Jim Holt Won the Airbrush Challenge
And won a trip to Mexico for his efforts
1975 Topps Oakland A’s (#607) - Card of the Day
In modern sports parlance, a “challenge trade” unfolds when one team sends a player to another team for a player who fills a similar role.
A starting quarterback for a starting quarterback.
A budding closer for a budding closer. Or maybe a current closer for a budding closer.
A slugger for a slugger.
Whatever the case, the general idea is that each player-team marriage has grown stale or just never worked out. Or the grass looks greener on the other lineup card. So the teams swap players and hope their fortunes improve with the new alignment.
The “challenge” bit comes into play as the ensuing weeks, months, and years unfold. Which team makes the most of the other team’s player?
A classic example was the December 1981 trade that saw Garry Templeton head to the San Diego Padres and landed Ozzie Smith with the Cardinals. There were other players involved, sure, but this one was a shortstop swap at its core.
That was a pretty high-profile deal at the time, and it only became more prominent as Ozzie cemented his Hall of Fame case.
Sometimes, though, a challenge trade is a bit more subtle.
Consider the deal that went down 50 years ago today between the Oakland A’s and the Minnesota Twins, for example.
On August 19, 1974, the Twins sent first baseman/pinch hitter Jim Holt to the A’s in exchange for Pat Bourque…a first baseman/pinch hitter.
Now, to be fair, Holt had spent most of his time with the Twins in the outfield. Debuting at age 23 (close to 24) in 1968, Holt made 388 appearances in the grass through 1973. Most of those came later in games, as a defensive replacement or pinch hitter who stayed in to field.
But 29-year-old Holt was the Twins’ primary left fielder in 1973, playing 80 games there and starting 114 times in all. He more than held his own at the plate, hitting .297 with 11 home runs and 58 RBI.
In 1974, though, third baseman Steve Braun moved to left while Eric Soderholm took over at third on a full-time basis. That left Holt once again looking for at-bats, and he found a new home — at least on a part-time basis — at first base.
Between first and other fill-in duties, Holt hit .254 with no home runs and a measly 16 RBI in 79 games through mid-August of 1974. With “youngster” (soon to be 26) Craig Kusick showing a strong bat at Triple-A Tacoma for the second summer in a row, Holt was expendable.
So out he went, and in came Bourque — and Kusick.
In Oakland, Holt hit .143 with no homers or RBI in 30 games down the stretch. But he managed two pinch hits in the 1974 World Series, including a two-RBI single in Game 4 to help cap Oakland’s three-year run of dominance.
The next season, 1975, saw Holt dig in as one of the A’s main PHs and Joe Rudi’s backup at first base. In 102 games, he hit .220 with two home runs and 16 RBI. He did smack a double in three at-bats in the ALCS loss to the Red Sox, though.
While he was unfurling that performance, collectors were gasping in astonishment at the masterpiece Topps rolled out showing Holt in his “Oakland” uniform for the first time. It’s a dandy, right?
Not even quite that dandy was Holt’s 1976, which saw him spend most of the season at Triple-A Tucson before finishing up with four games in Oakland as the A’s circled the drain — by their standards, at least. Without Reggie Jackson, traded to the Orioles before the season, the A’s finished second in the American League West to the Royals.
Holt was done in the majors, though he did spend 1977 and 1978 playing in the Mexican League.
As for Bourque, he hit .219 in 23 games for the Twins in 1974 and then headed south. He was there in the Mexican League to greet Holt three years later, neither one ever to return to the majors.
Down in Flames
Holt spent his last game in the majors missing the ball against Nolan Ryan. In three plate appearances on October 3, 1976, Holt walked once and struck out twice, including in his very final PA.
Holt might have had another shot at Ryan, but Oakland manager Chuck Tanner sent in Willie McCovey to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth. Stretch flied out.
To “celebrate” Holt’s last hurrah, I thought it would be fun to look at some still-affordable Nolan Ryan cards, as I did in this now-old post. Some of the values are probably off some years after the fact, but the general sentiment is the same.
And the Express eye candy is as sweet as ever.
Read all about it right here.
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That’s all for this Monday, but I’m sure the simmering pennant races will give us all more to think and talk about as the day unfolds.
How’s your team looking heading into the stretch? My Reds are decidedly a mixed bag, with moments of hope, flashes of excitement, and plenty of “at least we have Elly De La Cruz” to keep us guessing.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
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