Even more valuable were the days and nights spent with his wife, Heidi, and Caleb. Hamels needed the support of his parents and siblings, but nothing made him feel more adult than caring for his own child.
"It definitely makes you more responsible," he said. "You can't just worry about yourself anymore. You have a whole other person. You're waiting on your baby hand and foot, and it makes you an adult. The way that you have to live, putting their needs in front of yours, that's what changed my life around. Just the fact of being that grown up, adjusting to it and doing the best I possibly can."