Alfred Willis Holland (born August 16, 1952) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, who played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

, and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, from to . He was traded along with

Ed Whitson Eddie Lee Whitson (born May 19, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed. Pittsburgh Pirates Whitson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft out o ...

and

Fred Breining Fred Lawrence Breining (born November 15, 1955) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1980 through 1985 for the San Francisco Giants and the Montreal Expos. He had been traded along with Ed Whitson and Al Holland from the ...

from the

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

to the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

for

Bill Madlock Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League b ...

Lenny Randle Leonard Shenoff Randle (born February 12, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was the first-round pick of the Washington Senators in the secondary phase of the June 1970 Major League Baseball draft, tenth overall. Early years Born ...

and Dave Roberts on June 28, . Holland finished seventh in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Rookie of the Year voting for 1980 but his best season was with the Philadelphia Phillies in when he won the

Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers enter th ...

and TSN Fireman of the Year Award while finishing in the top ten in voting for both the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

and

National League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

. He then saved Game 1 of the 1983 National League Championship Series, and struck out three batters in two innings to finish Game 4, clinching the pennant for the Phillies. He also saved Game 1 of the

1983 World Series The 1983 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1983 season. The 80th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles and the National ...

. In Game 3 of the World Series, Holland was pitching in the seventh inning when an

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

allowed the go-ahead run to score. Although Holland

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

four batters in the eighth and ninth innings, he and the Phillies lost in the last postseason game of his career. They then lost Games 4 and 5 as well to give the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

the championship. In , Holland was selected to his only

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

but did not play. The following year, he was traded twice and then hit a low point by being called to testify at the

Pittsburgh drug trials The Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 were the catalyst for a Major League Baseball-related cocaine scandal. Several current and former members of the Pittsburgh Pirates – Dale Berra, Lee Lacy, Lee Mazzilli, John Milner, Dave Parker, Rod Scurry � ...

. After admitting to

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

abuse, he was suspended for sixty days of the 1986 season. Holland's and ten other players' suspensions were reduced to anti-drug donations and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

, but Holland's career was nearly at an end. He was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the New York Yankees, released by the Yankees, re-signed by the Yankees and then re-released by the Yankees — all in 1986. The Yankees signed him for the third time in 1987 but, after three games, his

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) was at 14.21. Holland was released by the Yankees a third time after the season and his major league career was over. In 1989, the age 35-and-older

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

began operation in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and Holland was a member of both the St. Petersburg Pelicans and

St. Lucie Legends The St. Lucie Legends was one of the eight original baseball franchises that played in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989.minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

, as recently as 2006 for the Rookie-level

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

Johnson City Cardinals The Johnson City Cardinals were a Minor League Baseball team based in Johnson City, Tennessee. The team was affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals organization from 1975 through 2020 and played in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. The team won ...

."Short-season Appalachian League,"
''usatoday.com''.

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

. (February 17, 2006).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Al 1952 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Virginia National League All-Stars African-American baseball players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Francisco Giants players Philadelphia Phillies players California Angels players New York Yankees players Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Gulf Coast Pirates players Niagara Falls Pirates players Salem Pirates players Shreveport Captains players Columbus Clippers players Phoenix Giants players Portland Beavers players Major League Baseball players suspended for drug offenses Sportspeople from Roanoke, Virginia St. Petersburg Pelicans players St. Lucie Legends players North Carolina A&T State University alumni National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

See also

References

External links