Some people within the Orioles organization assumed that Holliday, son of former big leaguer Matt, probably would choose No. 7 if he had his way. His father wore that number for years, and Jackson wore it last year at the Futures Game, a prospect showcase that is part of MLB’s all-star event. But Holliday was not going to ask for it. He knew that number was sacred.
Years before Holliday was born, that number belonged to longtime Orioles coach Cal Ripken Sr. No Baltimore player had worn it since his son Billy sported it in 1988. It was not retired, but the Orioles had not been willing to give it to anyone else, either.
Yet as they planned for Holliday’s arrival, Orioles officials considered the possibility that Holliday might be the right player to bring No. 7 back into circulation. But giving No. 7 to Holliday was a bigger deal, even, than when they decided to give Mike Mussina’s old number, 35, to Adley Rutschman two years ago. Mussina is an all-time Orioles great, but the Ripkens are Orioles royalty.
Still, if the Orioles are right about him, Jackson Holliday is a once-in-a-generation type, too. So late Tuesday night, as Holliday was getting ready for an early-morning flight to meet the team in Boston, Orioles officials made a suggestion. And for perhaps the first time in a young professional baseball career marked by uncommon comfort on the field and in the batter’s box, Holliday seemed unsure.
“They were like, ‘You can call Cal [Ripken Jr.] if you want,’ ” Holliday said. “But I didn’t really want to bother him; it was like 11 o’clock at night.”
The next morning, at 7:45 a.m., Ripken’s phone rang. Holliday didn’t want to trouble the Hall of Famer, but longtime Orioles clubhouse attendant Fred Tyler didn’t mind. Tyler has worked for the Orioles longer than Holliday has been alive and has decades of history with the Ripkens. So with the Orioles open to the idea, Tyler called Ripken. He asked him how he would feel if someone else, after all this time, finally wore his father’s number.
“My immediate reaction was I thought it was great,” Ripken said. He checked in with Billy, who was supportive, too. Tyler passed along Cal Ripken Jr.’s phone number. Shortly thereafter, Holliday called the franchise icon, who didn’t allow the kid much time to fret.
“He was very respectful, but in some ways, I took over the call,” Ripken said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Are you in the lineup tonight?’ He said, ‘Yes, hitting ninth.’ I said, ‘Well, that won’t be for long.’ ”
Ripken told Holliday that he hit eighth and ninth for the first few weeks of his big league career, too. By the end of the call, it was done. A few hours later, Holliday debuted as the first Oriole to wear No. 7 in decades. And by the next day, Ripken — recently welcomed back into the organization as a part of David Rubenstein’s new ownership group — was doing interview after interview with national and local outlets, talking about the kid, the number and his father, who died in 1999.
“Because it’s being brought up now, it’s a nice way to remember Dad. We’re talking about Dad now,” Ripken said. “The spirit of the Orioles now, developing players in the minor leagues, sending really great talent to the big leagues — that’s what Dad was all about. For the first 14 years of my life, he was part of an organization that kept running really good players through the minor league system and sending them to the big leagues. So I just thought it was a wonderful time to connect that way.”
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