James William Holt was born on May 27, 1944 in Graham, NC and passed away at the age of 74 on March 29, 2019 in Burlington, NC. The youngest of six children, Jim Holt learned to play baseball in high school and after graduation had tryouts with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians. When these tryouts didn’t attract any pro ball offers and opportunities in Graham pretty much limited to working in a flour or timber mill, Holt decided to join the Army in 1963 and intended to make it a career.
While in the Army, Holt played basketball and baseball and prior to the 1965 season the Kansas City Athletics signed Holt as an amateur free agent. Holt spent 1966-1967 in the A’s organization but in November of 1967 was drafted by the Minnesota Twins as a Rule 5 pick.
The Twins were impressed enough with Holt to keep him on the big league roster all of 1968 but his playing time was very limited. Holt made his big league debut on April 17, 1968 at Met Stadium as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of a 13-1 Twins blow-out of the Washington Senators. Holt didn’t start a game until May 11th when he went 1 for 4 and notched his first big league hit. By the time the 1968 season ended Holt had appeared in 70 games but had only 111 plate appearances.
With the Twins in a tight pennant race in 1969 Holt spent all but 12 games with AAA Denver. Under manager Bill Rigney in 1970 Holt appeared in 142 games and 126 games in 1971. In 1972 Holt started and spent most of the season in AAA Tacoma and speculation was that the move was racially motivated. In 1973 Holt bounced back to have his best year with Minnesota hitting 11 home runs with 58 RBI while hitting .297, second only to Rod Carew‘s .350 average in spite of having foot issues that would require off-season foot surgery. Holt struggled in 1974 and in August the Twins traded him to the Oakland A’s for first baseman Pat Bourque.
Although Holt’s playing time was limited in Oakland in 1974, the team beat Baltimore in the ALCS and advanced to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oakland led two games to one with the score tied 2-2 in the sixth inning of Game Four. With Andy Messersmith pitching for Los Angeles, A’s manager Alvin Dark batted Holt, who already had one pinch hit in the Series, for catcher Ray Fosse with the bases loaded and one out. Dark’s face must have lit up when Holt singled to right, driving in two runs. Oakland won the game, 5-2, and claimed its third consecutive championship the next day. Holt finally had a World Series ring.
In 1975 Holt hit just .220 and the A’s tried him at catcher for a couple of innings but he was soon sent to AAA and the experiment ended. Holt spent most of 1976 with the AAA Tucson Toros and then finished his big league career with a September call-up. Jim Holt spend his final season as an active player in the Mexican League with Chihuahua and Monterrey.
For his career, Holt slashed .265/.305/.352 in 9 MLB seasons. He had 428 hits, including 64 doubles, 10 triples and 19 homers. He had 177 RBIs and scored 174 runs. After finishing pro ball, Holt returned to North Carolina, working for Fireequip and the Elon Fire Department.
He is preceded in death by his parents, as well as his daughter: Sharon Kaye Dickens, a brother: Lacy Theodore Holt, and sisters: Margaret Flintall, Mary Caldwell and Laura Holt.
We would like to extend our best wishes and condolences to the family and friends of Jim Holt. Thank you for all the wonderful memories.