Left-handed pitcher Mike Hampton seemed to always be there in the late 1990s to keep the home runs hitters of the era tamed. A lengthy career which included missing the entire 2006 and 2007 seasons due to an injury, these are five statistical facts you should know about him.
1999 Season
Let’s start with the best season Hampton had, the 1999 season with the Houston Astros. That year Hampton was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA. He pitched in 239 innings and allowed only 12 home runs. Hampton also had 2 shutouts and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Randy Johnson who happened to have 12 complete games.
Home Runs Allowed
Hampton allowed 200 home runs in his career, however, there is one important thing to note about the home runs he allowed. If not for the 2001 and 2002 seasons where he pitched for the Colorado Rockies, there was not a single season where Hampton allowed more than 18 home runs. In 2001 he allowed 31 and in 2002 he allowed 24. Based on how he pitched everywhere else, I definitely blame Coors Field.
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From 1999-2003 Hampton won every Silver Slugger Award that he could. A career .246 hitter, Hampton hit .283 during these five seasons. Eliminating the 2003 season, his batting average was .303. As you may guess his two best offensive seasons came as a member of the Rockies. In 2001 he hit .291 with 7 home runs and 16 RBIs. In 2002 he only hit 3 home runs with 5 RBIs, but did have a .344 batting average.
Postseason Pitching
Hampton’s time pitching in the postseason was a bit varied. He finished his career with a 2-4 postseason record and a 3.74 ERA. His 2 wins came in the 2000 NLCS with the New York Mets as they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on their way to the World Series. Hampton didn’t allow a single run in 16 innings during the series and even pitched a shutout. Without a doubt he earned the NLCS MVP Award.
Surprisingly High WHIP
A career 4.06 ERA and a pretty good overall record of 148-115, you might suspect his career WHIP was a lot better than it actually was. Hampton’s career WHIP is only 1.44. In the great 1999 season it was actually 1.28. Hampton walked a lot of batters, gave up even more hits, and managed get out of trouble because hitting a home run off of him was never an easy task.
