In the Footsteps of Maine...

Former Major League pitcher and broadcaster, Steve Busby once said, “Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game. I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood. I think it stirs up incredible emotion within people.” (1974)

Sunshine, summertime and baseball filled the summer of 2000 in Central Maryland like it had all summers past and future. Somewhere near Woodstock, MD, 11 year old Bryan Hamilton was without a doubt playing baseball- honing his skills so that one day he would be a successful pitcher. About an hour south in Bethesda, MD, 19 year old John Maine, who was a rising Sophomore pitcher for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, was playing summer league baseball with the Bethesda Big Train.

That summer Maine started eight games and finished with a record of 4-1 with 1.80ERA. He pitched 51.2 innings, notched 33 strikeouts and gave up 24 walks for the Bethesda Big Train. The next season at Charlotte, John Maine was named the 2001 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year. Following the 2002 season, Maine was selected in the sixth round of the MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles.

Year 2004 brought joy into the lives of both Bryan Hamilton, now 16, and John Maine at 23. As a sophomore at Mount St. Joseph High School, Hamilton and the Gaels won the Maryland Baseball State Championship. That same year on July 23rd, John Maine made his Major League debut with the Baltimore Orioles. Maine was traded to the New York Mets in 2006, while Hamilton was graduating from high school.

Following graduation, Bryan Hamilton chose to play college baseball for the Charlotte 49ers. Hamilton has played for the 49ers in three seasons, and will be a red-shirt senior in 2011 after missing the 2009 season due to injury. Thru his three seasons with Charlotte he is 16-3 with a 3.13 ERA and has recorded 9 saves.

Following the 2010 season with Charlotte, Hamilton played summer league baseball with the Bethesda Big Train, ten years after John Maine had played there. He was dominant in the Cal Ripken Summer League, going 2-1 with 0.00ERA thru 24.1IP with 36 strikeouts and 10 saves.

Bryan Hamilton looks to build upon this success going into the 2011 Charlotte 49ers’ baseball season, as he looks to have similar success to that of John Maine, who has blazed the path that Hamilton appears to be following.

In his Major League career John Maine is 41-36 with 4.35ERA.