Draft and minor leagues (1998–2004) With football recruiting overtures from colleges and universities all over the country—including OSU—Holliday instead chose professional baseball after graduating from high school. The Rockies selected him in the seventh round of the
1998 Major League Baseball draft as a
third baseman. Widespread concerns that he would choose football over baseball prevented him from being drafted earlier since he had already committed to OSU on paper to play football. the most money paid to any player in that round. He played 1999 for the
Asheville Tourists, batting .264 with 16 home runs and 76 runs scored. With the bases loaded, he was 3-for-9 with one
grand slam and 11 RBI. At third base, Holliday turned in an .871
fielding percentage and 57
putouts. Holliday played for
Salem in 2000 and 2001. For the 2000 season, he totaled 510 plate appearances, successfully collected 126 hits, 28 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, drove in 72 runs, and batted .274 with a .335 on-base percentage and .389 slugging percentage. He spent 112 games at third base, was charged with 32 errors in 300 total chances for a fielding percentage of .893, and turned 13
double plays. In 2001, the Rockies moved Holliday to the outfield. He was named the
Carolina League Player of the Month for June, batting .324 with seven multi-hit games, three doubles, seven home runs, and 22 RBI. He played 72 games on the season after undergoing
elbow surgery in July ended his season. The Rockies promoted Holliday to the
Carolina Mudcats of the AA
Southern League (SL) in 2002, where he was named a mid-season All-Star. He was named the league's Hitter of the Week on June 27, after collecting nine hits in 24 at-bats, with one home run and eight RBI. He won the same award on July 18, after scoring seven runs and driving in 10, and a career-best six RBI against
Birmingham on July 14. Holliday ended the season with 128 hits in 463 at-bats, 10 home runs, and 64 RBI, batting .276 with 79 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. He played for the
Mesa Solar Sox of the off-season
Arizona Fall League (AFL) in 2002 and 2003, batting .316 with four home runs, 21 RBI and 10
stolen bases in 35 total AFL games. Holliday remained at the AA level for the 2003 season as the everyday left fielder for the
Tulsa Drillers of the
Texas League, batting .253, 28 doubles, 72 RBI, 132 hits, 45 extra-base hits, and 206 total bases. His 15 outfield
assists tied for second in the league. He earned a spot on the
USA Baseball team in the
Olympic Qualifying Tournament in
Panama. They were eliminated from advancing to the
2004 Summer Olympics. at
Busch Memorial Stadium against one of his future teams, the
St. Louis Cardinals. Holliday went hitless in three at-bats. Two days after his debut, Holliday recorded his first career hit, a single, and then, RBI against the Cardinals'
Woody Williams, doubling in
Kit Pellow. Holliday's first career home run came against
José Lima of the
Los Angeles Dodgers on April 22. Five days later, he,
Jeromy Burnitz, and
Charles Johnson collaborated for back-to-back-to-back home runs against the
Florida Marlins, the sixth such occasion in franchise history. A sprained elbow while diving for a ball against the
San Diego Padres on September 12 ended his season. His final batting line included a .290 batting average in 121 games, with 31 doubles, 14 home runs, 57 RBI, 65 runs scored, 48 extra-base hits, .349 on-base percentage, .488 slugging percentage, and 195 total bases. He finished in the top five among NL rookies in each of those categories. After the season, Holliday was named to both
Baseball America's All-Rookie Team and
Topps' Major League Rookie All-Star Team, and finished fifth in the
Rookie of the Year balloting. After 119 at bats into the season, Holliday hit his first home run against
Noah Lowry of the
San Francisco Giants on May 17. He hit his second career multi-homer game and first with three extra base hits against the
Cardinals on June 2. He was placed on the
