaths today, quickly coming up on 300 stolen bases for his career.

The other Billy Hamilton fits into many of the classifications the present Billy Hamilton does. The old Billy Hamilton has 914 stolen bases, near the top of the stolen base leaderboard. Old Hamilton was 56 fielding runs above average, but that is using the defensive metrics from the 19th century that are notoriously unreliable. He does, however, have a higher fielding percentage and range factor than league average, for what it is worth.

Old Billy Hamilton was a much better hitter than current Billy Hamilton. The old Hamilton posted a 141 OPS+, with a 0.455 OBP and walking 1,189 times to only 362 strikeouts. The current Billy Hamilton has a career 69 OPS+ and an OBP lower than 0.300. He is 72 points underneath past Billy Hamilton. Both posted relatively low slugging percentages, while old Hamilton’s 0.432 is far better than current Hamilton’s 0.329 slugging. Both used their speed to hit many triples, outnumbering their home run count (Editor's Note: !!!).

It is incredibly rare that players share the same name. It is even more rare that both players share the same name, more than a hundred years apart. Most uniquely, they are the same mold of player.

May your pennants fly forever.

-Prentiss