Iosss understood that most athletes would rather don tutus than pose. Typically, they show up late and beg off early. Making them wait invariably produced photographic poison. So he and his two assistants would be ready no matter how tardy the Phillies pitcher might be.
At 11:45 a.m., 15 minutes early, Hamels, wearing a crisp white uniform, the blond streaks in his hair glistening in the midday Florida sun, arrived. The eager smile on his face was as wide as Iooss' eyes.
"I've shot maybe 300 athletes [for covers]," Iosss said later. "And three have shown up early. Marion Jones, I can't remember the other one, and now Hamels."
As he prepares rigorously for a season as the world champions' ace, Hamels has at last fulfilled his "Hollywood" nickname. The transformation of nerdy-voiced Colbert Richard Hamels into cool Cole Hamels is complete.
The San Diego-area native appears remarkably at ease with a growing celebrity status, one that was enhanced by his starring role in the Phillies' 2008 world championship.
He said he was increasingly comfortable signing autographs, mingling with fans, "working those facial muscles," as he calls it. When he talks with reporters he is glib and frank, though the words sometimes pour forth so rapidly that his brain can't always accommodate the pace. In the fall, for example, he called the rival Mets "choke artists" on a New York City sports-talk radio station.
"I didn't even know what I was saying," Hamels said. "I thought I was just answering a question. Sometimes it's really hard. But I'm glad it happened. It kind of keeps me aware. Every time I make a mistake, I correct myself. I try to live by being honest, but I don't want it really to affect who I am. Playing baseball, you've got to put all your effort on the field. But all the off-the-field stuff is just kind of irrelevant."
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