Books and articles about Al Holland

"Gimme the ball!" is what Al Holland wants his epitaph to say. A career reliever with an excellent fastball, he finished his rookie season with a 1.76 ERA and seven saves for the Giants in 1980, but was always part of a bullpen-by-committee in San Francisco.

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Traded with Joe Morgan to the Phillies for Mark Davis and Mike Krukow, Holland became their stopper in 1983. His 25 saves plus two more in the postseason helped them to the World Series, where they lost to the Orioles. He saved a career-high 29 games in 1984, but also lost 10, as his ERA jumped to 3.39 and his fastball grew more hittable. He would notch only five more saves before being released by the Yankees early in 1987. (SG)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 28, 1979: The Pirates trade pitchers Ed Whitson, Al Holland, and Fred Breining to the Giants for P Dave Roberts and infielders Bill Madlock and Lenny Randle. Madlock, whose average dropped after the Giants moved him to 2B, will rebound with the Bucs. » December 14, 1982: The Giants trade veteran 2B Joe Morgan and reliever Al Holland to the Phillies for pitchers Mike Krukow and Mark Davis and minor leaguer Charles Penigar. » October 4, 1983: In the NLCS opener, Mike Schmidt's first-inning homer and Al Holland's clutch relief pitching to get out of an 8th-inning bases-loaded jam are enough for Philadelphia to top Los Angeles 1–0. » April 20, 1985: The Phillies and Pirates swap relief pitchers, Al Holland going to Pittsburgh, Kent Tekulve to Philadelphia. » August 2, 1985: The last-place Pirates unload three of their veteran players, trading pitchers John Candelaria and Al Holland and OF George Hendrick to the Angels for OF Mike Brown and pitchers Pat Clements and Bob Kipper. » February 6, 1986: Free-agent P Al Holland, who saved just five games for three teams last season, signs with the Yankees. » June 4, 1986: Joe Niekro no-hits the Angels for 7 2/3 innings before Gary Pettis doubles, and Niekro combines with Al Holland for an easy 11–0 one-hitter. Dave Winfield homers twice for the Yankees.