- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Holy Holliday! Slugger hits storybook homer
- Updated: October 1, 2016
ST. LOUIS — Having informed Matt Holliday earlier this week that the organization is unlikely to exercise his $17 million option for 2017, general manager John Mozeliak announced that the Cardinals would activate Holliday from the disabled list on Friday in order to give the veteran outfielder an opportunity to salute the fans with one final appearance.
How they would script a sendoff amid a Wild Card race was unknown, but when manager Mike Matheny found the right moment, Holliday penned a storybook ending. A visibly emotional Holliday stepped to the plate amid a rousing ovation, and on reliever Zach Phillips’ third pitch, blasted his 20th homer, an opposite-field shot into the Cardinals’ bullpen for the first pinch homer of his career. It supplied another run in an eventual 7-0 win over the Pirates, but it was also a fitting cap to Holliday’s Cardinals career if that, indeed, marked the end.
“Still have chills,” manager Mike Matheny said afterward. “These guys understand what an important role he plays in this organization and what a great job he’s done for each of them individually. That’s how it should be. Then the fans took over from there and all the way through. I know it meant a great deal to him and probably more than what words can describe.”
After rounding the bases, Holliday was met at the plate by close friend Matt Carpenter, who gave him a hug. Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, who, along with Holliday and Carpenter, make up the team’s leadership core, emerged from the dugout to greet Holliday with an emotional embrace.
“Yeah, there’s something magical about that,” Wainwright said. “You can’t make that stuff up. That homer right there, everybody in the dugout was saying, ‘Man, it would be so cool if he hits a homer right here.’ And he did it on an 0-2 pitch.”
After running through the team’s home run receiving line and getting Carlos Martinez’s customary splash of water in his face, Holliday acknowledged the fans once more with a tip of the helmet.
• Holliday homers in perhaps last Cardinals at-bat
“It’s hard to find the right words, I guess,” Brandon Moss said of the moment. “It moves you a little bit because it’s almost like he deserved that. You know what I mean? It isn’t just, ‘I hope he hits a home run here.’ He deserves it. I …
