Speedster Billy Hamilton scores home run in 13.8 seconds

By Austin Knoblauch

July 16, 2012 12 AM PT

Your browser does not support iframes.&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;The baserunning feats of minor league speed demon &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PESPT002928”&amp;gt;Billy Hamilton&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; continue to make headlines in the baseball world.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;The &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”ORSPT000008”&amp;gt;Cincinnati Reds&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; prospect, who is on pace to break the professional record for most stolen bases in a season, put on another stellar display of his speed with an inside-the-park home run Sunday.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;Playing for the double-A Pensacola (Fla.) Blue Wahoos of the Southern League, Hamilton &amp;lt;a href=”https://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LkuXrokARQIDUARQPsYcp_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkNWJ1MDBuBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTM0aW10NnB1BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZTA2YzQzYTQtN2YzNS0zN2FjLTk2NTUtNmJmMmZkNjZjYTQ2BHBzdGNhdANtbGJ8YmlnbGVhZ3Vlc3RldwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=0/SIG=12feceilk/EXP=1343686120/**https%3A//twitter.com/TaterTrotTrkr/status/224701808197632003”&amp;gt;reportedly&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; completed his diamond run against Jacksonville in a staggering time of just 13.8 seconds -- and he didn’t even have to slide into home. That’s faster than the 14.3 seconds it took the Angels’ &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PESPT000009923”&amp;gt;Peter Bourjos&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; to sprint out &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xtA0aPwHes”&amp;gt;his inside-the-park home run&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; against the &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”ORSPT000017”&amp;gt;Minnesota Twins&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; in April.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;As our Steve Dilbeck reported in his Saturday &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-fast-billy-hamilton-20120714,0,2383574,full.story”&amp;gt;feature on Hamilton&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, the 21-year-old is on pace to steal 163 bases, which would shatter the baseball record of 145 set by Vince Coleman in 1983. Heading into Monday, the shortstop has &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=p_pbp&amp;amp;pid=571740”&amp;gt;109 stolen bases&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; in 87 games.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;Of course, none of this comes as a surprise to those who saw Hamilton play with Class-A Bakersfield of the California League earlier this season. Bakersfield Blaze Manager &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PESPT002800”&amp;gt;Ken Griffey Sr.&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; says Hamilton’s abilities make him a standout on the basepaths -- and a major headache for a team’s defense.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;”As soon as he gets on base, there’s so much pressure put on the defense,” Griffey said. “He causes so many things to happen. Everybody’s tensed up. Even the crowd gets into it, home or away, because they know he’s going to run, just not when.”&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;ALSO:&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-fast-billy-hamilton-20120714,0,2383574,full.story”&amp;gt;Billy Hamilton’s speed thrills the minor leagues&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-baseball-steals-20120714,0,5552141.story”&amp;gt;The art of the steal: Is it becoming lost in baseball?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p class=”first”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-billy-hamilton-speed-20120714,0,5128001.photogallery”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span&amp;gt;Photos:&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;Billy Hamilton’s speed thrills the minor leagues&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

Speedster Billy Hamilton scores home run in 13.8 seconds

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