Morehead State University - Raconteur Yearbook (Morehead, KY)

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The 'Folly Floater ' Lands in Morehead Story By: Karen Craigo teve Hamilton, Director of Ath- letics at MSU, had two dreams as a youngster growing up in Charleston, Indiana. One was to play basketball in Madison Square Gar- den and the other was to play baseball in Yankee Stadium. Un- like most people, young Hamil- ton made both of his dreams come true through hard work and perseverance. Baseball was Hamiltonis sec- ond sport in college. He came to MSU in 1954 from Purdue Uni- versity on a basketball scholar- ship; and during his four-year career he established some long-standing records. Under Coach Bobby Laughlin, he set the school records for most re- bounds in a game, t38l, most re- bounds in a season, t543l, and most rebounds in a four-year ca- reer, 06751 Thirty years later he can still boast of the best re- bounding average in a season, at 20.1 per game, and 0f the best career rebounding average, at 16.4 per game. Hamilton also holds a fourth-place career scor- ing total at MSU of1829 points. Hamilton played baseball un- der Coach Sonny Allen, who is still his close friend and advisor. He began pitching his sopho- more year. The young man, who was elected most popular stu- dent and student council presi- dent, probably did not realize that he would end up playing as a reliefpitcher for 11 seasons in the major leagues. In 1958 Hamilton was se- lected as the second-round draft Choice for the Lakers basketball team, whose home was then Minneapolis. He played two seasons with the Lakers, and even participated in the championship finals against the Boston Celtics. A knee injury forced Hamilton out of basketball after two years, but he could not be kept away from sports. In 1961 he was picked up by the Cleveland Indians baseball team. He joined the Washing- ton Senators in ,62 and then was traded to the New York Yankees. There he Features 66 played with such prominent sports fig- ures as Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. iiMickey Mantle was undoubtedly the greatest athlete I have ever played said Hamilton. iiHis impact on his Xvi? Kvni' HQ Ring. with, f3 teammates, the crowds and the sport ite selfwas absolutely phenomenal. Hamilton has made a great impact on sports himself. Out of eight players to play both professional baseball and bas- ketball, only Hamilton and Gene Conley have played in championships for both sports. Perhaps the thing baseball fans re- member most about Hamilton is his fa- mous Folly Floater,, pitch. He refers to this pitch as being primarily a crowd Photos By: Kevin L. Goldy pleaser and not a baseball tactic. l II wondered what would happen if Il threw the slowest pitch I possiblyl could, said Hamilton about the Floater. It was about 17 to 20 feet high and only traveled at about 1 5 miles pe hour. I guess you could com- pare it to throwing an egg! Hamilton only threw his fa mous pitch to veterans of the sport, never to rookies. Hi wife, who holds an Englis degree, came up with th. name; iiFolly,i because i looked like a mistake ano iiFloater because of the mo- tion it made while travelin through the air. Hamilton pitched in tw World Series games with th Yankees in 1963 and 1964. HI achieved both of m dreams? Hamilton reflected iiYankee Stadium was ever bit as majestic as I had pic tured it. Even now when I g back for old-timers, games i get a real thrill thinking abou how the great Babe But once played there? Hamilton found his othe , dream, Madison Square Gar den, disappointing. uI remember that th locker rooms were a mess! couldnit even keep my shoe Clean. Dribbling was eve diflicult, because the 1100 W had dead spots in itfi he said. Vlj In 1971 Hamilton wa 3 traded to the San Francisco iii Giants. During his time in th i g; National League, umpires re r t 4 fused to call the Floater . strike. He spent his final season, in 1972 with the Chicago Cubs, then retired. H had a career earned-run average of3.05 and had appeared in 421 games, in al but 1 7 as a reliefpitcher. In 1'3 he managed the Yankees far team, then sold insurance for a year. H became the Detroit Tigers, pitchin coach in ,75, then returned to Morehea to take over for retiring baseball coac Sonny Allen. Coach Allen built an excellent pro

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Space parking tickets. A fine of such proportions may prevent a student from registering the following semester. Even though students continue to blame safety and security officers for ticketing their car, for now there is no better way of controlling the problem. - By: Tina Hamm WELCOME TO MSU! I HOPE YOU ENJOY Vow! 911W BurREMEMBER-m 'zr You PARKWOU PAW Artwork by: Jerry Miller, Senior Studio Art major from Raccoon, KY 65

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gram here and left it in great shape, said Hamilton. til just had to walk in and take over. He left good talent. Hamilton has led the Eagles through five division championships, two OVC titles, two NCAA appearances and has . been voted OVC league, Coach of the Year, four times. This year Hamilton took over the posi- tion of athletic director. He has many plans for the athletic department; most importantly, he plans to raise more prie vate money to support the teams. AC- Cording to Hamilton, last year $60,000 was raised by all the University sports. He hopes to elevate that figure to about $200,000 a year by selling advertise- ments, holding sports camps, and host- ing tournaments. Topping the list of HamiltOIfs priori- ties for the athletic department is the simple desire to turn out students that this school can be proud of. iiI will not feel like a success ifwe turn out graduates that are not good sports- men and citizens, he said. live done a lot of things and now I have no more burning goals. Ijust want to make each year a good one for MSU. . Four time OVC Coach of the Year, Steve Hamilton, has taken his winning past to the job of Athletic Director ofMSU. Steve Hamilton 67