Throughout his baseball career, Hamilton talked about a second act in medicine. His father, Dr. Stanley Hamilton, is now the department of pathology’s chair at City of Hope medical center in California, and following that lead always drew Hamilton. He gave himself until age 30 to establish a career in the majors, and after a season in Atlanta’s organization and an offseason talk with his wife, Lauren, walked away from baseball and onto campus at Tulane to finish his undergraduate degree. He was not the same as when he left after his junior year.

“Baseball — it matured me,” Hamilton said. “In my 30s, it gave me a different perspective — by playing internationally, seeing what people didn’t have, what opportunities I did have. I had to grow up. It absolutely taught me how to dedicate yourself to a craft. If you have a big goal, no one is going to hand it to you. Guys like (Yadier) Molina — that’s where I saw it. It takes a lot of work to get to the top, but it doesn’t stop there, it continues.”

As Hamilton explored his options for medical school, he was invited to a dinner in the New York City area and a chance to meet with an official from Hofstra University’s medical school.

Dr. David Elkowitz recalled the moment immediately before meeting Hamilton.