disabled list (DL) with a right fractured pinky and returned to play on July 18. In September, Holliday led the NL with 32 RBI, setting a Rockies record for that month. On September 20 against the
Padres, he hit two home runs and tied a Rockies' single-game record with eight RBI in a Rockies 20–1 victory, the highest single-game RBI total in the NL in 2005 and second-highest in the major leagues. Holliday totaled 125 games and improved in nearly all offensive categories from his rookie year, including 147 hits, 19 home runs, 87 RBI, 68 runs, 14 stolen bases, 242 total bases, 505 slugging percentage and .361 on-base percentage. His .307 batting average placed eighth in the NL. Holliday was selected to
Team USA for the
2006 World Baseball Classic prior to the start of the MLB season. Despite batting just .255 through May 1,
2006, Holliday accumulated 24 RBI in 25 games. From May 1 until the end of the season – a span of 131 games – he collected 169 hits for a .339 batting average, the fourth-highest in the major leagues. An
All-Star selection to the game at
PNC Park in
Pittsburgh for the first time in his career, Holliday was hitting .339 with 16 home runs and 56 RBI at the time of his selection. In the game, Holliday played right field for the first time as a major leaguer. His grand slam and triple five days later against the Braves assisted the Rockies' comeback from a 7–0 deficit to a 9–8 final victory. He garnered his second NL Player of the Week for the week ending September 24, after hitting four homers, three doubles and a triple, helping propel the Rockies to win five of seven games. In 155 total games, Holliday batted .326 with 196 hits, 45 doubles, 34 home runs, 114 RBIs, 119 runs, 10 stolen bases, 353 total bases, .586
slugging percentage, and .387
on-base percentage. He became just the 19th player ever to meet or exceed 195 hits, 30 home runs, 45 doubles, 115 runs and 110 RBI in one season. He finished in the top five of the
National League in batting average, hits, runs, extra base hits, total bases and slugging percentage. After the season, received his first
Silver Slugger Award as an
outfielder. His two outfield assists on April 21 against
San Diego in the sixth inning tied a club record for outfield assists in one inning. In the April 29 contest against the
Braves, Holliday hit his first career
walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th off
Bob Wickman to provide a 9–7 victory. From May 22 to June 7, he established a new career-high 15 game hitting streak. In 87 first half games, Holliday totaled 30 doubles, 15 home runs, 69 RBI, 122 hits, a .341 average, and a .573 slugging percentage. Holliday hit .361 (86-for-238) in the final 60 games of the season. From August 10 to 27, he strung together another new career-best 17-game hitting streak. In reaching base safely each game from July 22 to August 31 against the
Diamondbacks, Holliday's feat of 36 consecutive games eclipsed a Rockies record which Helton and Walker previously shared, eventually ending at 38. In a 12-game span from September 9–20, he hit 11 home runs; only
Alex Rodríguez matched that feat in 2007. One of the home runs was the 100th of his career and his 200th hit of the season, occurring on September 19 in a 9–8 victory over the
Dodgers. His September totals included a .367 batting average, 29 runs scored, six doubles, 12 home runs, 30 RBI, and .796 slugging percentage, prompting MLB to award him NL
Player of the Month honors as the Rockies won 13 of their 14 final scheduled games. He garnered copious attention for the
Most Valuable Player (MVP) award throughout the season, which increased even more that September. The Rockies and Padres finished the scheduled portion of their regular seasons tied for the NL
wild card position with identical 89–73
records, for which MLB
declared a one-game extension to the regular season to determine the
wild-card winner. Holliday's triple in the bottom of the 13th inning off Padres
closer Trevor Hoffman scored
Troy Tulowitzki as the tying run. Holliday scored the winning run on
Jamey Carroll's
sacrifice fly in a bloody collision with
