Hamilton's Shagadelic Slam

Josh Hamilton is the Santa Claus of carpets. The slugger's fourth inning grand slam last night off Cleveland's David Huff might have bought the good people of Texas more than $500,000 worth of free carpeting and countertops, as a local businessman promised customers a refund if Hamilton went deep with the bases chock full of Rangers in September.

Hamilton wiped the floor with a 1-2 fastball on the outside corner, flicking his wrists and lofting it over the left field wall:

Hamilton's carpet-winning homer, 9/14/2011

While Huff's pitch was high, it's hard to blame him for wanting to pitch Hamilton outside. He's a monster on pitches thrown inside, but a mere mortal on the outer third:

      Hamilton's in-play slugging percentage by pitch location, 2011 Hamilton's .787 slugging percentage on inside pitches ranks behind only Toronto's Brett Lawrie and teammate Nelson Cruz. By no means is Hamilton lousy against pitches on the outer half -- his .424 slugging percentage places 55th out of 403 qualified hitters -- but if you're looking to avoid serving up promotion-winning shots, staying away isn't a bad strategy. Just don't tell Huff that.