Table of Content
In his Cardinals debut, Holliday augmented four hits with an RBI and a stolen base in an 8–1 win, for his 15th career four-hit game. He reprised his debut with 20 hits in 33 at bats in his next nine games for a .606 batting average, a .659 on-base percentage, a 1.061 slugging percentage, six doubles, three homers and 10 RBI. Each of those nine games featured Holliday with at least one hit and twice reaching base. His combined totals in July 26 games with Oakland and St. Louis included 40 hits, 20 runs scored, a .412 batting average, a .487 on-base percentage, a .612 slugging percentage, 13 doubles, four home runs, 22 RBI, 16 walks and four stolen bases.
The Cardinals reactivated him on September 15 after missing 41 games. Holliday played 73 games and finished the season with a .279 batting average, .394 on-base percentage, .410 slugging percentage, .804 OPS, four home runs and 35 RBI in 277 plate appearances. Batting second, Holliday homered in four consecutive games from June 18 to 22. In a weekend series against Oakland from June 18 to 20, he drove in eight of the Cardinals' 12 runs. He was named the National League Player of the Week for June 20, batting .435 with four home runs and eight RBI. Selected to the All-Star Game on July 4 as a reserve player, he also participated in the Home Run Derby.
Holliday’s road back to the Rockies
He has trained with teammates, such as Freese, and pitcher Trevor Rosenthal, in activities such as "sled pushing, tire flipping and some fireman carries", and each player taking turns carrying each other for about 20 metres. Scott Boras has represented Holliday as his agent since he turned professional. Fangraphs' Wins Above Replacement formula rated Holliday's production equivalent to nearly $110 million in value while actually being paid just $84 million. In that span, he ranked 11th in all MLB, and fifth among outfielders, with 23.8 WAR.
Holliday collected three hits and hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning against the Braves on April 7, giving the Rockies a 2–1 win. In a three-game sweep of Atlanta, he hit .462 (6-for-13), with a double, triple and home run, and six RBI. He earned the NL Player of the Week award for the period ending April 13 as the Rockies won four of six.
League Rankings
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.
I forgave him the next year, when he put up almost as impressive a season at the plate as St. Louis Lesser Baseball God Albert Pujols, hitting .312 with 186 hits, 28 home runs and 103 RBI. Next came 2011, and I don’t care that he did exactly nothing in Game 6. Elmer Dessens began his career as an international signing in 1993 by the Pirates. Dessens quickly impressed with a 2.49 ERA over 27 starts even if he only managed to strike out four batters per nine innings. In 1996 he again began at AA, but Dessens shot up the organizational depth chart over the course of the season and finished the year in Pittsburgh's bullpen.
Postseason Batting
The Padres, meanwhile, haven't reached the postseason since, while their fans have spent the ensuing 13 years turning "Matt Holliday never touched home plate" into a meme. Wednesday's blast secured Holliday's place as the 93rd player to notch both 300 homers and 2,000 hits, joining Jose Pujols, Jose Cabrera, Carlos Beltran and Adrian Beltre as the active players who have done so. He appeared in just 105 games for the New York Yankees last season due to injury and illness. With that in mind, being a part-time starter/pinch-hitter in Colorado may just be the perfect fit for him too. Unable to agree to an extension, the Rockies traded Holliday on November 12, 2008, to Oakland Athletics for pitchers Huston Street and Greg Smith, and outfielder Carlos González.
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. When the A’s traded Holliday to St. Louis on July 24, 2009, the Cardinals were coming off two straight seasons missing the playoffs. He batted .353 with a 1.023 OPS in 63 games in St. Louis that year, and I swore to everyone who’d listen that if the Cardinals didn’t sign him that off-season, they were idiots.
Faced with a must-win Game 4 situation against the Pirates in the NLDS, he hit a two-run home run in a 2–1 victory. The Cardinals advanced to their third consecutive NLCS against the Dodgers. Holliday started 0-for-13, but his Game 3 home run off Ricky Nolasco to help St. Louis win, 4–2. The Cardinals defeated the Dodgers in six games, securing Holliday's third trip to the Fall Classic, and second against the Red Sox. Holliday collected six hits in 24 at bats with one double, one triple and two home runs for a .625 slugging percentage; however, the Red Sox claimed the title in six games. In the 2013 postseason, Holliday hit four home runs, 10 RBI and a .507 slugging percentage.
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. He earned a spot on the USA Baseball team in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Panama.
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 443 feet , HitTracker estimated it at 496 feet . 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.
After the season, Holliday was named to both Baseball America's All-Rookie Team and Topps' Major League Rookie All-Star Team, and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year balloting. 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment