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May 12 06 12:43 PM
Quote:03/05/2004 6:13 PM ETNotes: Hamels mows 'em downRetires five of six batters against star-studded lineupBy Ken Mandel / MLB.com         TAMPA, Fla. -- Derek Jeter looked silly first, then Alex Rodriguez, and in front of a national television audience, no less.One might say the person responsible for this had a wildly successful Grapefruit League debut. The fact that it came at Legends Field against the storied New York Yankees, in front of 10,272 fans, supplied the icing.Cole Hamels, who is roughly a week away from having to report for A ball, dominated with his fastballs and his Major League-ready changeup during his first inning. After whiffing Jeter and Rodriguez, he struck out Tony Clark for good measure."He's pretty impressive," said Rodriguez. "I don't have a gun, but it looked like he was 92-94 (mph) with an excellent changeup."Is his changeup ready for the big leagues?"Sure looked like it," said Jeter."It went pretty well," said Hamels, containing his excitement. "I faced two possible Hall of Famers right off the bat, and did well against them. It's a good thing."After completing his inning of mastery, Hamels met a sea of hands -- high fives for everyone."They were all shocked," he said.Was Hamels?"When you actually think about it, yeah," he said. "But at the moment, it's a normal game."A normal appearance in a normal game of a normal preseason for a 20-year pitcher who is anything but normal. Hamels returned for a second inning, allowed a single to Bubba Crosby, got a double-play grounder from Hideki Matsui, and got Joe Girardi on a bouncer to first."I can understand why they like him a lot," said Girardi. "I didn't see anybody have a good swing on his changeup. Not one guy. Whenever a pitcher throws downhill the ball appears smaller than it is. He's sneaky. And it wasn't like he was facing young kids. He was facing some of the big boys and nobody had a good swing."Hamels had been treating lesser hitters unfairly during his first season of professional baseball in 2003, and forced his promotion from Low A to High A. He's ticketed for Clearwater (High A) to start the season and may force a promotion to Reading.But that's later. On Friday, Hamels confidently threw pitches to Major League hitters in front of a packed stadium. He could be back next month wearing his Clearwater Phillies road jersey and pitch from that same mound.In his hometown of San Diego, VCRs and TiVos were likely recording this moment. His friends who called to heckle him about his scheduled appearance, saying 'I hope you don't give up a home run,' are now likely filling his answering machine with congratulatory messages."The phone is probably ringing right now," he said.Some day in the next few years, he hopes to get another call. He's not sure when it will come but is pretty confident that it will."The guys in the big leagues are the guys who learn quickly and compensate for their difficulties. The faster you do that, the faster you get here."
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