catcher Michael Barrett, although controversy arose as to whether he touched home plate. Thus, the Rockies entered the playoffs for the first time in Holliday's career. After hitting a career-best .340, Holliday won his first
batting title. He played in 158 games and posted career-highs as the National League leader in hits (216), doubles (50), RBI (137),
extra base hits (92), and
total bases (386). Additionally, he placed third in each of runs scored (120), slugging percentage (.607) and OPS (1.012), and fourth in home runs (36) and
adjusted OPS+ (150). The 63 walks were a new career-high at the time. He became just the fifth National Leaguer in the previous 59 years to lead the NL in both batting average and RBI, and only the 13th major league player in the previous 45 years with at least 200 hits and 50 doubles. In the
National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Phillies, Holliday homered twice as the Rockies swept. Colorado then advanced to the
National League Championship Series (NLCS) to face the Diamondbacks and swept them in four games. Holliday batted .333 with two home runs and four RBI on his way to being named the
NLCS MVP. the Rockies earned their first-ever trip to the
World Series where they opposed the
Boston Red Sox. Holliday collected four hits in Game 2, but, after his fourth hit in the eighth inning with the Red Sox leading 2–1, closer
Jonathan Papelbon immediately
picked him off first base for the third out, Following the season, Holliday placed second in the MVP voting with 336 points to Phillies shortstop
Jimmy Rollins with 363, Holliday was selected as the Rockies' Player of the Year for the second time
2008 On January 18,
2008, Holliday signed a two-year, $23 million contract with the Rockies, covering his final two years of arbitration. The Rockies also offered a four-year, $72 million extension, with a club option for a fifth year at $12 million. The team viewed the contract extension with the two years covering arbitration as a singular deal worth approximately $107 million. In contrast, Holliday and his
agent,
Scott Boras, regarded the extension as an $84-million
free agent contract undervalued compared to similar players. Therefore, negotiations stalled in spring training. Holliday collected three hits and hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning against the
Braves on April 7, giving the Rockies a 2–1 win. In a three-game sweep of Atlanta, he hit .462 (6-for-13), with a double, triple and home run, and six RBI. He earned the NL Player of the Week award for the period ending April 13 as the Rockies won four of six. Holliday led the NL with a .480 batting average and 10 RBI, while homering twice with an .880 slugging percentage and .519 on-base percentage. He hit the game-tying home run against
New York Mets closer
Billy Wagner in the bottom of the ninth inning on May 23, then the game-winning single off
Aaron Heilman in the bottom of the 13th to drive in
Jonathan Herrera. Two days later, the Rockies placed Holliday on the 15-day DL due to a strained left hamstring, and reactivated him on June 10. The Rockies posted the largest comeback in team history in a nine-run deficit on July 4 against the
Florida Marlins. After the Marlins led 13–4, Holliday provided two home runs, including a grand slam to reduce the Marlins' lead to 17–16 in an eventual 18–17 win. On July 6, Holliday was named a reserve outfielder for National League in the
All-Star Game for the third consecutive year. He replaced
Chicago Cubs outfielder
Alfonso Soriano, who did not play due to injury, as the starter in right field, and hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. For the month of July, he batted .370 with eight home runs and 24 RBI, .660 slugging percentage and 24 runs scored in 27 games. Holliday's August totals included 11 stolen bases and 30 runs scored in 28 games, six home runs, nine doubles and a .392 on-base percentage. Defensively, Holliday was first in
ultimate zone rating (.900), fourth in fielding percentage (.991), fifth in total chances (252) and fifth in
putouts (240) among all MLB left fielders. His total chances and putouts came in approximately 100 fewer innings than those players ahead of him.
