Hamels Still Trying to Break Vicious Cycle

PHILADELPHIA -- Cole Hamels is the victim of his own success, in more ways than one.

As the Phillies lefty prepared to start Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees, he was asked repeatedly what happened to the guy who was so dominant last October, when he was named MVP in the National League Championship Series and the World Series.

Hamels not only has had to deal with the emotional pressure that comes with the high standard he set, but pitching so deep into last year's postseason affected his physical preparation for this season, and he still hasn't recovered.

"You get into the offseason and you don't know what to do," Hamels said. "Should I throw? Should I take time off? And it kind of throws you off from your normal schedule of whatever your throwing program is because you played an extra month...You don't know how to treat it. Sometimes you might do a little too much, and cause some soreness, or you might do too little, which will in turn cause some soreness."

Pitchers who won the World Series MVP and pitched in the World Series the next year:
Pitcher	Performance
Don Larsen, '57 Yankees	1-1, 3.72 ERA
Lew Burdette, '58 Braves	1-2, 5.64 ERA
Whitey Ford, '62 Yankees	1-1, 4.12 ERA
Ralph Terry, '63 Yankees	0-0, 3.00 ERA
Sandy Koufax, '66 Dodgers	0-1, 1.50 ERA
Bob Gibson, '68 Cardinals	2-1, 1.67 ERA
Dave Stewart, '90 A's	0-2, 3.46 ERA
Jack Morris, '92 Blue Jays	0-2, 8.44 ERA
Tom Glavine, '96 Braves	0-1, 1.29 ERA
Mariano Rivera, '00 Yankees	2 saves, 3.00 ERA

Hamels was 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 2008, and he topped that off by going 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in the postseason, taking home the two MVP awards and winning a World Series ring. In the winter, he found himself doing more appearances, signing more autographs, and throwing less often.

"Your popularity changes, opportunities come, you take them and you learn," Hamels said.

The result of Hamels' altered offseason was that he got hurt in spring training, and that set him back as he began the season. He was awful in April. Although he did get better for parts of the season, he spent much of the year chasing what he did last season. He finished 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA.

The disappointing numbers contributed to the emotional difficulty of dealing with failure.

"He gets frustrated a lot easier than he used to," pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "Over the course of the last couple years being long years innings-wise for him, he just tries to overthrow and he's lost command at big moments during the course of the game."

Hamels' performance this October -- a 6.75 ERA in three starts, none as long as six innings -- has demonstrated what Dubee said is his trouble getting himself under control. Hamels has pitched OK for parts of games, but he's inevitably hit a big inning.

"You try to remind him to back off," Dubee said, "Command is more important than velocity."

Hamels said he's felt the expectation to be "perfect" and he's had to work to keep himself from putting those unrealistic demands on himself.

"What I was able to do last year, everybody thinks I should go out there and pitch eight-inning shutouts every game, and that's a hard thing to do," Hamels said. "But you know, it's just kind of taking the pressure off. If you never go through a situation, how do you know what to do? I think that's what I've learned this year is how to deal with it."

Hamels said Jamie Moyer has been talking to him about how to keep poise on the mound when things are going wrong. Moyer, an expert at getting results out of unspectacular stuff, said he's talked to Hamels about slowing down and thinking about "one pitch."

"You are always one pitch away" from getting out it, Moyer said. "Just try to focus on what you can control, that one pitch."

There are some actual pitching issues that Hamels has had to address. He said that he's learned that hitters are now looking for his devastating changeup when he's ahead in the count. A changeup, even a good one, is worthless if the hitter knows it's coming. Others who have watched him also say that his curveball needs to become a more effective weapon.

Hamels, who is normally very good against lefties, has had trouble with them in the postseason; they are 9-for-15 (.600) against him, with three homers. He gave up homers to James Loney and Andre Ethier of the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS, the first time in his career he had allowed homers to two different lefties in one game.

"I'm able to throw the chaneup to both sides of the plate, but the changeup is not as successful against lefties because it comes back to their barrel, so you really have to be more precise," Hamels said. "I can't miss with the fastball. That's what they were hitting. I was missing my fastball over the plate. I was not hitting the corners. I have to hit the outside corner or inside corner."

All of that comes back to a lack of command, which comes from overthrowing, which comes from feeling the pressure of expectations.

A vicious cycle.

"He still has great stuff," Amaro said. "He just hasn't been sharp. If he can get it to the point where he gets his command together, he can be every bit as effective (as last year)."