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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 13:02:06 GMT -5
 Aggies Pitcher Al Holland (1972-75) used the platform North Carolina A&T provided for him to pitch 10 years in Major League Baseball, and he represented North Carolina A&T on the biggest stage in baseball, the World Series. He is truly worthy of this honor, and we are looking forward to the ceremony."
Holland wore the No. 17 during his career at N.C. A&T (1972-75). Holland threw four no-hitters during his career, one in each year he pitched in Aggieland. His no-hitter as a freshman in 1972 against N.C. Central including 25 strikeouts. Holland finished the season with 143 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.54 as a freshman.
The following year, N.C. A&T's last in the NAIA, he recorded an ERA of 1.03 with 102 strikeouts. N.C. A&T moved up to NCAA status the following year, but Holland remained dominant. He posted a 0.95 ERA and 105 strikeouts as a junior and a 0.26 ERA and 118 strikeouts as a senior. Holland also played football during his time at N.C. A&T.
He finished his collegiate career as a two-time NAIA All-American. Holland made his MLB debut on Sept. 5, 1977, in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. He would go on to finish seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1980 as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
His breakout season came in 1983 when he won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award and the TSN Fireman of the Year Award while finishing in the top-10 in the Cy
Young and National League MVP voting.
As a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983, he saved Games 1 and 4 of the National League Championship Series. He also saved Game 1 of the 1983 World Series for the Phillies. In 1984, Holland was selected to play in the All-Star Game. Holland, 67, was inducted into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Hall of Fame in 1993.  |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 15:24:31 GMT -5
 My baseball coach while playing at Ayantee, Mel "Big Ten" Groomes. This is from his college yearbook in 1947 at Indiana. |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 15:51:43 GMT -5
 Aggie great and Negro League star Bert Simmons (1946-50).
As a teenager, Simmons’ high school had no baseball team, so he played with teams around his home in Tarboro, North Carolina. After graduation in 1941, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was sent to Raleigh, where he played for the Raleigh Tigers, a semi-pro team.
In 1943, Simmons enlisted in the Army and served in Europe with the Quartermaster Corps. After the war, Simmons attended North Carolina A & T State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1950.
While there is little documentation on his college career, Simmons often relayed in interviews that he had experience at all nine positions, but decided to try out for the baseball team as a second baseman.
“The team needed pitchers, and the coach got me to pitch,” Simmons said. “I could throw curves, so I decided to give it a shot.”
Simmons estimated that he went 35-7 on the mound for A&T. He played on three championship teams and twice earned all-conference accolades.
Following his baseball playing career, Bert Simmons remained an avid supporter of Negro League baseball and its importance in American culture.
His efforts were rewarded in 2008 when Simmons was “drafted” by the Baltimore Orioles in the Negro Leagues Player Draft, held prior to the Major League draft at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Each Major League club drafted a surviving former Negro Leagues player, who represented every player who did not have the opportunity to play baseball in the major leagues.
Mr. Simmons passed away in 2009 at age 85. |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 20:56:35 GMT -5
 No other sizes of this image found 1949 North Carolina A&T Aggies Baseball TeamFirst row: “J.B.” (bat boy), Sam Burton, Bill Scurry, Robert Blue Daniels, Howard Rouse, Len Harshaw, Tom Alston, Robert Smith, Cecil Goines, Al Mortgage, Jimmy Robinson, Charles Hutton (bat boy)
Second row: Ernest Canada, Bill Blakely, James Robinson, Donald Henry, Hubert Simmons, Coach Joseph Echols, Harold Greene, Guy Bass, Lionel Jackson, Helbum Meadows, Al Parks.
Photo courtesy 1950 Ayantee, yearbook of North Carolina A&T. |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 21:05:18 GMT -5
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 4, 2020 21:10:17 GMT -5
 1951 North Carolina A&T Aggies Baseball Team PhotoLeft to right: Alfred Morgan, CF; James Robinson, 2B; Robert Parks Smith, LF; Eugene Tapscott, P; Raymond Johnson, P; Lionel Jackson, P; Helburn Meadows, C; Ernest Canada, P; Earl Richards, P; Howard Hair, 3B; Alfred Braxton, 1B; Howard Rouse, RF; Haywood Mims, SS; Edward Martin, P.
Photo courtesy 1952 Ayantee, yearbook of North Carolina A&T. |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 8, 2020 16:06:09 GMT -5
 1910 Agricultural and Mechanical College of North Carolina
Baseball Team |
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 11, 2020 22:40:10 GMT -5
 1935 A&T College baseball team photo
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Post by aggierattler on Apr 13, 2020 0:07:08 GMT -5
This is one of my prized contributions to this thread...  1930 Palmer Memorial Institute Baseball Team Photo
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