thumb|right|Darryl Hamilton, Nicholls Colonels

Darryl Quinn Hamilton (December 3, 1964 – June 21, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1988 and 2001 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets. Hamilton prepped at Louisiana State University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge and then attended Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

Baseball career

Milwaukee Brewers

Hamilton was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft and signed a contract with them on June 12, 1986. In 1987 with the Stockton Ports of the Class A California League, he hit .328 in 125 games with eight homers and 61 RBI, He began 1988 with the Denver Zephyrs of the Class AAA American Association, where he hit .325 in 72 games. He hit his first home run off Bret Saberhagen of the Kansas City Royals on July 19, 1988. In 44 games with the Brewers during the second half of the 1988 season, Hamilton hit .184. Hamilton avoided injury but spent the entire 1989 season back in the minors with the Zephyrs, where he hit .286 in 129 games. and the "Good Guy Award" in 1991 when he hit .311 in 122 games

Hamilton stole 41 bases for the Brewers in 1992, while hitting .298 in 128 games.

In a game on August 28, 1992, at SkyDome, in Toronto, before a crowd of 50,408, the Brewers set an AL record by recording 31 hits in a single game in a 22–2 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays. Hamilton had four hits and five RBI in that game.

When long-time Brewer star Paul Molitor left via free agency before the 1993 season, Hamilton became more important to the Brewers offense. He had some more injuries this season, but Hamilton still led his team in batting average (.310), hits (161), singles (130) and stolen bases (21) and was awarded with the team's "Harvey Kuenn Award."

The Brewers decision to move Hamilton from right field into center field for the 1994 season contributed to Hall of Famer Robin Yount's decision to retire after the 1993 season.

In 1994, Hamilton played in only 36 games (hitting .262) Despite missing most of the season, the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association voted him the recipient of the "Michael Harrison Award" for community service. Hamilton was also one of the Brewers player representatives during the leadup to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.

In his final season as a member of the Brewers, in 1995, Hamilton played in 112 games and hit .271 with 11 stolen bases. In his seven seasons with the team, he had an overall .290 batting average in 666 games and hit 23 home runs, drove in 253 RBI and stole 109 bases.

Texas Rangers

Hamilton signed with the Texas Rangers on a one-year, $1.3 million, contract on December 14, 1995, for the 1996 season. Hamilton played in a career best 148 games with the Rangers and was their regular starting center fielder. He hit .293 with six homers and 51 RBI and also stole 15 bases. In the 1996 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Hamilton had three hits in 19 at-bats as the Rangers dropped the series three games to one.

San Francisco Giants

Hamilton signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on January 10, 1997. On June 12, he got the first hit in the first-ever regular-season interleague game, when the Giants defeated the Rangers 4–3. In 125 games, Hamilton had a .270 batting average, five homers, 43 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He followed that up by playing in 97 games for the Giants in 1998 and hitting .294. In 51 games he hit .335. He played with the Mets through the 2001 season. In his three seasons with them he played in 150 games and hit .283. Once in, they defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1999 National League Division Series before losing to the Atlanta Braves in six games in the National League Championship Series. Hamilton had six hits in 17 at-bats in that series.

In 2000, the Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants in four games in the 2000 National League Division Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the 2000 National League Championship Series. Hamilton was a part-time player in the series, with only five at-bats in the division series and two in the championship series. Hamilton was disappointed with his playing time during the playoffs and had a meeting with manager Bobby Valentine during spring training the following year to discuss his reduced playing time. Things did not improve for him and he asked for his release at the end of June, and it was granted on July 11, 2001. In 2013, he joined the MLB Network as an on-air analyst. In 2014, Hamilton served as a part-time color analyst on Brewers radio broadcasts, rotating with Craig Counsell and Jerry Augustine to call games with Joe Block when primary announcer Bob Uecker was absent.

Personal life

Hamilton was married in 1994 to Access Hollywood anchor Shaun Robinson; they later divorced. Hamilton married fashion model Ursaline Steinke in 2000, with whom he had two sons, Donovan and Julian.

At the time of his death, Hamilton was living in an affluent neighborhood in suburban Houston, Texas, in a house belonging to his girlfriend, Monica Jordan. Jordan, a graduate of Florida State University and University of Houston Law Center, was an attorney who had been employed by Enron and Halliburton. The couple had a son together in 2014.

Death

Around 4:45 p.m. on June 21, 2015, Hamilton, 50, and his ex-girlfriend, Monica Jordan, 44, were found dead in their Pearland, Texas, house, in what appeared to be a murder–suicide. Investigators said it appeared Hamilton had been shot more than once and Jordan died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hamilton and Jordan's 14 month-old child was found alive by police in the home and taken into the custody of Texas Child Protective Services.

Hamilton's remains are interred in Southern Memorial Gardens in Baton Rouge.

References

  • The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English.
  • Darryl Hamilton at Baseball Library