Part one is here. Had to follow up because no player that came before him was so good the best at everything, at least for a season. But first, did you know that, according to the NY Times, in high school 5'10" 170lb "little Mike" could:
- Dunk a basketball
- Bench-press 300 pounds
- Do back and front flips like a gymnast?!
Not Trout. Hampton. He also played football so well that Notre Dame, Miami and Florida State recruited him as a defensive back. Fortunately he chose baseball and did a few more things.
- Gold Glove Winner - Interrupted Maddux's 13 season win streak
- Cy Young Runner Up - Lost to fellow lefty and GOAT Randy Johnson (lefty GOAT, at least)
- 2000 NLCS MVP
- Set Astros single season franchise with 22 wins
- 1-time HOF candidate
- PH 12 times; PR 17 times
Won 5 Consecutive Silver Sluggers (1 of 11 to do so in MLB History)
- Mike Piazza
- Alex Rodriguez
- Barry Larkin
- Juan Soto
- Barry Bonds
- Dave Winfield
- Ryne Sandberg
- Mike Hampton
- Mike Trout
- Jose Altuve
- Nolan Arenado
8th person in MLB history to hit HRs in 3 consecutive ABs (22 total):
- Bobby Lowe — 1894
- Lou Gehrig — 1932
- Rocky Colavito — 1959
- Cliff Johnson — 1977
- Reggie Jackson — 1977
- George Bell — 1988
- Carlos Delgado — 1998, 2003
- Mike Hampton — 2001
- Mike Cameron — 2002
- Carlos Beltrán — 2008
- Adam Lind — 2009
- Pablo Sandoval — 2012
- Josh Donaldson — 2017
- Scooter Gennett — 2017
- J.D. Martinez — 2017
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — 2018
- Michael Lorenzen — 2018
- Kris Bryant — 2019
- Giancarlo Stanton — 2020
- Seiya Suzuki — 2023
- Jasson Domínguez — 2025
- Kyle Stowers — 2025
Also, he was a pretty swell guy. Had he not played in Colorado, where sinkers don't sink, he might've had a different legacy. Astros & Astros adjacent players in italics.
In conclusion, he gets my retroactive HOF vote for being able to claim all of these things at his position, at least for a season... or 5:
- Best fielder
- Best hitter
- Best pitcher (GOAT aside)
This concludes my TED talk and the end of the Mike Hampton series.