Jackson Holliday has had a meteoric rise through the Baltimore Orioles minor league system since being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.
At just 19 years old, Holliday was called up to the franchise’s Triple-A affiliate after dominating three lower levels throughout the 2023 season.
But upon arrival in Norfolk, Va., Holliday ran into one big problem: He couldn’t get a hotel.
“I had to talk my way into a hotel last night,” Holliday said before his debut with the Tides on Tuesday, according to a video posted to Twitter by WAVY-TV’s Craig Loper II.
“They don’t take check-ins if you’re 19 — you gotta be 21.”
Holliday said he did, eventually, get a room for himself and his fiancee, but not before letting the hotel know that he had just been promoted to the local Triple-A team.
“I just got called up,” Holliday told them. “We need a hotel that’s safe and nice.”
He would make his Norfolk debut the next day, starting the game at shortstop and the leadoff spot of the Tides’ lineup, going 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and a run scored.
Holliday, the son of seven-time All-Star and former batting champion Matt Holliday, is regarded as the top prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com and FanGraphs.
In his first full minor league season, Holliday is hitting .325 with 10 home runs, 66 RBIs and 23 stolen bases over 110 games.
The young star, as one could guess, said he is pretty pleased with how his professional career is going.
“I’m just a normal kid that happens to be pretty good at baseball,” Holliday said, according to the Virginian-Pilot. “It’s pretty crazy what all has happened in a year, but I’m very grateful.”
“This is kind of what I dreamed of doing since I was little, so it was my only option,” he added. “I didn’t really have a Plan B or anything like that.
“Baseball is kind of what I’ve always planned on doing.”
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