Gary Holle

Gary Charles Holle

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 6", Weight 210 lb.
• School Siena College
• High School Catholic Central High School (Troy)
• Debut June 2, 1979
• Final Game June 14, 1979
• Born August 11, 1954 in Albany, NY USA

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Biographical Information

Gary Holle was a 6' 6" first baseman who played five games in the major leagues. He was a basketball star at Catholic Central High School and an All-American at Siena College but went into baseball instead. He was eventually elected to the Siena sports Hall of Fame. His father had been a semi-pro baseball player, at the same height, and his children range in height from 6' 4" to 6' 8".

He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 13th round of the 1976 amateur draft. That year, he began his professional career, playing for two teams - the Newark Co-Pilots (69 games) and the Berkshire Brewers (four games). He hit a combined .320 with 19 home runs, 16 doubles and four triples in 73 games.

In 1977, he played for the Holyoke Millers, hitting .253 with 30 home runs and 25 doubles. He split the 1978 season between the Millers (71 games) and the Spokane Indians (65 games), hitting a combined .277 with 18 home runs and 84 RBI. On December 15, 1978, he was traded by the Brewers with Ed Farmer to the Texas Rangers for Reggie Cleveland. He spent most of 1979 in the minors, spending the first part of the season in the Rangers' chain, hitting .341 in 52 games for the Tucson Toros.

On June 2, 1979, he made his major league debut, appearing as a pinch hitter for Rangers outfielder Johnny Grubb. He grounded out in his only at-bat of the game. Although his defensive position was first baseman, he only played in the field in one game in his brief big league career. He was mostly used as a pinch hitter. He had six at-bats in the big leagues, collecting one hit. On June 14th, he played his final big league game, and on June 15th he was traded with Ed Farmer to the Chicago White Sox for Eric Soderholm. He finished the 1979 season with the White Sox Triple-A farm team, the Iowa Oaks, hitting .273 in 39 games for them.

He played for three minor league teams in 1980 - the Oaks, the Phoenix Giants and the Charleston Charlies. He hit a combined .316 with 12 home runs and 60 RBI in 111 games. In 1981, he played for the Edmonton Trappers, hitting .327 with 26 home runs and 88 RBI. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on October 30, 1981 with Dewey Robinson for minor leaguer Jose Castro, however he never played in the Phillies' system.

Overall, he hit .297 with 111 home runs in six minor league seasons.

Gary led the Pacific Coast League in batting one year.

He is the sales director at Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY. His son, Gary Holle, Jr., plays basketball at Siena College.

Related Sites

• Gary Holle at the SABR Bio Project