July 11, 2025 • 34 mins
Greg Olsen sits down with 7x MLB All-Star Matt Holliday, along with his sons, Jackson (Baltimore Orioles) and Ethan (#1 High School Prospect) to talk all things baseball. The crew discusses what it was like to grow up with Matt as a father, how Jackson has adjusted to the big leagues, and what Ethan's mindset looks like days ahead of the MLB Draft.Sign up for the Youth Inc. Newsletter here: https://www.youth.inc/newsletter
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey everyone, what's up? It's Greg Olson.
I just wrote the very first issue of the Youth Inc
newsletter and I wrote it for you.
Whether you're a parent, a coach, an athlete, this
newsletter is here to inform, inspire and entertain anyone who
cares about youth sports. Go to Youth dot Inc slash
newsletter and Sign up today. It's free, it's for our
(00:20):
community, and we are just getting started.
We all want youth sports to be better.
Join the movement. So everybody, welcome back to A
to a really fun, probably a highly anticipated episode here
on you think we we kind of have a an idea board where we say,
OK, who are our ultimate guests?What are the stories?
What are the families? What are the personalities that
(00:42):
best wrap up the ideas and the conversations we're trying to
have here on our you think platform?
And at the top of the list are the Holiday boys and I'm sure
their household names now and everyone understands, but Matt
Holiday, obviously former big leaguer All Star everything and
the journey of his his two boys,Jackson and Ethan, You know,
(01:04):
number one overall picks. We think another number one
overall pick. We're going to get into all of
that. But, you know, in a lot of ways,
you guys kind of, you know, are the you guys are the story of
the youth sports scene, multi generations.
How do dads coach their kids? And we're going to cover
everything and everything. So Matt Jackson, Ethan, I
appreciate you guys joining us here on You think.
(01:26):
Yeah. Thanks for having.
Us. Yeah.
Glad to be here. Well, I think it's pretty
fitting. So just tell us where you guys
are. So we're going to have some
video to this. So like that that feels to me
like when you walk in, it's likethis is where it all started.
Like this is the origin story ofthe holiday boys.
Like where are you guys? So we're, we have on our
property, we have a barn, I say barn loosely a metal building
(01:50):
that has now it has a batting cage in it and a pickleball
court. And this is, we do a lot of our
hitting stuff, but we really only had it probably for almost
2 years now of as a with a batting cage in it.
And it was just kind of a sport court type basketball set up,
but the boys wanted a cage and Iwanted pickleball.
(02:13):
So we, we've transitioned it into into pickleball and
baseball. And so this is we spent a lot of
time here. I was telling you before we came
on, this is the quietest space we have.
We have lots of dogs and loud dogs.
And, and, and so this is, this is our best bet at, at, at
quiet. And so here we are in, in in our
(02:35):
batting cage slash pickleball arena.
I love it. It feels like a very a very
fitting location for us to have this conversation because we're
going to dive into kind of the whole story and where it all
started. But I guess First things first,
and this is for the two boys. So Jackson, Ethan, feel free one
of you to jump in. So your old man, right?
He's a 300 lifetime hitter, 300 plus home runs, 1200.
(02:57):
I mean, the guy, the guy's done everything.
So I guess the first question, baseball fans around the country
want to know, like, which one ofyou is better than him?
Like who's breaking all of his records?
Like who's going to sit at Thanksgiving in the holidays and
be like, all right, I got the highest MLB batting average.
Which one's it going to be? Hopefully, both of us, hopefully
we can. Yeah, so so Dad's.
(03:18):
Going to be in 3rd. We're going to try our best.
You know, it's, it's a long roadahead of us, but we're going to
try our best. We got our goal with kind of
have a loose goal of like havingthe most time runs in the family
or, or trying, trying to do something like that.
But I think Barry Bonds probablyprobably covers a lot of his
dad's runs. So we've got a long way to go.
But no, it's it's pretty awesometo have a dad that had such an
(03:42):
unbelievable career. And we're lucky enough to be
able to grow up and in that and be able to go to the clubhouse
and hang out and, but yeah, hopefully one day we can climb
to the to the mountain top and. Is there like a bet?
Is there is there a bet amongst the families?
Like when it's all said and done, like whoever's in last has
to like, is it like, you know, fantasy football drafts where
like the loser has to do something embarrassing?
(04:04):
Is there anything, is there any stakes on this?
Maybe we should. Maybe we should make.
We should. Make them right now.
I feel like we should make them right now.
On on you think? We have one for lifting for me
and and him a long time ago, butthe big guy tore his hip in
half. So he's got no labrum in there.
And so we can't. I don't, I think he kind of got
a disqualified. Matt, these guys don't
(04:26):
understand how how hard it is toget old.
Yeah, I. Mean playing tennis a couple.
Weeks ago we we had, we had a couple bets on on lifts.
I, I think I'm still in good a good place.
Probably not the legs, the leg workout just because as you, as
you know, when you get done, youget done playing the motivation
to do an extremely hard leg workout is, is just not quite
(04:47):
what it used to be. So we had, we had something on
the line for that. But I, I definitely think that
there's I'm, I'm open to having a, a competition and a bet that
if you know, if they can't beat me in certain categories
someday, somebody has to cash inwith, with, with something.
(05:08):
So if you if you've got any goodideas, big or small, we're all
ears. Well, with, with the amount of
money you've probably spent on I'd literally 5 minutes before I
just came on here, I had to buy my so my kid now is playing
middle school baseball. So now they're doing BB core.
So for the, I don't even know what ABB core bat is like when
we were growing up, like you just used your buddy's bat.
