After nearly 10 years in the minor leagues, Tim Hamulack made it to The Show last year with the New York Mets.
“I just needed the opportunity. I knew that,” said Hamulack, 29, a 1995 graduate of Edgewood High School in Harford County.He had an ERA of 23.14 in six games, which covered just two innings with the Mets.
He played in the minor leagues with the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox before he joined the Mets.
But this season, after being traded across the country, the left-handed reliever did not allow an earned run in his first six appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his first eight games this season, through Sunday, he was 0-1 with an ERA of 1.35. In 6.2 innings he allowed six hits with five walks and eight strikeouts.
“He deserves to be there” in the majors, said David Pasti, his Rockville-based agent.
Hamulack?s career took a turn for the better following surgery in October 2004 in Arlington, Va. He had bone spurs in his left elbow.
“It was hurting for, like, six years,” he said. But Hamulack came back and pitched in 2005. And he pitched well, especially in the minors.
The former Montgomery College-Rockville pitcher had a nifty ERA of 1.02 last season with a record of 3-1 in 28 games for the Class AAA Norfolk Tides, the top farm club of the Mets. He was also 2-2 with an ERA of 1.26 in 21 games for the Class AA Binghamton Mets in the Eastern League.
Hamulack throws a fastball that tops out around 94 miles per hour. He also throws a slider and split finger fastball, and uses the slider as his out pitch when he is called in to face left-handed batters.
The Dodgers? manager is Grady Little, whose long career included a stop as the manager of a minor league team in Hagerstown in the early 1980s.
“He is a really good manager. He is the only manager (whom Hamulack has played for) who comes up and talks to you, and asks you how you are doing,” Hamulack said. “He likes to tell jokes.”
THE HAMULACK FILE
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Position: Pitcher
High school: Edgewood
College: Montgomery-Rockville
Did you know? The Dodgers play a series in Washington May 28-30 … Hamulack had some family members make the trip to Philadelphia earlier this season … Dodgers? scout Ron Rizzi of Joppa gave input in the trade that brought Hamulack to the Dodgers, from the Mets … Hamulack found an apartment April 20 that is about 25 minutes from Dodgers? Stadium. He had been living in a hotel while the team was at home … Hamulack was drafted in the 32nd round in 1995 by the Houston Astros.
