Through some odd cosmic alignment, our front page last Wednesday featured two pictures of Cole Hamels that were eerily similar. They both featured him sitting in the dugout, staring off into the distance, with his chin resting on his hand.
For the Hamels mug aficionados out there, these pictures were probably quite welcome. For the rest of us, we were left wondering -- why are there two pictures like this of Cole Hamels? But for that obscurity-seeking subset of the rest of us, we asked something altogether different -- are there more?
It turns out that with a little bit of digging, I discovered that baseball photographers love to take pictures of Cole Hamels in this pose. In fact, I may (or may not) have stumbled across a prestigious photography award given to the best picture of this genre. The prize may (or may not) be worth upwards of $144M.
The veracity of that prize notwithstanding, I did in fact find many pictures like this. Here they are, in all their glory:
In perusing the SBN photo vault, not only did I find these photos of Cole Hamels recreating Rodin's Thinker, but I also found a slightly different set of pictures of Hamels dugout-thinking. In this modification of the genre, Hamels is in the dugout, staring into the distance, but without the chin help the other pictures capture. This genre is further proof that Cole Hamels is a deep thinker while in the dugout. After all, he can do it without any assistance in holding his head up:
When the Phillies extended Hamels last year, not only were they locking up a World Series MVP, a staff ace, and a team leader, but they were also ensuring that one of the deep thinkers of the modern era remained with the Phillies for a long time to come. After all, dugout photos don't lie!