Oakland Athletics (2009) Unable to agree to an extension, the Rockies traded Holliday on November 12, 2008, to the
Oakland Athletics for pitchers
Huston Street and
Greg Smith, and outfielder
Carlos González. Holliday began working with former A's and Cardinals first baseman
Mark McGwire as a personal hitting
coach during the 2008–09 off-season, prior to McGwire becoming the Cardinals' official
hitting coach the following off-season. After spending most of the off-season on the trade market with the Rockies, Holliday was again a frequent subject of rumors during the spring. The Athletics failed to get off to a strong start and it was unlikely the club would have been able to re-sign him over the course of the season or if he would have had become a
free agent following the season. He also got off a slow start as minor injuries hampered him while playing in Oakland. His first home run of the season came on the last day of April against the
Texas Rangers. He batted .240 in April, and, from May 11 until the
St. Louis Cardinals acquired him, improved to .316, .420 on-base percentage and .489 slugging percentage over 65 games. Reaching base five times in a May 17 loss to the
Detroit Tigers at
Comerica Park, he scored his first four-hit game and stolen base of the season. The A's defeated the
Minnesota Twins 14–13 on July 20 following a 10-run comeback, the largest in team history. Holliday contributed two home runs and six RBI, including a seventh-inning grand slam that tied the score at 13. This game marked the second time in his career in which he hit a grand slam plus another home run in his team's record-breaking comeback. The first such comeback had occurred with the Rockies the previous year, on July 4, against the Marlins. An offensive surge that boosted his trade value significantly by hitting .390 with a .422 on-base percentage and a .756 slugging percentage in his final two weeks in Oakland. His overall totals with the club included 93 games played while batting .286 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI.
St. Louis Cardinals (2009–2016) 2009–10: Second playoff push and new contract On July 24, 2009, the A's traded Holliday to the
St. Louis Cardinals for prospects
Brett Wallace,
Clayton Mortensen and
Shane Peterson and $1.5 million. He represented an instant offensive upgrade for the Cardinals in left field, where players had batted .212 with a .294 on-base percentage and a .342 slugging percentage in 2009. He hit in the fourth slot in the lineup behind All-Star
first baseman Albert Pujols. Because Pujols already wore
jersey number 5, the number Holliday wore with Colorado and Oakland, St. Louis issued Holliday the number 15. He had 20 hits in 33 at bats in his next nine games for a .606 batting average, .659 on-base percentage and 1.061 slugging percentage, with six doubles, three homers and 10 RBI. His combined totals in 26 games with Oakland and St. Louis in July included 40 hits, 20 runs scored, a .412 batting average, a .487 on-base percentage, a .612 slugging percentage, 13 doubles, four home runs, 22 RBI, 16 walks and four stolen bases. The Cardinals had a 20–6 record in August to stretch a
National League Central division lead from a half-game on August 1 to ten on September 1. In the third inning against the
Milwaukee Brewers on September 3, Holliday collected his 1,000th MLB hit. The Cardinals won the National League Central division crown to claim a playoff berth for the first time in three years. His aggregate totals with the A's and Cardinals included a .313 batting average, 24 home runs and 109 RBI. With the Cardinals maintaining a 2–1 advantage and two outs in the ninth inning, Holliday dropped a line drive off
James Loney's bat. Had he caught the ball, that play would have ended the contest for a Cardinals win and a 1–1 Series tie. Instead, Loney ended up on second base, setting the Dodgers up to eventually score the game-winning run for a 3–2 final margin. Los Angeles swept the best-of-five series, ending the Cardinals' season, Holliday filed for
free agency on November 5. He finished 16th in the NL MVP voting—including a fourth-place vote—despite playing nearly 100 games in the
American League. Both trades involving Holliday were later panned as failures for the A's, as two of the players they dealt away became multiple All-Stars. One was González, who won the 2010 batting title, Silver Slugger and
Gold Glove Awards with the Rockies. Street was the other All-Star. Jesse Spector of
Sporting News augured that the second deal was a "landslide win" for the Cardinals, even if they had never resigned Holliday in his free agency. On January 21,
2010, the Cardinals signed Holliday to a seven-year, $120 million deal ($ million today), and he switched his uniform number to 7 in honor of fellow Oklahoman
Mickey Mantle. The contract features a full
no-trade clause and a $17 million team option for 2017 or $1 million
buyout. It was the richest contract in team history At the Cardinals' annual Winter Warm Up, he was bestowed with a new nickname—"The Stillwater Stinger". Batting second, Holliday homered in four consecutive games from June 18 to 22. In a weekend series against
Oakland from June 18 to 20, he drove in eight of the Cardinals' 12 runs. He was named the National League Player of the Week for June 20, batting .435 with four home runs and eight RBI. Selected to the
All-Star Game on July 4 as a reserve player, he also participated in the
Home Run Derby. In the 10 games against both his former clubs, he batted .487, seven home runs, 13 RBI and nine runs scored. He batted .431 in a 16-game hitting streak from September 9–24. His .364 average for September and October ranked second in the NL.
