David Edward Hamilton (born December 13, 1947) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1972 to 1980, and won three

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championships as a member of the Oakland Athletics.

Oakland A's

Hamilton was drafted out of Edmonds High School in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...

by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

in the fifth round of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. He spent six seasons in their farm system before receiving a call up to the Oakland Athletics in May of . He won his major league debut on May 29, starting the second game of a doubleheader with the Texas Rangers. He ended the season at 6–6 with a 2.93

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

as the A's headed to the

1972 American League Championship Series The 1972 American League Championship Series was held October 7–12, and matched the Oakland Athletics () and Detroit Tigers () for the right to go to the 1972 World Series. The first two games were played at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseu ...

against the Detroit Tigers. Hamilton made only one appearance in the ALCS, blowing a save opportunity in game four. He appeared twice in the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. He faced just one batter,

Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...

in game five, and got a double play on a fly ball to

Matty Alou Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican former professional baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professiona ...

in right field in which

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

tried to score from third. In game six, the "

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division ti ...

" tagged Hamilton for four runs in just two-thirds of an inning. The A's returned to the World Series again in and , but Hamilton never made a post-season appearance either year. He was traded along with

Chet Lemon Chester Earl Lemon (born February 12, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, he grew up in Los Angeles. He was drafted in the first round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft and played 16 season ...

from the Athletics to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for Stan Bahnsen and

Skip Pitlock Lee Patrick Thomas "Skip" Pitlock (born November 6, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. A left-hander noted for his unusual wind-up, he had a "herky-jerky" motion which deceived major league batters, and led to 124 career st ...

at the non-waiver trade deadline on June 15, .

Chicago White Sox

Though Hamilton had been used as both a starter and

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

in Oakland, he was used strictly out of the bullpen by White Sox manager,

Chuck Tanner Charles William Tanner (July 4, 1928February 11, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and manager. A left fielder and pinch hitter who appeared in 396 games in Major League Baseball between 1955 and 1962, he was known for his unwav ...

. He earned his first major league save on June 25, and went on to earn 25 in three seasons with the club. On November 28, , he and Silvio Martinez were sent to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

to complete an August 31 deal in which the Chisox sent two players to be named later to the Cards for

Clay Carroll Clay Palmer Carroll (born May 2, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won three divisio ...

St. Louis Cardinals

Hamilton got off to a poor start with the Cardinals, and soon found himself doing mop-up duty for manager Vern Rapp. When

Ken Boyer Kenton Lloyd "Ken" Boyer (May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman, coach and manager who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers for 15 ...

replaced Rapp at the helm, Hamilton was given the opportunity to redeem himself, but after blowing a save against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

on back-to-back home runs by

Gene Tenace Fury Gene Tenace (; born Fiore Gino Tenacci; October 10, 1946), better known as Gene Tenace, is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball from through , most n ...

and

Rick Sweet Ricky Joe Sweet (born September 7, 1952) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current manager of the Milwaukee Brewers' Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds. He played three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) betwee ...

, found himself again in the mop-up role. He appeared in thirteen games for the Cardinals, all of which were losses, and was 0–0 with a 6.43 ERA when his contract was sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates

After losing his first game as a Pirate, Hamilton earned his first save of the season against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

shortly afterwards. He began seeing more time in pressure situations, but after failing to perform, found himself again in the now familiar mop-up role. Following the season, he returned to Oakland as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Return to Oakland

Hamilton went 3–4 with five saves and a 3.70 ERA for Oakland in 1979. He split between Oakland and the

Ogden A's The Ogden A's were a minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League, based in Ogden, Utah. They were the Triple-A farm club of the Oakland Athletics, and replaced the San Jose Missions as the tenth team in the PCL. The Ogden A's exi ...

, going 0–3 with an 11.40 ERA at the major league level. After four games with the Pacific Coast League's Tacoma Tigers in , he retired.

Career stats

Hamilton was 4-for-26 in 1972 with five walks and two runs scored. In seven more at-bats (in 1978), he never reached base again.

Personal life

He currently lives in California with his wife, Lynn, and has three grown children Jonathan, Brian and Christy as well as his grandchildren, Austin, Matthew, Briley, Cole, Joshua, Ellie, and Jake. He began coaching

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

for California High School in San Ramon in . He is also a project manager for a roofing contractor.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacBaseball GaugeVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Dave 1947 births Living people Baseball players from Seattle Birmingham A's players Burlington Bees players Chicago White Sox players Iowa Oaks players Leesburg A's players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Lewiston Broncs players Lodi Crushers players Major League Baseball pitchers Oakland Athletics players Ogden A's players Peninsula Grays players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players Tacoma Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players Tucson Toros players People from San Ramon, California