Top Baltimore Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday recently made his Major League debut, marking a new era at just 20 years old.
His dad, Matt Holliday, logged 15 years in Major League Baseball, while his son had a meteoric rise to the top level, requiring just two seasons in the Minor Leagues. Jackson was also featured on this year’s MLB Spring Breakout Prospect roster.
Matt played some of his best baseball with the Colorado Rockies, making three All-Star Game rosters from 2006-through-2008. Born in 2003, Jackson was routinely seen in the team’s clubhouse, and caused a stir when he wore Los Angeles Dodgers gear, via Danielle Allentuck of The Baltimore Banner:
Rockies clubhouse manager Mike “Tiny” Pontarelli remembers when Clint Hurdle, then the team’s manager, walked out of his office one day during spring training to a stunning scene.
“Dodgers? Dodgers?” Hurdle screamed. “Matt, what’s up with that?”
Matt Holliday had no choice but to answer for his son’s fashion choices. He wasn’t becoming a fan of their rival, he explained. He had simply watched “The Sandlot” and wanted to be just like Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, the best player on the team. He went back to wearing his Rockies hat soon after.
Jackson, always being around the game of baseball, had one of his early idols, and he was a Dodger, even though a fictitious one.
Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez is an iconic movie character, synonymous with those who love baseball movies and the Dodgers. Throughout the film he’s depicted as a brave, confident young ballplayer, with his big scene stealing home plate at Dodger Stadium when he reaches the Major Leagues.
When could the Dodgers see Jackson Holliday at Dodger Stadium?
On Aug. 27, the Orioles play at Dodger Stadium for the start of a three-game series against the Dodgers.
However, Holliday is still in the very early stage of his career, and if the front office doesn’t believe he’s adjusting to the big league level, he could be spending more time in Triple-A at that point.
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