May 12, 2006: Phillies’ Cole Hamels shines in major-league debut

Cole Hamels was still unsigned in August 2002, two months after the Philadelphia Phillies had selected him 17th overall in the first round of baseball’s amateur draft. He was holding out for a signing bonus similar to that given fellow high-school left-hander Scott Kazmir, who was selected two spots ahead of him by the New York Mets. When the Phillies traveled to Hamels’ hometown, San Diego, on August 6 to play the Padres, Hamels met the team. “I got to see some places and faces I haven’t seen before,” Hamels said. “It was fun to go onto the field and meet some of the players.”1 Three weeks later, on August 28, he signed for $150,000 less than Kazmir got.

Hamels launched his professional career in 2003, starting 18 games in the low minors. The next two seasons were mostly lost to injury, but when 2006 began, the 22-year-old Hamels was still the Phillies’ top prospect. He spent April in the warm weather of Clearwater, Florida, and after five games the Phillies promoted him to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Three games in, with a record of 2-0 and a 0.39 ERA, Hamels was summoned to the majors to start the May 12 game in Cincinnati.

Leading the National League Central Division with a 23-12 record, the Cincinnati Reds were a formidable opponent for Hamels.2 Reds manager Jerry Narron shuffled his lineup with lefty Hamels pitching. Regular left fielder Adam Dunn was moved to first base so righty Ryan Freel could start in left. “It’s just basically a spot start for Dunn. It’s something we’re going to do once in a while,” said Narron.3

The Reds tabbed Elizardo Ramírez to start against his former team. Originally signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1999, Ramírez was traded to Cincinnati in August 2004, completing a deal that sent Cory Lidle to the Phillies. He was facing a hot Phillies club that had won 10 of its last 11 games and was sitting in second place in the NL East Division.

Both teams had baserunners in the first three innings but neither team could score. In the Phillies’ second, Shane Victorino and David Bell hit back-to-back singles with one out, but rookie catcher Carlos Ruiz, appearing in his fifth major-league game, grounded into a double play to end the threat. In the Reds’ second, Dunn, Brandon Phillips, and Javier Valentín walked to load the bases, but Hamels struck out Ramírez for the final out.

The walks were out of character for Hamels. In the 23 innings he pitched in Scranton before his call-up, he walked only one batter. “It was definitely frustrating, because I’m not used to walking guys. I knew that to compete I was going to have to bear down and throw strikes,” Hamels said.4

The Phillies scored two runs in the fourth inning, breaking the scoreless deadlock. Pat Burrell stroked a line-drive single to left and Ryan Howard followed with a home run to left-center, putting the Phillies on top. The homer was Howard’s 10th of the season, and the power-hitting first baseman went on to hit a Philadelphia season record 58 home runs and win the NL Most Valuable Player Award.

Hamels walked one batter in both the third and the fourth, but did not surrender a hit until there were two outs in the fifth. Felipe López worked the count to 3-and-1 before stroking a double to center field. Twelve-time All-Star Ken Griffey Jr. was due up. Hamels struck him out in the first inning and walked him in the third, both times with the bases empty. With López on second, Hamels got ahead 0-and-2, then struck out the 36-year-old Griffey on a changeup. “I grew up watching him when I was in grade school,” Hamels said. “Striking him out was a big deal for me.”5

The Phillies threatened to add-on in the top of the sixth. Burrell was hit by a pitch, Victorino singled and Bell walked to load the bases. With two outs, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sent Abraham Núñez to the plate to bat for Hamels. Núñez struck out swinging.

Hamels’ day was done. He walked five and struck out seven during his five innings. “He could have gone another inning, but we had the bases loaded and we were looking for a big inning,” Manuel said.6

Ryan Madson replaced Hamels in the sixth. Mostly a reliever his first two years in the league, Madson got a chance to start in 2006. After six outings, in which he surrendered 23 earned runs in 30⅓ innings, he was moved back to the bullpen. This was his first relief appearance of the season. On Madson’s third pitch, Austin Kearns hit a home run to left field to put the Reds on the board. Dunn struck out, but Edwin Encarnación blasted a homer to left, tying the score. 

Ramírez remained in the game to start the seventh. Leadoff batter Jimmy Rollins hit a grounder to first that Dunn booted, and Rollins wound up on second base. Chase Utley followed with a single to right, scoring Rollins with the go-ahead run and knocking Ramírez out of the game. Chris Hammond replaced Ramírez and closed out the inning on nine pitches, but the Phillies had a 3-2 lead.

Nine outs from victory, Philadelphia’s win was not yet secure. “The thing about our offense, we can definitely come back if we stay close,” said Narron.7 But the Phillies bullpen was up to the task, as Ryan Franklin shut down the Reds in the seventh and Arthur Rhodes followed with a scoreless eighth.

The Phillies tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, striking quickly off new Reds reliever Matt Belisle. Victorino was hit by a pitch and Bell singled to right, advancing Victorino to third. Ruiz, who was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and double-play grounder, recorded his first big-league RBI with a fly ball to right field deep enough to score Victorino. Narron pulled Belisle, and replacement Brian Shackelford  got the last two outs. 

Shackelford returned for the ninth and surrendered three walks, a wild pitch, and a two-run homer to Victorino. “It looked like he had lost it,” Narron said of Shackelford.8 Rick White replaced Shackleford and let in the fourth run of the inning on a balk. The Phillies had extended their lead to 8-2. “To go out there and walk three guys and give up a home run, that’s devastating,” said Shackelford.9

With a run in, the bases loaded and Griffey due up, Manuel summoned Gordon. Gordon retired Griffey on a groundout and struck out Kearns to end the game.

Hamels was not involved in the decision, but he left a positive impression. Fellow starter Lidle said, “His composure at his age in his first big-league start against a lineup that’s been tearing it up, I thought he looked great.”11 His manager, Manuel, also gave a glowing postgame report: “He was outstanding. He was smooth. He was everything he was billed to be.”12

Hamels started 22 more games in 2006, and two years later he led the Phillies to the second World Series championship in franchise history, winning the NLCS and World Series MVP Awards. He pitched 15 years for four different franchises, winning 163 games and no-hitting the Chicago Cubs for the Phillies in 2015. After a couple of attempts to return to the majors, his career officially came to an end in 2023 when he announced his retirement on August 4.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN200605120.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2006/B05120CIN2006.htm

Notes

1 Dan McQuade, “A Cole Hamels  Career Timeline,” phillymag.com, July 30, 2015, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/07/30/a-cole-hamels-career-timeline/.

2 The Reds were in first place as late as August 24, before they lost 9 of 10 to fall out of the race.

3 John Erardi, “Arroyo Still Just as Tough,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 13, 2006: C7.

4 Paul Hagen, “‘W’ Only Thing Missing,” Philadelphia Daily News, May 13, 2006: 42,

5 Todd Zolecki, “Answering Call to Arms,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 13, 2006: E01.

6 Paul Hagen, “‘W’ Only Thing Missing.”

7 Marc Lancaster, “No Miracle This Time,” Cincinnati Post, May 13, 2006: B1.

8 Lancaster.

9 Lancaster.

10 Todd Zolecki, “Phillies Again Turn Aside Reds Menace,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 2006: D5.

11 Todd Zolecki, “Answering Call to Arms.”

12 Zolecki.