BRAVES RECALL: John Holland
For Braves visiting clubhouse manager John Holland, he has seen it all when it comes to this franchise.
Holland is in his 47th year with the Braves; only Bill Acree, the senior advisor for team travel and clubhouse service who is celebrating his 50th year, and Bill Bartholomay, who brought the team to Milwaukee from Atlanta in 1966 and is now chairman emeritus, have been with the club longer.
Holland began his career with the Braves as a bat boy in the 1969 season when the team won the National League West but was swept by the New York Mets in the playoffs.
Holland, now 62, was 15 when the Braves and the Mets played in the three-game series and said, “I know it was a battle to get there with the Reds and Giants. We won the West, and the Mets came in and a lot of people thought we had a good chance to win because I think it was their first winning season. I was in the Mets’ clubhouse for the games here and was their bat boy. I remember that is the first time we had a TV in the clubhouse to be able to watch the game. We lost the first two here, and they didn’t take bat boys on the road, but I watched it and as soon as the Mets brought Nolan Ryan in relief in New York that was about it.
In 1995, Holland handled the clubhouse for the Cleveland Indians when they were here for three games in the World Series.
Q: How busy in the spring that year were you, having to do two spring trainings?
A: The replacement players came in, and we couldn't use the major league clubhouse. Then we played an exhibition game with them and someone comes in the clubhouse and says the strike is settled and here is your plane ticket. Then we repack and go back to spring training, and we couldn't use the visiting clubhouse because the Expos' minor league team was in there. So we used the coaches' room in another building, and the lockers were made of wood and like 18 inches wide, and I remember (Yankees manager) Buck Showalter came in and reamed us out because we didn't have a proper facility.
Q: What do you remember about the Indians in the World Series?
A: I will never forget we had a sheet where players would sign for tickets for each game, and Manny Ramirez came in and put in all his tickets for the series in an envelope. It went to will call, but he was supposed to just put his tickets in there for the one game. So then he came up and asked where his tickets were for Game 6, the last game. Well, someone else got some good tickets.'
Q: You said you had a good Albert Belle story, what was it?
A: I remember Albert was upset that we pushed his chair into his locker after they took the field for the last game. He came back and said I want that chair to sit right there. Well, it just so happens that the next game at the stadium actually was the next season in an exhibition against Cleveland. And we let Albert's chair stay right there.''
