Sprint Race - Who You Got Usain Bolt Or Cincinnati Reds Prospect Billy Hamilton?

I don't know about this one, but I saw Hamilton play several times last year and he is just silly fast. He's been clocked at about 6.5 seconds for the 60-yd dash but that is done on grass in baseball spikes. Just the same, that 13.8 is running on dirt and pretty much taking a 90-degree turn every 90 feet so who knows what he would run in a straight line on a track.

Around the bases it would be Hamilton as he knows the technique, on the track it's Bolt, of course.

10.4 in a 100. He's small so its easier to change direction.

Remember that cleats aren't the best racing flats, dirt isn't the fastest surface, and having to adjust your stride to ensure touching the bases adds time as well. And if you assume that players basically run more or less in the shape of a circle from first base on (likely to be true of faster guys), then the distance covered is roughly 90' plus 3/4 of the circumference of a circle with a diameter of the square root of (90^2 + 90^2), or or 127.3, so 90' + 3/4 of (3.1416)*(127.3), or 390 feet. And no starting blocks and an awkward position in which to start a sprint. I'll assume he's right-handed.

So, perhaps an extra 30'. But I don't think it's possible to draw a read on how 13.8 around the diamond translates into 100m speed. I think it's safe to say that anyone who steals that many bases is fast as hell for a baseball player, probably in the 10.3 to 10.5 range on the track with a little practice.

Ah, he's a switch-hitter.

About 1:38 into this video, Hamilton hits an infield single:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg0vq98vWe8

Then he steals second base on a pitchout two minutes later.

His acceleration is something else.

I played 6 seasons in the minors...ran 13.1 around the bases and my best 100m was 11.29. Ran the 60 in 6.56, 40y in 4.56. So, Hamilton's time is soft. He can go faster...may not have been trying.

wow another guy from another sport who says he can beat bolt, chris johnson (johnson actually was a state high school champion in a strong sprint state, florida, but his personal best are about 1 second slower in the 100 and 2 seconds slower in the 200 than bolt) of the NFL, rondo of the NBA, some australian rugby player, yet none of these guys have ever come near getting the olympic B standard.

i wish instead of running their mouths to the press, these guys would enter some all comers meet and see if they can even beat the local high school and college sprinters.

people should stop challenging bolt when they have no credentials, these guys may as well challenge phelps to a swimming race, the klitcko's brothers to a boxing match.

Did he say he could beat Bolt on the track? I haven't read the article.I absolutely believe Hamilton could beat Bolt him around the bases. I'm not even convinced it would be close.But a 100m on the track wouldn't be close either.

douglas burke wrote:

wow another guy from another sport who says he can beat bolt, chris johnson (johnson actually was a state high school champion in a strong sprint state, florida, but his personal best are about 1 second slower in the 100 and 2 seconds slower in the 200 than bolt) of the NFL, rondo of the NBA, some australian rugby player, yet none of these guys have ever come near getting the olympic B standard.

i wish instead of running their mouths to the press, these guys would enter some all comers meet and see if they can even beat the local high school and college sprinters.

people should stop challenging bolt when they have no credentials, these guys may as well challenge phelps to a swimming race, the klitcko's brothers to a boxing match.

douglas burke wrote:

johnson actually was a state high school champion in a strong sprint state

Almost, but he wasn't champ:

He came in second to Dix in the 100 and 200, with Dix running 10.38 to Johnson's 10.66; and 20.62 to Johnson's 21.30. Basically Dix destroyed him. Granted Walter Dix is an Olympic medalist, so there is no shame in that...but then again Bolt destroys Dix whenever they race, so how would Johnson fare against Bolt?

Johnson's best time his senior year was 10.50, which put him tied for 16th in the nation for wind-legal times. That is outstanding of course, but it is no guarantee he would have qualified for the Olympics someday.

You know who tends to make the Olympics (or is at least more likely)? Guys who have a top 3 time in the country. For 2004 that included Walter Dix, LaShawn Merritt, Galen Rupp, and Jason Richardson. Special mention to Jacob Hernandez, Josh McDougal, and Xavier Carter for their NCAA championships, and especially Carter's 19.63 in the 200, which is an Olympic-medal caliber time.

But if we're looking at all the 16th-caliber performers that year, how many of these guys went on to track and field stardom? I'll use 15th, 16th, and 17th place since I need to use 3 people if it will be a fair comparison to the people listed above.

100 meters - Derrick Jones, Marcus Pugh, Chris Johnson

200 meters - Ivory Williams, Otis McDaniel, Wopamo Osaisai

400 meters - Eddie Beckwith, Justin Harrison, Imani Butler

800 meters - Rob Novak, Michael Haddan, Keith Hinnant

1500-1600-1 mile - Evan Garber, Jake Morse, Alex Dunn (approximately 15th, 16th, 17th, it's hard to combine these 3 lists on the fly)

3k-3200-2 mile - Evan Garber, Ahmed Haji, David Kinsella (again, approximately)

I recognize a few of the names but compared to the list above these are nobodies, and I don't believe any of them have NCAA championships or Olympic/Worlds teams?

Anyway, my point is the Johnson was very good but not great, and there is no guarantee he would have made the leap to be the next great American sprinter who might challenge Bolt. Even Walter Dix, the guy who used to beat the pants off Johnson and went on to continue to develop at the NCAA and world levels, does not truly challenge Bolt.

Johnson should try and run as fast as the fastest woman (10.4) before he even mentions Bolt's name.

Andres Torres, former SF Giants outfielder, ran a 10.37 100m in HS. If there are guys in MLB with faster PRs I don't know who, though Torres is 34 now so he's not as fast as he used to be.

The turns take up a lot of time - even on 200 meter dash, the very gentle turn add a half second - you can look it up. Three sharp turns might Add 2 or 3 sec plus additional distance / the only way to know is to put him on a track

Johnson was a state champ in rhe 4x100 relay which was one of the best in the nation. Olympia HS