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Hamilton glad wait is over

The Rays send their top prospect to Double A, and he wishes only they'd done so sooner.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 28, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- He is innocent enough that he took the nameplate from above his locker as a keepsake and carried it out the door. He is savvy enough that he knew the decision to send him back to the minor leagues was going to come before the next week's meal money was distributed. And he is good enough, and confident enough, to know it won't be long until he is back to stay.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton was reassigned to the Rays' Double-A Orlando team after Tuesday's game, and the No. 1-rated prospect in the game said he was more relieved that a decision was made than disappointed by the outcome.

"I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when," Hamilton said. "I was getting a little frustrated that it was taking so long for them to tell me because I wanted to start playing. I want to get a few games in before the season actually starts so the first two weeks of the season won't feel like spring training."

Hamilton didn't play that badly in limited opportunities this spring, hitting .226 with six RBI in 31 at-bats and looking smooth and graceful in the outfield. It's just that he didn't play well enough to convince the Rays to take the extraordinary step of promoting a 19-year-old who has not played above low Class A to the big leagues.

"Everyone knows what kind of talent he has, and the way he goes about it is what you really like," manager Larry Rothschild said. "But it's not going to hurt him to go down and play and get some more experience. He played well enough in the spring, and that's why we kept him as long as we did. He needs some at-bats and to see some different type of pitching, and he'll make those adjustments."

For similar reasons, the Rays also optioned pitcher Matt White to Triple-A Durham, reducing their spring roster to 37, 12 above the opening day limit.

White, who struggled with his mechanics and control all spring, rebounded from a disastrous debut outing Friday (when he faced six batters and hit three, walked one and gave up two hits) with three decent innings Tuesday for Durham.

"That was great to see," Rothschild said. "He's back on track, back in a good environment for him for now. He can get his confidence back up. He's a pitcher with major-league stuff. It's just a question of getting down there, getting his feet back on the ground and getting some innings in, and we'll see what happens here."

White, who came into camp with an outside shot to make the team, said he was looking forward to resuming a regular routine.

"I want to get here, and I want to start contributing," White, 22, said. "Things didn't work out the way I wanted them to, but that's in the past now. I'm going to work on the future, and that starts tomorrow. I'll keep going and going until I get it right."

Hamilton has a similar work ethic, and nobody expects it to take long for him to get to the majors and start a career that could last for many years.

"When it is, I'm not in the business of being able to predict that," Rothschild said. "But I do know from what I've seen this spring and what everyone else has seen that there's a very good future for him in the game. It's just a matter of him getting down there, getting the work in and accomplishing the things he needs to accomplish."

Among them, Rothschild said, is understanding that "it's now his job to play his way back to the major leagues."

Hamilton said his prime target areas are learning to take more pitches so he can work deeper into counts and staying back on the ball. He learned plenty from his veteran teammates but would have liked the opportunity to do more.

"I'm glad I stayed here as long as I did, but if they had any doubts in their minds, I wish they would have done it a week or two weeks earlier," Hamilton said. "I got experience being here and just watching them and everything, but it's nothing like getting out there and actually playing. If I could change anything, I wish it would have been done that way."

Hamilton said that in his heart, he never considered it possible that he could make the team out of spring training. Returning later this season, however, seems more realistic.

"I'm going to do the best I can to make them have to do something," Hamilton said. "I'll be here soon. Soon enough."

Hamilton packed his equipment and headed out of the clubhouse, but he ended up standing in the Florida Power Park parking lot talking with his parents and some associates while signing autographs and posing for pictures, the locker nameplate still in his hand.

"Hey, y'all didn't ask me what I was going to do now that I got cut," Hamilton said when several reporters walked by. "I'm going to Disney World."

The Rays host the Boston Red Sox at Florida Power Park at 1:05 p.m. Pregame workouts begin about 9:30 a.m.

Jose Guillen may be getting scrunched out of the lineup and relegated to a backup role, but Guillen leads the team in batting average, set a spring RBI record Tuesday and needs one triple to set another mark.

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