Cinicinnati Reds minor leaguer Billy Hamilton swipes 100th base

Billy Hamilton (Mark Duncan, AP Images)

Cincinnati Reds minor-leaguer Billy Hamilton stole his 100th base of the season on Monday night. Hamilton plays shortstop for the Class A Bakersfield Blaze. The staggering thing about his 100 steals is he has accomplished that feat in just 78 games. He’s been caught stealing 21 times.

Last year, Hamilton became the first minor league player to swipe 100 bases in a season since 2001. He finished with 103 steals in 135 games.

Hamilton had once committed to play college football for Dan Mullen at Mississippi State. However, when he was drafted in 2009 he opted to go with baseball.

On June 20th 2012, Hamilton was robbed at gunpoint in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He responded to that by being named MVP of the California-Carolina League All-Star Game that was played just hours later.

Hamilton entered Monday’s game hitting .327 with 1 homer, 17 doubles and nine triples.