Steve Hammond’s U.S. and international baseball career included a stop with Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Houston Astros’ AAA affiliate. Hammond brings that professional experience to the Miramonte program along with a solid local background thanks to Bay Area Ballplayers, which has been based in Moraga since 2019.
Despite playing professional baseball internationally (in China, Japan and Mexico) and all over the United States, the new Miramonte baseball coach has deep local roots.
Steve Hammond pitched at Alhambra High School, even facing Miramonte in a 1999 North Coast Section championship game, before settling in Orinda after a nine-year professional career.
A fastball pitcher, Hammond starred at Long Beach State and was a sixth-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005. He never quite reached the majors, spending two years in AAA, but his extensive resumé gives him a background and depth of knowledge that few high school coaches can match.
In addition, Hammond coached at Diablo Valley College and has been running Bay Area Ballplayers out of a Moraga location since 2019, which has allowed him an up-close look at Miramonte players for the past six years.
“I’ve had really good ties with Miramonte,” said Hammond, and many Mats’ players have been on his club teams over the years, so he knows the local talent. He also knows that Miramonte baseball hasn’t kept pace with Campolindo and other Diablo Athletic League rivals in recent years – but he’s out to change that.
“We want to develop competitive baseball at Miramonte,” said Hammond, and one thing that will help is the work he and others have put in upgrading the school’s facilities. Since his business has used Miramonte’s fields, he’s been part of the process that has resulted in a new backstop, new batting cages, a new fence and a new scoreboard.
The latest addition is, according to Hammond, “a major-league quality infield.”
Now Hammond needs to get the team – which was 9-17 last season – up to that standard.
“We lost a lot of graduating seniors,” said Hammond, which will make the task harder, but his background in the game, both as player and coach, has given him a clear vision of what the program needs to do to take a step up.
He hopes to upgrade the offense, in part with a new approach in the batter’s box. “We will place a big emphasis on being more aggressive at the plate,” he said. “And we’re bringing in a former minor league player as our hitting coach.”
Naturally he’ll take charge of the pitching, but don’t expect a deep dive into spin rate and pitch shapes.
“At this level,” he said, “it’s more about developing confidence and repeating your delivery. Young players need to pitch with confidence and conviction.”
But baseball is a difficult game, and though Hammond would love immediate success, he knows it might take some time to turn things around, especially given Miramonte’s recent struggles on the diamond.
“I want to make a fresh start,” he said – and down the road, maybe play Alhambra again in another NCS title game.