The legend of Billy Hamilton is growing every day.
The Reds prospect is already turning heads at the minor league level because of his blazing speed and ridiculous amount of stolen bases. Now, he’s adding to the stories with his reasoning.
“It’s the Dew,” Hamilton said, according to Yahoo! Sports.
That’s right. Hamilton, who has 104 stolen bases already this season for Class-A Bakersfield, credits Mountain Dew for his incredible ability to swipe bags.
“There’s something about Mountain Dew that gets me amped up,” Hamilton reportedly said. “I feel like if I drink Mountain Dew, everything in my body gets ready to go. It helps me steal bases. Even the coaches will bring it to me.”
Mountain Dew isn’t exactly the drink most synonymous with athletes, but given Hamilton’s unprecedented skill set, maybe it should be. The Cincinnati farmhand looks poised to break Vince Coleman‘s organized baseball single-season stolen base record, which stands at 145, and is seen as perhaps the fastest player ever.
“There may not be a player with a tool commensurate to Hamilton’s speed -– not Bryce Harper‘s power, not Rick Ankiel‘s arm, not Brendan Ryan‘s glove, not Justin Verlander‘s fastball, not even Mariano Rivera‘s cutter,” Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan wrote on Monday.
If that’s the case, it’d be wise for Hamilton to keep doing the Dew, no matter how unconventional it may be.
Check out Hamilton’s blazing speed in the video below.
