Carl Hamilton is known as the Father of Video Coaching in Major League Baseball. He started with the Texas Rangers back in 1979. Prior to his long tenure in baseball, Carl was associated with law enforcement. He was a police officer, criminal investigator and worked in the security camera industry.

One day, Carl made a sales call to the Rangers, and they were really curious about his background and asked a lot of questions. They asked him if they wanted to help out, and of course, he said yes. Each year, they wanted more, and of course he would say “yes – even if he didn’t know how to use the technology”.

When Carl first started, there weren’t that many games that were being televised. So, one of his biggest tasks was to help run the scoreboard. They had this HUGE sony beta deck where they recorded the games if they were televised. They also had two buttons: one that would play the “lone ranger” song, another for the National anthem. Of course they would screw up and press the wrong button. The VCR was so heavy that 2 people had to hold it. After the game they would take the VCR down to the club house and play for the players.

Each year, the Rangers had the goal of improving their operations. During Carl’s 4th year, they had purchased 2 VCR’s and 2 TV’s. Carl actually came up with the idea of side by side comparison.

When Bobby Valentine became manager, he hired Tom House. Tom really started using video for the mechanics of pitchers. They would use high shutter cameras, and digitize swings and pitchers, and then come up with a 3 dimensional stick figure.

Carl Hamilton’s last year with the Rangers was Nolan Ryan’s first year. Nolan Ryan used video and prepared for his opponents by watching they face a pitcher that had a good curve ball.

Carl spent 10 years with the Rangers, and then heard that the Mariners were looking for a video guy. It was a huge decision moving from Arlington to Seattle. He started with the Mariners in 1990. The Kingdom had a very small video room. It had no ceiling and was nestled between the laundry and the weight room. The sounds from the dryers were terrible. Currently at Safeco, Carl has one of the nicest facilities in baseball.

Carl noted that some of the best players in Seattle history have been avid users of video. Edgar Martinez would watch every at bat, Alex Rodriguez would spend 2 hours a day, and Ichiro relies on video.

Carl Hamilton has always been committed to advancing the trade of video coaching. He went to the enhanced performance center in West Point. There, they use video prepare their troops for a war. They can duplicate the actual city, block etc to recreate the atmosphere.

Over the years, Carl has accumulated some stories traveling during the Major League Baseball season. Two different planes have caught on fire. One time in Boston during the late 90’s, they were going through the tunnel, and their bus caught on fire. Everybody had to be rescued. Dan Wilson saved one bus driver’s life by dragging him to different bus.

Favorites:

o Road City: San Diego, Chicago
o Hotel: Westin St. Francis, San Francisco
o Club House: Hard choice: Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Anaheim, Boston