Matt Holliday
Matthew Thomas Holliday is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball from 2004 to 2018 for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Yankees. A World Series champion in 2011 with the Cardinals, Holliday played a key role in seven postseasons, including the Rockies' first-ever World Series appearance in 2007 and Cardinals' playoff success in the 2010s. His distinctions include a National League batting championship, the 2007 NL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award, seven All-Star selections, and four Silver Slugger Awards. Other career accomplishments include 300 home runs, more than 2,000 hits, and batting over.300 eight times.
The Colorado Rockies selected Holliday in the seventh round of the 1998 MLB draft from high school in Oklahoma, where he also starred as a highly touted quarterback prospect. He debuted in MLB in 2004, becoming the Rockies' starting left fielder and a middle of the lineup presence. In 2006, he became the 19th player ever to reach 195 hits, 30 home runs, 45 doubles, 115 runs and 110 runs batted in in one season. The next season, he won the NL batting title, September National League Player of the Month honors and NLCS MVP as the Rockies won 21 of 22 games at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs en route to their first World Series appearance. In the first of four consecutive NLCS appearances starting in 2011, he batted.435 with a.652 slugging percentage in the 2011 NLCS on his way to winning his first World Series ring with the Cardinals. In 2014, he became just the fifth player in MLB history to amass nine consecutive seasons of at least 20 home runs, 30 doubles, 75 RBI and 80 runs scored each season.
In addition to his presence as a leader on the field, Holliday is active in charity work and assisting his teammates off the field. Thus, the St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America has awarded him the Darryl Kile Good Guy Award. He is a frequent visitor to children's hospitals. From 2012 to 2016, Holliday co-sponsored a pledge drive for Greater St. Louis hospitals called "Homers for Health", which raised more than $3.7 million. Since retirement, he remains active with Homers for Health as chairman.
Because of his hitting abilities and strength, he has sometimes been called the "Stillwater Stinger". His son, Jackson, was selected first overall in the 2022 MLB draft. His son, Ethan, was selected fourth overall in the 2025 MLB draft, by the same team that drafted him, the Rockies.
Early life
Matt Holliday was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma. With easy athletic skill, he showed marked talent in baseball, football and basketball as a youth. He was also physically larger than most of his friends, so when they played games, they often modified the rules to offset his size advantage. In football, Holliday was required to play quarterback for both teams. In baseball, every three of his home runs were credited as one.He spent much of his free time with his father, Tom Holliday, and brother, Josh, at the Oklahoma State University baseball field and training complex, where his father was a coach. There, the Holliday boys learned about the fundamentals of the sport, voluntarily trained and practiced, and watched future major leaguers such as Robin Ventura play and develop. In spite of the extensive time spent around the sport of baseball, Tom Holliday abstained from attempting to influence his sons on which sport or sports to concentrate.
At Stillwater High School, Holliday played both baseball and football. He was a quarterback while playing football. As a senior, he earned All-American honors in football and baseball and also earned his region's Gatorade Player of the Year award in both sports. He also competed for the 1997 USA Junior National Team. In his next-to-last football game for Stillwater, he helped bring the Pioneers back from a 42–21 deficit against Tulsa Union by throwing three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the game for a 43–42 score.
However, his high school football career ended with a 63–0 loss to Jenks in the state semifinal contest. His career passing totals included 6,211 yards and 68 TD. His 35 TD passes as a junior set a then-11 man state record. Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson reportedly once forecasted to Tom Holliday that his son "couldn't miss" as an NFL prospect. He was also rated the third-best quarterback prospect in the nation after graduating from Stillwater in 1998.
Numerous connections throughout college and professional baseball span Holliday's family ties. His father, Tom Holliday, has been the pitching coach for the Tigers of Auburn University, and former baseball head coach of OSU. Current Atlanta Braves MLB scout, Dave Holliday, is an uncle. His older brother, Josh, is currently the head baseball coach at OSU, and a former minor league player in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. A cousin, Heath Holliday, has also played baseball as a catcher for OSU.
Professional career
Draft and minor leagues (1998–2004)
With football recruiting overtures from colleges and universities all over the country—including OSU—Holliday instead chose professional baseball after graduating from high school. The Rockies selected him in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft as a third baseman. Widespread concerns that he would choose football over baseball prevented him from being drafted earlier since he had already committed to OSU on paper to play football. Thus, Rockies scouting director Pat Daugherty signed him for an above-slot $840,000, the most money paid to any player in that round.In Holliday's inaugural professional season, the Rockies assigned him to their Arizona League affiliate, who finished with a 42–14 record and won the league championship. He played 32 games and assembled 40 hits in 117 at bats for a.342 batting average, collected four doubles, a triple, five home runs and 23 runs batted in ; his home run total placed third in the league. He played 1999 for the Asheville Tourists, batting.264 with 16 home runs and 76 runs scored. With the bases loaded, he was 3-for-9 with one grand slam and 11 RBI. At third base, Holliday turned in an.871 fielding percentage and 57 putouts.
Holliday played for Salem in 2000 and 2001. For the 2000 season, he totaled 510 plate appearances, successfully collected 126 hits, 28 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, drove in 72 runs, and batted.274 with a.335 on-base percentage and.389 slugging percentage. He spent 112 games at third base, was charged with 32 errors in 300 total chances for a fielding percentage of.893, and turned 13 double plays. In 2001, the Rockies moved Holliday to the outfield. He was named the Carolina League Player of the Month for June, batting.324 with seven multi-hit games, three doubles, seven home runs, and 22 RBI. He played 72 games on the season after undergoing elbow surgery in July ended his season.
