Cole and Heidi Hamels. | Source: Getty Images
Cole Hamels is married to striking blond reality star Heidi Strobel whom he met at a baseball game. Inside their marriage and their lives.
Star MLB pitcher Cole “Hollywood” Hamels isn’t just a ballplayer. He’s a husband, a father, and a philanthropist — and the woman who has helped to shape his life is Heidi Strobel.
Cole Hamels’ wife is a lively, determined woman with a strong personality and a compassionate heart. She is a loving wife, a devoted mother to their four children, and a celebrity in her own right. This is what we know about Heidi Strobel Hamels.
Cole Hamels and Heidi Hamels at the celebration for the spring issue of Philadelphia Style Magazine in 2009 in Philadelphia. | Source: Getty Images
Heidi Strobel Hamels was born in Buffalo, Missouri, on October 29, 1978. Heidi attended Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, earning a Bachelor of Arts in secondary education, physical education, and exercise physiology.
Heidi became a phys ed teacher in Jefferson City, Missouri, but while she was still at university at Drury in 2001, she auditioned for “The Amazing Race.” She didn’t get in, but a year later, she got a call from the producer Mark Burnett.
Burnett was impressed by the athletic blond and offered her a place in the cast of the reality show, “Survivor.” Heidi revealed:
“He said they picked me because I was strong and tough but that the GP—that’s the general public—wouldn’t believe a pretty blonde could be smart. That’s when I knew I was in trouble.”
Heidi participated in “Survivor: The Amazon,” where she distinguished herself by stripping naked for peanut butter and Oreos and for her friendship with teammate Jenna Morasca, with whom she later posed for Playboy.
The Couple’s Romantic Love Story
Heidi met Cole Hamels two years after “Survivor,” when she was invited to throw out the first pitch at a minor league baseball game. The team was the Clearwater Threshers, affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies, where Cole, then a rising pitcher, was playing.
After the game, he asked for Heidi’s autograph and talked her into going out on a date with him. In 2006, Cole proposed, and the couple was married on New Year’s Eve.
When the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, Cole was awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy and became as famous as his wife.
Martha Hunt at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2016. | Source: Getty Images
Cole Hamels Got Scammed Trying to Take His Wife to a Lingerie Show
In 2015, Cole decided to treat his wife of nine years and take her to the prestigious — and very exclusive — Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.
Even for a sports star, invitations are not easy to come by, so he contacted Cornucopia Events, who promised, in exchange for a cool $70,000, to get Cole and Heidi VIP tickets to the show.
The package included a four-night stay in a luxury New York hotel, city transport in a limousine with champagne, invitations to the after-party, and the coveted Victoria’s Secret goodie bags.
The Hamels showed up, expecting to be met by a Cornocopia events representative with the tickets, but were stood up. There was no limousine, luxury hotel reservations, goodie bags, or fashion show. It was all a scam.
They Planned to Adopt, Then Got Pregnant and Adopted Too
Three years after their marriage, the Hamels decided to adopt a child. In the spring of 2009, as the couple was about to leave for Ethiopia to meet a child they were planning to adopt, Heidi discovered she was pregnant. The couple decided to postpone the adoption.
Their first child, son Caleb, was born in October 2009, and in 2011, the Hamels welcomed another son, Braxton. The following year, Cole and Heidi met Reeve, a six-month-old, in Ethiopia while working for their foundation.
The couple fell in love with the baby and adopted Reeve on Christmas Eve, 2012. In 2016, the Hamels family grew again with the arrival of their daughter Mackenzie.
Couple Donated Their Mansion to Special Needs Charity
The Hamels have been dedicated to philanthropy since 2009, when they created the Hamel Foundation, which is dedicated to education — still one of Heidi’s passions.
The Hamels had built a $10 million mansion on Table Rock Lake, on the Missouri side of the Ozarks, but when Cole was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2015, the family decided to relocate to the Lone Star state.
Instead of selling their stunning home, the Hamels donated it to Camp Barnabas, a Missouri non-profit that provides camping experiences to people with special needs and their siblings. Cole explained:
“Seeing the faces, hearing the laughter, reading the stories of the kids they serve; there is truly nothing like it. Barnabas makes dreams come true, and we felt called to help them in a big way.”
Cole and Heidi Hamels embody the spirit of giving back in a big way, in their family and in the community.
