A new pitch

Finally free of Coors, Hampton aims to revive his career

If he lives to be a hardheaded 100 years old -- and the hardheaded part is already a given -- Mike Hampton may never know what happened in Colorado. Other than his career nearly going down the toilet, that is.

Was it him? Was it something with his mechanics, his method, his usually unfailing confidence?

Or was it just Coors Field, the world's biggest batting cage and pitcher-eater?

It doesn't matter now, of course. Hampton, the bulldog left-hander, is out of Colorado, out after two long years in Denver's purgatory for pitchers. A Wall Street-type deal that moved him from the Rockies to the Florida Marlins and, finally, to the Atlanta Braves has given him a new address and, with it, a new lease on his nearly flushed career.

Hampton wants to start fresh. He wants to get back to the form that made him a 22-game winner in 1999 with the Houston Astros, a reliable starter on the New York Mets' 2000 World Series team and a $121 million free agent who wowed Colorado in the first couple of months of 2001.

He wants to forget what happened after his good start in Colorado. But, you know, Hampton is hardheaded. Did we say that already? He is proud. He is super competitive.

Hampton in Click the image to launch the clip Mike Hampton thinks he will find his niche with the Braves regardless of whether or not Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine return. Start Video Plus Visit Video Plus for all the latest video and audio.

No matter what happens in Atlanta, no matter what happens over the rest of his career, Hampton will always wonder what happened in Denver. And he'll always believe that, given just a few more starts, he'd have beaten that Coors Field bugaboo. That's just how Hampton is.

"If I stayed there the whole six years [remaining on his contract]," Hampton said Wednesday, still defiant, still hardheaded, "I would figure it out -- or I'd die trying. I really felt that in my heart."

Hampton walked into a room at Turner Field on Wednesday, pulled a new Braves cap onto his head, crushed the brim so it curled just right and started again. Nobody knows quite what to expect because, really, nobody knows quite what happened up there in the thin air of Coors.

But there are high hopes. Hampton could be the replacement for longtime Braves lefty Tom Glavine if Glavine signs somewhere else. He could be the Braves' new ace, if Glavine and Greg Maddux sign somewhere else.

It is a lot to ask of a guy coming off a 7-15 season with an ERA of 6.15.

But, again, that was Coors. Can anyone win there?

"I'm sure somebody can," said the Braves' general manager and biggest Hampton booster, John Schuerholz. "Maybe some day. Maybe some day."

There are, of course, a good many theories as to what happened in Coors. Hampton has watched hours and hours of videotape trying to settle on one. "I [feel] like that's all I've been doing for a year and a half," he said.

Maybe his cutter didn't cut enough in the rare air of Coors, or maybe his sinker didn't sink enough. Maybe he just threw too hard. Maybe he didn't throw hard enough. Maybe he gave in to the hitters. Maybe it's just some weird Coors jinx.

That, of course, doesn't explain his 3-12 record (with a 6.44 ERA) away from the Rockies' home field.

Whatever, Hampton figures it was none of that.

"Confidence," he said, "might have been the major factor."

After his 9-2 start in 2001, Hampton went 12-26 with a 6.62 ERA in Colorado. He tried everything. The tape watching. Listening to coaches and teammates. Randy Johnson talked to him about overcoming a crisis of confidence. Former reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage did the same.

"It happens to the best of them. I'm not the first," Hampton says.

Even the confidence theory, though, doesn't sound quite right. Hampton has never been short on confidence. The guy reeks of it.

He talks about his confidence cracking and then swears he'd have beaten Coors Field if given the chance. He wonders if he doubted himself, then says there's no doubt in his mind he can get back to his pre-Coors self. He talks of a possible confidence problem then says, "I don't have much of a long-term memory."

Hampton's confidence, his aggressiveness, is one reason Schuerholz has coveted him for so many years. Two years ago, Schuerholz went to Houston to try to woo Hampton to the Braves. It's the only time in Schuerholz's career that he has met with a player in the offseason to try to convince him to sign.

"He's hardheaded, competitive," Schuerholz says. "I've always had great admiration for him."

Hampton will get every chance to prove himself again. Whatever happens to the rest of the rotation, Hampton will have the advantage of working with one of the best pitching coaches in the business, Leo Mazzone. He'll have, if everything goes right, a good bullpen to bail him out. And he won't have to pitch half of his games in Coors Field.

It could bug Hampton for the rest of his career, trying to figure out what happened there. But, luckily for him, he can try to figure it out in a place he can really pitch.

John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.

 

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