2011–13: World Series championship, three consecutive NLCS appearances After hitting a home run on
Opening Day of
2011, Holliday had an emergency
appendectomy. He returned just nine days later, despite a forecast to miss four to six weeks. In seven consecutive plate appearances against the
Houston Astros on April 26 and 27, he reached base and did so in 10 of 15 plate appearances in that series. He made his fifth
MLB All-Star Game appearance and third
Home Run Derby. After two appearances on the disabled list twice that season, a different "injury bug" struck Holliday in a late August game against the
Dodgers. During the eighth inning, he left the game due to pain developing after a
moth had lodged itself deep within his ear. Team trainers removed it without further incident. As of August 28, the Cardinals were games behind the
Braves for the wild card playoff berth with 28 left to play. In a September 1 contest against the
Brewers, Holliday hit his 200th career home run, becoming the 300th player in MLB history to do so.
Tendonitis developed in his right hand on September 13, limiting him to three more starts the rest of the season. in the last game of the regular season; it was the largest lead surrendered in MLB history with 28 games left to play. In 124 games, Holliday batted .296 with 22 home runs, 75 RBI, 36 doubles, .388 on-base percentage, .525 slugging percentage, .912 OPS, and 151 OPS+, placing sixth in the NL in on-base percentage, seventh in OPS and OPS+ and ninth in doubles. In the
NLDS against the Phillies, Holliday's tendonitis reemerged, limiting him to start two of the five games in the series. He was in better health for the
NLCS against Milwaukee, batting .435 with 10 hits, against the
Texas Rangers. and the injury also kept him out of Game 7. The Cardinals won again and the Series, giving him his first
World Series ring. Although he had just three hits in 19 at-bats, Holliday walked seven times—the most since Bonds' 13 in the
2002 World Series—boosting his on-base percentage to .385 as he scored five runs. His 15-game hitting streak from June 27 to July 16 was a season-high for the club. From June 16 to July 6, he batted .500 with 10 doubles, 17 runs scored, four home runs, and 21 RBI; his batting average, on-base percentage (.549) and slugging percentage (.824) each led MLB. Holliday was named the NL
All-Star team to replace teammate
Yadier Molina when he went on the
bereavement list. On July 21, Holliday hit the longest home run recorded to date at
Busch Stadium. The ball traveled , flying past the "
Big Mac Land" sign into the second deck in left field. He held the record until
Brandon Moss surpassed that distance four years later. Safely hitting four times in five at-bats on August 26 against
Cincinnati, he also had four RBI and missed
hitting for the cycle by a home run. He singled in the first inning against the
Nationals on August 30 for his 1,500th career hit. Holliday finished the season with a .295 batting average with 27 home runs and 102 RBI. Eventually, the Giants won the series. The
Missouri Athletic Club named Holliday their Sports Personality of the Year for 2012. He left the July 11 game against the
Cubs early because of a tightened right
hamstring sustained while running to first base, prompting the Cardinals to place him on the DL. He returned July 27 against the
Braves. In another game against the Reds on August 26, Holliday's three-run home run was the longest at Busch Stadium in 2013 at . During the final road trip of the season, he collected 13 hits in 26 at bats. However, back
spasms kept him out of several games at the end of the regular season. The Cardinals set an all-time MLB team record by batting .330 with runners in
scoring position, and Holliday was fourth in MLB in those situations that year at .390. In all, he finished with 22 home runs, 94 RBI, and a .300 batting average. His MLB-leading 31 double plays grounded into were a career-high and set a new Cardinals' single-season franchise record. The Cardinals clinched the best record in the NL at 97–65, granting Holliday his fifth career postseason entrance, and fourth with the Cardinals. Faced with a must-win Game 4 situation against the
Pirates in the
