This card doesn’t come with the typical shenanigans my others have had in the past (there’s still a few more of those….😂). What it is though, is the first card of easily the most talented and funny kids I’ve ever coached in my career. I had the privilege of coaching Billy from his 7th-9th grade year. He was 5 foot nothing. 100 and nothing, but had some of the smoothest, softest hands on the infield that I’ve ever seen and he could FLY. One of my favorite coaching stories involves Billy that tells just how good of an athlete he is/was.

His freshman year, Billy got to us late because he played basketball (which he was All State his last 3 seasons and also all state his last 3 football and baseball seasons). He didn’t even start for us because we had 2 guys on the middle infield who were a little older and pretty dang good themselves. So he played a lot of JV. About half way through the season, or starting 2B breaks his leg trying to beat out a bunt. So, here comes Billy off the bench to play 2B the last couple of innings. He could hit OK, but he was not super strong at that stage, so we DH’d for him the rest of the season and he played second. You could tell it bothered him to a degree, but he never once complained. We advanced to the state championship series that season and won game 1 convincingly. Also, the kid we had hitting for Billy pulled his hamstring in game. So, the next day (on the bus ride to the stadium) we tell Billy he’s just gonna have to hit for himself today. In true Billy Hamilton fashion he flashed his infectious smile and all I got was “Aight…Bet, Coach!!” Keep in mind that this kid hasn’t seen legit live pitching in over a month because playoffs meant JV baseball ceased. All Billy proceeds to do is hit a single to right, a double to left center, and a triple to right center in a minor league ballpark!! In 23 years of coaching, I’ve had some pretty dang good players, but none a special as Billy Hamilton turned out to be.