Cole Hamels calls Bill Hall a "Nice Guy." Bill Hall calls Hamels a "Marked Man."
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Cole Hamels calls Bill Hall a "Nice Guy." Bill Hall calls Hamels a "Marked Man."
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Yeah, so I think maybe Bill Hall and Cole Hamels need to form a sharing circle somewhere and talk about their feelings. Because there is a little bit of dissonance in their relationship. The two players had a bit of a confrontation in the second inning of the Phillies Grapefruit League game against the Astros today. Nothing major. Just your typical baseball barking. Hamels didn't like that Hall stepped out of the box twice, so he reacted with a wave of the glove, then threw a brush-back pitch.
Hall didn't like that Hamels brushed him back, and he started yelling and gesturing at the pitcher. Order was restored quickly. Both dugouts looked on in mild amusement. The umpire warned both benches. Play resumed.
So afterwards, Cole Hamels laughed off the situation as just one of those baseball-boys-will-be-boys type things.
"Ah, it's nothing," Hamels said. "He's a good guy. Just trying to get the game going. No hard feelings.
"It's one of those things I don't want to speak about. It's just kind of baseball. I don't know him personally, but I do know he is a good guy. It's just kind of something that just kind of happens that gets the game going."
Hamels sounded very sincere, like he didn't think the interplay was a big deal at all. Sometimes, players will say these type of things while winking at you, making it obvious they are saying the politically correct thing. But Hamels really seems to genuinely think Hall is a good guy.
Well, Hall had a different point of view when he was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle's Zachary Levine later on:
"I don’t know if he was mad because he gave up a homer (to Carlos Lee in the previous at-bat) or if he was mad because the umpire gave me time," Hall told the Chronicle. "But I’m not going to let him speed-pitch me. Obviously, he threw a pitch in, and I’m not going to let him disrespect me either. He kind of said something that I didn’t like too much. It’s over with.
"He’s definitely a marked man for me now, so when I do some damage off him, I’m going to let him know I did some damage off him. I can guarantee that.
"I don’t feel like I do a lot of things to have pitchers mad at me for doing things on the field. I feel like I play the game the right way. But if you disrespect me, I’m going to do my best to disrespect you back. Obviously not in a way to disrespect the game, but obviously I’m going to let him know when I face him."
Somewhere, Dr. Phil's ears are ringing.
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Bill Who?
Is he the future hall of famer...uh no!— Prausch- @JoPa
What's your point?— PhightinPhil - was that Bill hall? I thought it was a known baseball player. Not a glorified minor leaguer.— unknownblogger
I wonder if a season's supply of binkys come with his contract.
Comment removed.- If it's "over with", then why is he now a "marked man"? You need to work on your trash talk, Bill.— HazmatCorntail
- Bill Hall? Is that Monty Hall's illegitimate son?
Next time Cole, go after his head. That will give him reason to cry.- Comment removed.
- Laugh all you want -- this guy has made over $23,000,000 over the last 8 years. If he makes the Astros this year he's looking at $3,000,000 with an $4,000,000 option for 2012.— JoPal
- Hamels should just ignore him, but the next time he's at bat this spring some other Phillie should stick up for Hamels and drill him.— borncynic
- Reminds me of that time the guy on the Blackhawks went all classless by calling out Chris Pronger. All you can domis laugh at these guys and move on. We know we have the true class on our teams. Not much more to say than that.— NickFromGermantown
- I was at the game and no one even thought that the pitch was really that close. I know that I wasn't the batter, but Hall looked like he really over-reacted to nothing. It was getting interesting to see if the rest of the players were going to have to get involved. I sat near left field and Ibanez really didn't look like he wanted to do anything that might get him hurt during a spring training game.— catnameddomino
- Bill Hall. Bill freakin' Hall. 'Nuff said.— DooDooTrue
- Boo hoo he brushed you back, you're not the first or the last player to get brushed back. That's what you get for repeatedly stepping out of the box. Speed pitcher? Wait til you face Lee.— EarlKeese
- Uh, joepir, Bill Hall is a sure bet to make the 'Stros lineup. Still, he just provided a lot of incentive for not just Hamels, but Halladay, Lee and Oswalt to bear down on him as well. Happy Trails, Bill Hall.
— eman - He's right eman. That is, if Hamels winds up being the #4 starter. If that's the case, he wouldn't pitch against the Astros. Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt would. — Billy The Kid
- That's not true for the entire season. You don't always have your 1-2-3 going in each series. There are five guys in the rotation so any starter can pitch the first game of a series. Baseball 101. — amg
- Chances of Bill Hall facing Cole Hamels is slim & none come April.— joepir
- youre a marked man to us now bill.— mph161
- Bill who?— Rando
- Real tough talk from a carrer .247 hitter playing on a team that will be lucky to win 70 games. LOL Bill Hall.— PhillyinDaChi