The Rockies promoted Holliday to the Carolina Mudcats of the AA Southern League in 2002, where he was named a mid-season All-Star. He was named the league's Hitter of the Week on June 27, after collecting nine hits in 24 at-bats, with one home run and eight RBI. He won the same award on July 18, after scoring seven runs and driving in 10, and a career-best six RBI against Birmingham on July 14. Holliday ended the season with 128 hits in 463 at-bats, 10 home runs, and 64 RBI, batting.276 with 79 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. He played for the Mesa Solar Sox of the off-season Arizona Fall League in 2002 and 2003, batting.316 with four home runs, 21 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 35 total AFL games. Holliday remained at the AA level for the 2003 season as the everyday left fielder for the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League, batting.253, 28 doubles, 72 RBI, 132 hits, 45 extra-base hits, and 206 total bases. His 15 outfield assists tied for second in the league. He earned a spot on the USA Baseball team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama. They were eliminated from advancing to the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Colorado Rockies (2004–08)
2004–06: Beginning career
The Rockies assigned Holliday to their Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, at the outset of the 2004 season, intending for him to spend much of the season there. Injuries to outfielders Preston Wilson and Larry Walker expedited his progress to the Major Leagues after just six games with Colorado Springs. He made his major league debut in left field on April 16 at Busch Memorial Stadium against one of his future teams, the St. Louis Cardinals. Holliday went hitless in three at-bats. Two days after his debut, Holliday recorded his first career hit, a single, and then, RBI against the Cardinals' Woody Williams, doubling in Kit Pellow. Holliday's first career home run came against José Lima of the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 22. Five days later, he, Jeromy Burnitz, and Charles Johnson collaborated for back-to-back-to-back home runs against the Florida Marlins, the sixth such occasion in franchise history.Holliday's first career multi-home run game came against the Cincinnati Reds on May 18. Both home runs came as part of back-to-back home runs events with Burnitz, making them the first teammates in franchise history to hit back-to-back home runs twice in the same game, and the first teammate duo to do so since Mike Cameron and Bret Boone of the Seattle Mariners in 2002. His first MLB grand slam came against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on June 12, immediately tying a game in which the Rockies had faced a 5–1 deficit. For the month of June, he hit.357. The Rockies traded Walker to the Cardinals in August, clearing more outfield playing opportunities for Holliday. A sprained elbow while diving for a ball against the San Diego Padres on September 12 ended his season. His final batting line included a.290 batting average in 121 games, with 31 doubles, 14 home runs, 57 RBI, 65 runs scored, 48 extra-base hits,.349 on-base percentage,.488 slugging percentage, and 195 total bases. He finished in the top five among NL rookies in each of those categories. After the season, Holliday was named to both Baseball America
In his second major league season, Holliday became the cleanup hitter behind franchise icon Todd Helton in the middle of the 2005 season. After 119 at bats into the season, Holliday hit his first home run against Noah Lowry of the San Francisco Giants on May 17. He hit his second career multi-homer game and first with three extra base hits against the Cardinals on June 2. He was placed on the disabled list with a right fractured pinky and returned to play on July 18. He earned his first NL Player of the Week award for July 25 to 31, after batting.444 with three home runs, eight RBI, an.852 slugging percentage and a league-leading 12 hits and 23 total bases.
In September, Holliday led the NL with 32 RBI, setting a Rockies record for that month. On September 20 against the Padres, he hit two home runs and tied a Rockies' single-game record with eight RBI in a Rockies 20–1 victory, the highest single-game RBI total in the NL in 2005 and second-highest in the major leagues. He ended the season with a seven-game hitting streak and reached base in each of the Rockies' final 22 games. Holliday totaled 125 games and improved in nearly all offensive categories from his rookie year, including 147 hits, 19 home runs, 87 RBI, 68 runs, 14 stolen bases, 242 total bases, 505 slugging percentage and.361 on-base percentage. His.307 batting average placed eighth in the NL. The club picked up his option for 2006, which was worth $500,000, or about $100,000 more than the average for a player with equivalent service time. He was selected as the Rockies Player of the Year.
Holliday was selected to Team USA for the 2006 World Baseball Classic prior to the start of the MLB season. Despite batting just.255 through May 1, 2006, Holliday accumulated 24 RBI in 25 games. From May 1 until the end of the season – a span of 131 games – he collected 169 hits for a.339 batting average, the fourth-highest in the major leagues. He batted.404 from June 1–27, second in the NL in that period. An All-Star selection to the game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh for the first time in his career, Holliday was hitting.339 with 16 home runs and 56 RBI at the time of his selection. In the game, Holliday played right field for the first time as a major leaguer.
On September 19, 2006, Holliday hit the longest home run of 2006 in MLB against Matt Cain of the Giants. While the official distance was, HitTracker estimated it at. His grand slam and triple five days later against the Braves assisted the Rockies' comeback from a 7–0 deficit to a 9–8 final victory. He garnered his second NL Player of the Week for the week ending September 24, after hitting four homers, three doubles and a triple, helping propel the Rockies to win five of seven games. In 155 total games, Holliday batted.326 with 196 hits, 45 doubles, 34 home runs, 114 RBIs, 119 runs, 10 stolen bases, 353 total bases,.586 slugging percentage, and.387 on-base percentage. He became just the 19th player ever to meet or exceed 195 hits, 30 home runs, 45 doubles, 115 runs and 110 RBI in one season. He finished in the top five of the National League in batting average, hits, runs, extra base hits, total bases and slugging percentage. After the season, received his first Silver Slugger Award as an outfielder.