He pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.

[2] In high school, Hampton was recruited to play college football as a defensive back at Notre Dame, Miami and Florida State.

[5] Hampton once claimed that he had chosen to move to Colorado because of "the school system", a statement that is often derisively referenced by sportswriters.

[6] The Rockies hoped Hampton, who had been one of the best pitchers in the league over the past few seasons, would be able to succeed in the tough pitching conditions of Coors Field.

He overcame a slow start in 2004 by winning 10 of his last 11 decisions and helping to propel the Braves to another division championship.

[7] Soon after, the Braves signed Mark Redman to be a left-handed starting pitcher for them in case Hampton was not able to return to action soon.

[citation needed] Hampton arrived a day before pitchers and catchers were due to report at Lake Buena Vista.

He ran sprints, played catch with teammates,continued to pitch off the mound, threw to live batters: Mark Kotsay, Tim Hudson, and Corky Miller.

On April 3, 2008, Hampton was scheduled to make his long-anticipated return to the Braves rotation in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

[12] Hampton chose to wear uniform #11 in his return to Houston to honor his old friend, longtime Astro catcher Brad Ausmus.

[14] On September 15, 2009, Hampton underwent full rotator cuff surgery to repair a tear and was expected to miss the entire 2010 season.

[15] Despite initially being expected to miss the whole season, on August 21, 2010, Mike Hampton signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2013, Hampton was named the pitching coach for the Arkansas Travelers, the AA affiliate for the Angels, joining manager Tim Bogar, who was his teammate for the Astros from 1997 to 1999.

He joined former Astros teammates Scott Servais (1994–95) and the aforementioned Tim Bogar on the coaching staff.