Former Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels has stayed off of Twitter so far in his career. While his foundation The Hamels Foundation has their own, @TheHamels, the former Phillies ace has yet to do so for himself. Just before 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Hamels may have started his own account. We say "may have" as he has not been verified yet, but the account is taking off.
The purported Hamels issued his first Tweet:
Starting the 2016 season in the Twitter world. Look forward to keeping everyone updated and can't wait for Spring Training in Arizona.
— Cole Hamels (@ColeHamels1983) February 15, 2016
This is indeed Hamels' first Spring Training in Arizona.
The account has a couple interesting unknown facts: Hamels is an investor in two businesses. The first is Go By Truck, a Texas trucking company co-founded by Heidi Hamels' sister, Dawn. Cole Hamels indicated that he had in-laws in Texas when he agreed to be traded to the Texas Rangers. A financial stake in the company would make a lot of sense.
The second business is Orion Packs. The business is based out of Colorado and deals with skiing equipment. Their website describes the business:
Founded by longtime friends Cole Hamels and brothers Bill and Matt Callison, Orion Packs distributes their products in Colorado, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. Although the company officially introduced their MonoBody design in 2011, the idea for a dedicated ski carry system became Matt’s brainchild 15 years ago while he was skiing at Crystal Mountain in Washington state. Matt sketched what he envisioned the pack would look like and then enlisted the help of his rabid outdoorsman friend Jim who happened to already have a sewing machine and tons of webbing, nylons, and buckles. The two of them immediately went to work on the design.
This is a bit unexpected for Hamels, who is from sunny Southern California.
An hour later, Hamels announced he was also on Instagram:
You can start following me on Instagram too at colehamels1983.
— Cole Hamels (@ColeHamels1983) February 15, 2016
Hamels might as well go all-in, right?
If the goal was to promote his businesses, the move already worked. However, some Texas Rangers fans are quick to point out that Hamels is standing in front of him pitching as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Should Hamels ever make it to the Hall of Fame, is there any question as to what team he would represent?
Follow away, folks.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
