Journey To Fenway

San Marcos' David Hamilton plays shortstop for Boston

David Hamilton Sr. and Bessie Hamilton knew their son, David Hamilton Jr., was getting close to his Major League debut. The only problem was that they didn’t know when.

“There was a lot of anticipation and wondering when it would happen,” Bessie Hamilton said. “We knew it was bound to happen and you were crossing your fingers knowing that he had put in all the work.”

But in late June of this year, Hamilton Sr. received the message that his son that the entire family was waiting to hear and had been working towards during Hamilton Jr.’ s entire baseball career.

“We got the news Tuesday night,” Hamilton Sr. said. “He was in a game that Tuesday and they pulled him out in the first inning. I texted him to see if he was OK. I knew either he got called up or he was being traded. It turned out that he was being called up.”

It was an emotional moment for the family all together, as each has helped contribute to David Jr.'s dream of playing Major League baseball.

“That call from him brought tears to my eyes,” Bessie Hamilton said. “There was joy and you were proud. All of the hard work that he put in and all of the time we spent on the road getting him to the majors. It wasn’t just his goal but it was our goal. We are family and we do everything together.

After playing with the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, Hamilton was sent to Minnesota to join the Boston Red Sox during their four-game series with the Twins.

In his major league debut, Hamilton stole second in the top of the eighth inning before scoring a run for the Red Sox.

Since his debut, Hamilton has been a steady presence in the Red Sox lineup, having started and played in 11 games for Boston, becoming the first San Marcos High School graduate to start and play in Major League baseball since Tony Walker in 1986. Walker played for the Houston Astros.

While David has had several challenges leading to his becoming a major leaguer, Hamilton Sr. said he knew his son had the potential to make it.

“That was the goal,” Hamilton Sr. said. “From the beginning, … to get him to the professional level in baseball. I believed he could.”

But the path towards David’s goal was not an easy one.

“It was a lot of sacrifice,” Hamilton Sr. said. “We spent summers away from home. Of course David played both football and baseball. … As far as the extra hours, we were always out hitting and fielding. We did everything we felt we could improve on.”

Because of his goal of becoming a professional baseball player, the younger Hamilton seldom had a normal summer.

“It was tough,” Bessie Hamilton said. “He didn’t have a spring break or a summer. We were always on the road whether it was both us or separate. Vacation is limited for parents, so one of us would take him to one series and the other took him to another series. We were on the road all summer.”

However, the tight and strong bond between the three helped push the family through the tough times.

“We were like the Three Musketeers,” Bessie Hamilton said. “Whether it was David (Jr.) who was sick or being there to comfort him through having bad games, it was always just us. We were always together and did everything together as a family.”

One of the reasons he was able to succeed where other players failed can be attributed to the younger Hamilton’s out of this world work ethic.

“David was the one who would tell me let’s go hit and go to work,” Hamilton Sr. said. “We would go out and do our workout but when we got home, he continued to put in the extra work. His work ethic was more intense than mine. He really wanted to go to the next level. … While most kids were more interested in going to pool parties and things of that nature, he was working trying to obtain his goal.”

But David Jr.’s work ethic wasn’t the only catalyst that drove him–his competitive drive was bar none.

“Competition was always a thing in our family,” Bessie Hamilton said. “Him (David) and his dad (David Sr.) were always competing against each other, as well as him and his cousin. Early on, they would run around the house and outside to see who could beat each other. David even raced our dog, who was a fast dog, around the house. … He wanted to prove that not only was he the best, but that he could compete and had that drive. He never gave up.”

In fact, David Jr.’s aunt Linda Hamilton recalls a story that helped David persevere to become the best when he racing against his older cousin, Robert Hamilton Jr.

“Robert Jr. is a little bit older than David Jr.,” Linda Hamilton said. “After we eat, everyone wants to race. So they are all out there racing, but little David would get all upset that he could beat Robert Jr. despite him being older. At one point David cried to his Dad, saying, 'make him slow down so I could win.' His daddy said, 'Nope, if you want it, go get it.' So every year they would go out there and do the same thing, till one year David ran past Robert. So, he has been running ever since. But that’s what his Dad instilled into him. If there is something that you want, you go out there and get it.”

That competitive spirit remains paramount in the family today, as both David Sr. and David Jr. will still try to beat one another in whatever competition they are in.

“At the end of the day, I am the mediator,” Bessie Hamilton said. “I'm just trying to be supportive and be the mediator between these two competitive males in the household.”

And also, at the end of the day, everyone is proud of David Jr.”

“You just want the best from your child,” Bessie Hamilton said. “Whether it is going to college, getting a master's or a Ph.D, everyone has a different set of goals for their family. This just so happens to be one of ours.”

This is the first in a series of stories that examine the career of David Hamilton Jr.