FL New York Boulders

New Boulder on the Block: Andy Hammond

July 8, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
New York Boulders News Release


Andy Hammond's journey to becoming a New York Boulder was a long one--literally.

"When we finished up our college season, I thought, let me just go to a tryout, see if I can get picked up," Hammond said. "Within two days, I drove from Alabama to here, 14-hour drive and we were back at it. Another opportunity to play the game."

Some might say that Hammond's baseball destiny was put into motion before he was even born. His father, Chris, played parts of 14 seasons in the Major Leagues for seven different franchises. He even pitched two innings in the 2003 World Series for the New York Yankees against the Florida Marlins. Andy's uncle, Steve, had a cup of coffee for the Kansas City Royals in 1982 while his other uncle, Greg, played for four seasons in the Cincinnati Reds' minor league system.

"What's cool about my dad is he's going to allow me to play whatever I want to play and do whatever I want to do, but he's going to support me," Hammond said. "He gave us the option to play whatever sport. I played baseball and basketball, when we lived in California, I played soccer, but I truly narrowed it down in my senior year. I decided I'm going to play baseball."

After graduating from Oxford High School in Alabama, Hammond made the trip about an hour west to Division III Birmingham-Southern College. He was consistently one of the best pitchers on the team in his time there, starting at least eight games in every full season. As a junior in 2019, he helped the Panthers reach the Division III College World Series for the first time in program history, and even picked up the save by pitching three innings in their opening game victory over Heidelberg.

"The experience was like no other, especially being the first team to go to the World Series out of Birmingham-Southern," Hammond said. "That was truly special. I got a save, the first College World Series save from the school. All the different things like that, it was a dream come true."

For Hammond, being so close to the game for so long, it's hard to imagine a life outside of it.

"If I wasn't a baseball player, I would probably do something in coaching," he said. "I wouldn't mind being a coach. I think that's my secondary job once this ends - I'd love to be a baseball coach whether it's being a pitching coach or an assistant coach."

He credits the enthusiasm of the next generation as his inspiration.

"The game is awesome, especially being able to see the excitement from kids or professionals when you do succeed is awesome," Hammond said.

Although he modeled himself after his father as a pitcher, he differs in terms of his preferred pitch.

"My favorite pitch right now is my slider," he said. "I used to be like my dad and have a really good changeup, but I had to modify it a little bit. It's still good, I would just say that my go-to pitch if it's full count, bases loaded is the slider."

As Hammond embarks on this next chapter of his baseball career, he makes sure to keep in mind the advice that his dad gave him long ago.

"He always said put your head down, give 110%, and outwork everyone else," he said. "Stay humble and God's got a plan from there."

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Frontier League Stories from July 8, 2021


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