Robert James Hamelin (; born November 29, 1967) is a former

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

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 (A ...

. From 1993 through 1998, Hamelin played for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

(1993–96),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1997) and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1998). He batted and threw left-handed. In a six-season career, Hamelin posted a .246

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 67

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 209

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 497

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. In 1994, at the age of 26, he was the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

Rookie of the Year. His stint as a professional player was marred by leg injuries, both in the minors and majors. He also suffered from an eye problem.

Playing career

High school and college

After a long and illustrious career in the Randolph Little League, Hamelin's family moved from their home in

Randolph, New Jersey Randolph is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 25,734, reflecting an increase of 887 (+3.6%) from the 24,847 counted in the 2000 census, which had in turn ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

, when he was 12 years old. Hamelin attended

Irvine High School Irvine High School is a public high school, located in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Irvine Unified School District. The school is located in the El Camino Real neighborhood in the north-central ...

where he excelled in both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

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 ...

and was named the School's Athlete of the Year as a senior. The

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

recruited him to play football, however Hamelin had already decided to pursue a career in baseball. Hamelin enrolled in

Santa Ana College Santa Ana College is a public community college in Santa Ana, California. History In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Ora ...

after graduating from high school and played on the school's baseball team. Soon thereafter the young baseball prospect transferred to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, where he continued to play baseball for his new school. In 1987, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

Major leagues

Hamelin won the 1994 AL Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the

, when he posted a .282 batting average and hit 24

s (earning him the nickname "the hammer") with 65

during the strike-shortened season.

After the major leagues

Hamelin abruptly quit his professional baseball career while playing in the minor leagues for the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

(Detroit Tigers AAA Team) in 1999. After grounding out, he went back to the dugout and told manager

Gene Roof Eugene Lawrence Roof (born January 13, 1958) is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played during three seasons at the Major League level for the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos. Playing career He was drafted by the Cardinal ...

, "I'm done", ending his professional baseball career as a player. After retirement Hamelin was out of professional baseball for several years, owning a manufacturing company., Bob Hamelin Interview He attended scouting school and returned to professional baseball as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

and the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. In 2012, he joined the Major League scouting corps of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. His scouting contract was not renewed by the Boston Red Sox for the 2021 season. Hamelin's 1996 Pinnacle Foil

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, stad ...

is commonly referred to as the worst baseball card of all time. In 2019, Hamelin and a collection of his baseball cards were featured in the first episode of

SB Nation ''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the netw ...

's two part series "The Bob Emergency", narrated by

Jon Bois Jon Bois (; born September 24, 1982) is an American sports writer, video producer, and YouTuber. He is the creative director at ''SB Nation'', a sports blogging network. Bois is known for his speculative fiction works on sports, such as '' 1777 ...

Highlights

and ''TSN'' Rookie of the Year awards (1994) *5th in

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

(AL 1994, .599) *5th in

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

(AL 1994, .987) *9th in home runs (AL 1994, 24)

References

External links

, o
Baseball Library
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o
Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamelin, Bob 1967 births Living people Baseball City Royals players Baseball players from California Baseball players from New Jersey Boston Red Sox scouts Detroit Tigers players Eugene Emeralds players Harwich Mariners players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Memphis Chicks players Milwaukee Brewers players Omaha Royals players Santa Ana Dons baseball players Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey Sportspeople from Irvine, California Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays scouts UCLA Bruins baseball players University of California, Los Angeles alumni Washington Nationals scouts Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players