CLEARWATER, Fla.You never know how things will be interpreted. Misplaced words and lazy remarks can sink you. Staying on message is important. It is, after all, campaign season -- both for the politicians, and for at least one pitcher.
Cole Hamels talked to the media at Bright House Field on Monday. It was the first time hes spoken to reporters since avoiding arbitration and signing a one-year deal worth 15 million during the off-season. The queries -- about his impending free agency following this season, about the years and money hes seeking on the next contract he signs, about wanting to stay in Philly versus possibly moving on -- were easy to anticipate.
And yet there was a time when Hamels might have botched the answers even if he knew the questions in advance. In the past, he might have stumbled his way through a clumsy comment -- like he did during the Fall Classic against the Yankees, when he said he couldnt "wait for it to end" and longed for a "fresh start."
But this Cole Hamels is not that Cole Hamels -- not as a pitcher, and not as a person.
"I probably said a few things too quick," Hamels admitted. "I probably didnt look at the bigger broader picture before I said things ... Ive learned."
And so he has. No matter how many different questions were asked about free agency, Hamels didnt trip into the traps. Because to talk about free agency, to discuss being courted and wooed and potentially wowed financially by another team in another town, would be to invite controversy.
It would make some fans angry. It would provide fodder for columnists and talk shows. It would make people think hes arrested by the same affliction that continues to addle someone like LeBron James, a guy who somehow didnt understand that discussing a return to Cleveland -- barely a year after leaving Cleveland, and while still playing in Miami - would be a big mistake.
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Instead, Hamels stuck to his talking points about staying focused and staying healthy, about loving the organization and the city, and, above all, about wanting to win the World Series. He said he doesnt want to become a distraction. He said he wont set a negotiating deadline. He said he wants to stay in Philly. He said all the right things.
Every year the Phillies do a great job keeping the guys they draft and keeping the guys they like, Hamels said. I just hope Im one of the guys they like.
It is hard not to like this Hamels. Its hard to imagine the Phillies letting this version walk away -- the mature version, not to mention the version that had arguably his best season a year ago when he went 14-9 with a 2.79 ERA and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting.
He is 28 years old and, if you believe his agent, a long-term contract for a lefthander of his caliber starts around 20 million per year. Thats a steep price, but its also a price the Phillies should pay sooner rather than later, and certainly before Hamels becomes a free agent.
He is worth the money because of his stuff and his production and also because thats what the market will yield, whether the Phillies are the franchise to write the oversized novelty check with all the zeros on it or not. But he is also worth the loot if only to protect the organizations investment. They drafted him and developed him, helped him grow from a prospect to a top-tier pitcher. Besides, Hamels fits here now -- not just with the Phillies, but with Philadelphia.
Hes matured, Charlie Manuel said. But not only that, Cole loves to pitch. Ive never questioned Cole Hamels.
Maybe Manuel never doubted him, but others did. Maybe you were one of the people who criticized Hamels. Maybe you recognized his ability on the mound even as you questioned his personality off it. Maybe you gave him heat for being from California. Or for the way he speaks. Or for carrying his dog in a backpack. Or for any of the other things people mentioned when calling him soft or implying hes not Phillys kind of guy.
Except, when you consider how he pitched last year, you realize how absurd it is to think that way about him -- especially since, right after the season ended, he had two surgeries, one for a hernia and the other to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow that Hamels said were about the size of Tic-Tacs. He had those procedures done on the same day -- a two-for-one, as Hamels put it. Just four weeks later, he was working out and throwing again.
That alone ought to endear him to the fans that have been reluctant to give him the credit hes earned.
Being in the big leagues, having early success, having the down yearsthey get on you, they do. But theyre honest, Hamels said. Some people dont want to be honest with themselves. They keep motivating you to be better. You know you have a great fan base when they want you to succeed really bad. And when you dont, theyre kind of pushing your behind like keep going, keep going. Thats sort of the way Ive always viewed Philly. Its the best city in the world when you win. And even when you dont win, theyre still looking forward to that next year and hoping that youll be better and that youre going to be that winner.
Hamels was right. Hes learned. What a shame it would be if he didnt stick around now that hes finally figured it out.
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com