Steve Hamilton


Steven Absher Hamilton was a Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association player.

Baseball career

Hamilton was mostly a relief pitcher during his 12 MLB seasons, including a stint as the New York Yankees closer during the 1968 season. In 421 career games from 1961 to 1972 he had a 40–31 record with 42 saves and a 3.05 earned run average. He pitched 1 inning during the Yankees 1963 World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers and 2 innings during the Yankees 1964 World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, including 1 save. He also pitched in the 1971 NLCS for the San Francisco Giants.
His one complete game shutout was on August 5, 1966, against the Cleveland Indians, while pitching for the New York Yankees. He gave up 5 hits, walked 1 and struck out 3. It was one of only 3 starts he had in the 1966 season. Late in his career Hamilton threw the famed "folly-floater", a high, slow eephus pitch. Other pitchers who have thrown a lob pitch include Rip Sewell and Dave LaRoche.

Basketball career

Attending Morehead State from 1954–58, in basketball he scored 1,829 points and established five MSU rebounding records—single-season average, average career, single game, single season, and career. He was an All-American in 1957, and a two-time All-Ohio Valley Conference First-Team selection.
From 1958 to 1960 he was a power forward/center for the Minneapolis Lakers. He played for the 1958/59 team that lost to the Boston Celtics during the 1959 NBA Finals. Over 2 seasons he averaged 4.5 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 0.5 assists per game.

Personal

After his major league career ended, he was a Detroit Tigers coach in 1975 and was the athletic director at his alma mater, Morehead State University.
Hamilton died of colon cancer at his home in Morehead, Kentucky, on December 2, 1997, and was buried in nearby Forest Lawn Garden of Memories.

Honors

Hamilton is one of only two people to have played in both a World Series and an NBA finals. and an NBA finals
Hamilton is one of 13 athletes to have played in both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. The thirteen are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Johnny Gee, Dick Groat, Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts and Howie Schultz.