NLDS, he hit a two-run home run in a 2–1 victory. The Cardinals advanced to their third consecutive
NLCS against the
Dodgers. Holliday started 0-for-13, but his Game 3 home run off
Ricky Nolasco to help St. Louis win, 4–2. The Cardinals defeated the Dodgers in six games, securing Holliday's third trip to the
Fall Classic, and second against the
Red Sox. Holliday collected six hits in 24 at bats with one double, one triple and two home runs for a .625 slugging percentage; however, the Red Sox claimed the title in six games. In the 2013 postseason, Holliday hit four home runs, 10 RBI and a .507 slugging percentage. He singled in
Jon Jay to
drive in the 1,000th run of his career on June 17 at Busch Stadium against
Washington, the 277th player in MLB history to do so. While batting against
Dan Haren of the
Dodgers on July 19, Holliday hit his
400th career double and hit a home run for his
1,000th run scored. The Arizona Fall League announced on July 20 that Holliday, along with fellow outfielder
Carl Crawford, were selected to their Hall of Fame. On September 12, his home run against the
Rockies was the longest home of the season at Busch Stadium and the second-longest in the
stadium's history, just after the one he had hit two years earlier against the Cubs. From August 30 to the end of the season, he batted .538 with RISP. He finished the season with a .272 average, 20 home runs, 90 RBI (eighth in the NL), 37 doubles, 83 runs scored, 74 BB (eighth), 247
times on base (sixth), .370 on-base percentage (10th) and .443 slugging percentage. Seventeen of Holliday's 20 home runs traveled at least ; his home run true distance average of led all MLB. For the ninth consecutive season, Holliday recorded at least 20 home runs, 30 doubles, 75 RBI and 80 runs scored, becoming just the fifth player in MLB history to do so. The others with this exploit were
Stan Musial (10),
Manny Ramirez (10), Pujols (10), and
Miguel Cabrera (nine). The Cardinals faced the
Giants in an
NLCS rematch but were defeated in five games. For the National League MVP voting, he placed 14th, marking the eighth time he received votes.
2015–16 Holliday opened the
2015 season with a 12-game hitting streak that evolved into a sequence of reaching base in each of the first 45 games of the season, breaking Pujols's National League record of 42 games to open a season which he set in
2008. It was the longest such streak in MLB since
Derek Jeter garnered 53 in 1999. Dating back to the end of 2014, Holliday's continuity of reaching base spanned 47 games. On June 8, Holliday suffered a right
quadriceps strain while diving for a fly ball off the bat of the
Rockies' Carlos González, and the Cardinals placed him on the 15-day DL. At the time, he was batting .303 with three home runs and 26 RBI, and had been receiving strong
fan support in the
All-Star Game voting. He continued to reap considerable vote totals in spite of missing a month, and eventually was chosen a starting outfielder for the first time in his career. He was rendered unable to play in the game due to the quadriceps injury. After returning from the DL, Holliday's first home run was a grand slam on July 21 against
Carlos Rodon of the
Chicago White Sox in an 8–5 win, his sixth career grand slam. He reinjured the right quadriceps on July 30, prompting the club to retract him to the DL. The Cardinals reactivated him on September 15 after missing 41 games. Holliday played 73 games and finished the season with a .279 batting average, .394 on-base percentage, .410 slugging percentage, .804 OPS, four home runs and 35 RBI in 277 plate appearances. The Cardinals started Holliday at
first base on Opening Day of the
2016 season, a position he had not previously played during his career. On May 6 against
Pittsburgh, Holliday collected his 512th hit at Busch Stadium, breaking his personal tie of 511 hits at Coors Field. Having already achieved 500 hits at both
stadiums, he became the only active player with at least 500 hits at multiple stadiums, and just the fourteenth to do so within the previous 50 years. Holliday hit a home run on May 30 that traveled off
Jhan Mariñez that nearly exited
Miller Park in a 6–0 defeat of the
