Mike Hampton (born September 9, 1972 in Brooksville, Florida, USA) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who plays with the Atlanta Braves (2003-present). He bats right-handed and throws left-handed. Previously, he played for the Seattle Mariners (1993), Houston Astros (1994-99), New York Mets (2000) and Colorado Rockies (2001-02). In his career, Hampton has a 138-101 record with 1272 strikeouts and a 3.97 ERA in 2074 innings. At bat, he is a career .242 hitter with 15 home runs and 68 RBI in 391 games. This means that, if he played the full 162 games per season that position players play, he would average about 10 home runs a year. He is said to be one of the best hitting pitchers in the last decade.
A recurring elbow injury in 2005 forced Hampton to have Tommy John surgery after making only 12 starts during the season. As a result, he missed the remainder of the 2005 season and will sit out the 2006 season while recovering.
