December 16, 2023
Cole Hamels called it a career in August and this June the Phillies will bring him back to town for one last celebration.
The club has added a "Cole Hamels Retirement Night" for June 21 against the Diamondbacks to its 2024 promotional schedule, as first spotted by Phillies Nation, which will also coincide with a giveaway of replica 2009 NL champions rings to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Phils' run to a second straight pennant.
Hamels, the organization's first-round pick in the 2002 draft, was a fully homegrown prospect who made his way up to the big-league club in 2006. The lefty quickly established himself as the Phils' next ace and, more importantly, a key part of the core that would go on to see them through their most successful era as a franchise.
In 2007, his pitching helped put the Phils over the top in a down-to-the-wire race with the rival Mets for the NL East title, snapping an at-the-time 14-year postseason drought.
Four more division titles and back-to-back NL pennants followed from there, but at the very height of it all: The 2008 World Series championship, only the franchise's second ever, with Hamels there to take World Series MVP honors after a stellar postseason run, and with an impact that still echoes through the city to this day.
Hamels spent 10 years in Philadelphia in total, posting an overall record of 114-90 with a 3.30 ERA and 1,844 strikeouts. He was dealt to the Texas Rangers during the 2015 trade deadline, well after the Phillies' window of contention had closed – though not before throwing a no-hitter on his way out – and pitched five more seasons with the Rangers, Cubs, then Braves, but on a decline as he entered his mid-late 30s.
Last season, after not having pitched in the majors for more than two years, Hamels tried to give it one more go with the San Diego Padres on a minor-league deal, but his playing days had ultimately reached the end of the line.
During the Phillies' 2022 miracle run to the NL pennant, Hamels returned to South Philadelphia for the ride along with many other members of the 2008 World Series and 2009 NL pennant teams – a group that included everyone from Ryan Howard to Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Matt Stairs, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and of course, Charlie Manuel.
That 2022 run was stopped just shy of the finish line, and then 2023 stopped a couple more steps short in the NLCS.
The Phillies are hoping 2024 will finally be the year they see it all the way through again.
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