Brewers. The next day, also against the Brewers, he collected his 1,000th career hit with the Cardinals. A fastball from the
Cubs'
Mike Montgomery on August 11, 2016, struck Holliday on the right thumb, fracturing it. The Cardinals placed him on the DL. Presented with the option to either allow the thumb to heal naturally or with surgery, Holliday elected surgery as that would have potentially allowed him to return before season's end. He encountered multiple delays in recovery. Having been informed in the final days of the 2016 season that the Cardinals would not pick up the option for 2017 worth $17 million, he was activated from the DL—although his thumb was still fractured—in time for the September 30 game against
Pittsburgh. He hit his first career pinch-hit home run in that game and 20th of the season. Holliday released a statement: "While I'm disappointed this could be it here in St. Louis, I understand that it might be time to move on." While his batting average had dropped to a career-low .246, Holliday was optimistic about a rebound. Because he produced the third-highest
exit velocity at of all hitters with at least 100 batted balls in 2016, he concluded that to "have my misses be more in the air than on the ground, my numbers could really get back toward where they have been my whole career."
New York Yankees (2017) After becoming a free agent for the second time in his career, on December 7, 2016, Holliday signed a one-year contract with the
New York Yankees worth $13 million, to become their primary
designated hitter (DH). One provision to the contract was an unusual, "enormously specific",
no-trade clause to one team: the Oakland Athletics. His first RBI and double for the Yankees came on the same play on April 4, 2017, versus the
Tampa Bay Rays at
Tropicana Field, in the third inning of a 5–0 Yankees win. His first home run for the Yankees was on April 7, on a pitch by
Baltimore Orioles starter
Ubaldo Jiménez in the third inning of a 6–5 loss. The following day, Holliday collected his 2,000th career hit versus
Kevin Gausman, a first-inning single, in a 5–4 loss to the Orioles. Holliday drew a career-high five walks on April 9, tying a Yankees franchise record. On April 28, Holliday hit a walk-off three-run home run off
Jayson Aquino, which capped a comeback after trailing 1−9, and helped a 14−11 win over the Orioles. Holliday hit his 300th career home run on May 3, versus
Marcus Stroman of the
Toronto Blue Jays. He became the 93rd player in major league history to reach that milestone along with 2,000 hits. On June 28, Holliday was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a
viral infection. On July 5, it was revealed that Holliday tested positive for
Epstein-Barr virus, which causes
mononucleosis. He hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning versus
Craig Kimbrel of the
Boston Red Sox on July 15, which the Yankees eventually won in 16 innings, 4−1. On August 6, Holliday was again placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a lower back strain. For the 2017 season, he batted .231/.316/.432.
Colorado Rockies (2018) On July 28, 2018, Holliday signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies assigned him to the
Albuquerque Isotopes. On August 23, Holliday was placed in the starting lineup, to play left field for the
Colorado Rockies at
Coors Field, against the
San Diego Padres. Infielder
Garrett Hampson was optioned to Albuquerque to make room on the 25-man roster, and in the process, Hampson's
uniform number 7 was given to Holliday; Hampson would wear #1 upon his return to the club in September. In 2018, he batted .283/.415/.434 in 53 at-bats. He had the slowest baserunning sprint speed of all major league left fielders, at 25.1 feet/second. He was the fourth-oldest player in the National League. Holliday elected free agency on October 29 and retired that offseason. He was voted into the
St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in May 2022, and was inducted to the "Red Jacket Club" in August 2022. Holliday was eligible for election to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame starting in 2024. However, he received less than the 5% threshold of votes needed to remain on the ballot in subsequent years. ==Coaching career==