(05:28):
Like whatever bat they brought into the dugout, we used it.
So I'm like researching BB core bats and he's telling me that
this bat stinks. And I look at it's $500 and it's
hard for me to believe it stinks.
I almost feel like your swing needs to be a little bit better.
So I can only imagine how much money you've spent.
So maybe there's like a hey, I'mkeeping tabs here and all this
this batting cage ain't free. This barn you're in a free
(05:49):
these. You know, I don't know if
they're getting lessons because they're probably just doing at
home, but I'm sure their bills pretty high that they could
start paying off here one day. Yeah, I like that.
I'll I'll start keeping tabs. I'll write them a bill at the
end of their their career. If they can't beat me, then
they'll they'll pay it all back.Tell my kids, it's like we got
$500 bats. We got three hits like that's
let's pick it up here. What the hell are we doing?
(06:10):
All right, so Jackson, what you know, you're you got to be a
senior. You pretty much live the life
that your brother now is living.You've been there.
You've gone through the the highs and the lows and the ups
and downs expectation when you guys are having those moments,
like give us a little insight into what are you telling him?
Like what can you share from your experience?
Fame at a young age. We're seeing it more and more
(06:31):
nowadays than ever before with social media.
We know who the best players arein Oklahoma.
We know who the best players arein California from the time they
were 1213 years old going to select fest and all these
things. So what is the advice you've
learned from your journey that now you can pass and share, that
you share with your brother, butnow you can share with all of
our listeners who may find themselves in a similar
(06:53):
situation with their son or daughter?
Yeah, I mean, a lot of what Ethan just said is kind of what
what I've been telling him as far as like kind of how he's
been handling this year. I mean, I was lucky enough to to
get to play with him. And I mean, I wasn't the biggest
deal going into my senior year. I wasn't expected to get drafted
(07:14):
even in the top of the top of the first round.
So high school baseball was it was really important for me.
And it's kind of something that really helped show all of the
the the gains that I made in between the my last summer ball
game and my first high school game was, was, was training and,
and, and developing. And that that senior year for me
(07:35):
was really important. And it kind of led me to where I
got drafted. But yeah, I think enjoying it
and, and, and making it a priority to, to have fun and,
and, and enjoy playing with yourteammates in high school because
it's really the last time that you get to just just go out and,
and play. And you're not playing to, to,
to earn someone's, I guess like approval and, and get promoted
(07:57):
and, and all that. I think high school baseball is,
is, is really fun. And as far as travel ball, I
think just playing for, for a team that values the right
things. That was something that was
important for, for us. That's why we play for, for the
Scorpions and we didn't go out and play for these teams that I
guess pick their players. And just like the coach said,
(08:18):
all right, go out, go out and play.
We played for, for a coach that really was intentional about
growing you as a person, teaching you the right things
as, as, as far as being a man and, and also learning how to
how to play the game the right way.
I think honestly, all of all of my travel coaches growing up
were very similar. And in that department from,
from as long as I can remember, they taught the fundamentals of
(08:41):
the game and, and how to play the right way and as far as
hustling on and off the field and, and, and controlling what
you can control. And I was very, very fortunate
to to grow up and, and have a lot of really good coaches.
And I mean, outside of him, obviously he was fine.
Yeah, he was all right. Yeah, yeah.
So whenever he was at the field,I was, I was, like I said, lucky
(09:04):
enough to have a lot of coaches that were very, I guess, hands
off when it came to, to, to hitting and, and kind of
understood how to just teach us as little kids to, to play the
right way. I love it.
All right, so Matt, now I'm going to kick to you.
So right, so you so you see yourboys and one of them's journey
is obviously very young. The other one is kind of the
next phase now as as he transitions to a full time big
(09:26):
leaguer and obviously had the success he had early on in his
big league career. So now just talk to us as dad,
right. So for all the families that are
listening, you have a son, a daughter, they show early, you
know, interest in sport. They show early, you know,
abilities. Maybe they have some natural,
you know, natural skill sets. Give us an idea of along the way
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when you knew it was time to push and encourage and challenge
and when you knew it was time toOK, hey, this, this, this could
be a little bit too much too early.
I think that's, that's probably the most common question and the
most common issue that families are going through around the
country is how do I keep up and give my child every opportunity
(10:09):
to be successful and every opportunity to keep up with the
other kids he's competing against In your own town, team,
community, whatever. But also understanding at
certain age, at at certain age groups, there's different levels
of appropriateness, right? There's different levels of
seriousness and whatnot. So how did you manage that from
the early days and how do you still manage it now with a big
(10:30):
league son and a high school senior?
Yeah, I mean, look, I think if your kid has a passion to
practice, I always told him like, if you like to practice,
then you have a chance to do this and pursue this at a high
level. If this is something you want to
do and your free time has come over to, to the, we want to go
(10:53):
to the cages, I'll throw to you all day.
Like, you know, it's, it's got to be your idea.
And so I think that there's an element of if this is what you
like to do and this is what you like to practice, then I'm all
in. I want you to pursue what you
like, to practice, what you're passionate about.
Yeah, it's so, it's so true. And I'll tell you so.
I grew, I played baseball growing up in a limited fashion.
(11:13):
We played on the local town, youknow, All Star teams or whatever
in the summer. But I I stopped playing come
high school and, you know, spentmore time obviously playing
football and what not. So I've really learned more
baseball now just as a dad, as ayouth coach, as just being
around my two boys who have played it since they were five.
And now they're in in middle school and getting ready to kind
(11:33):
of move on to school ball, whichis awesome.
So I don't have the brain for baseball.
I'm the first one to admit it. Like if I caught one out of
every three passes, I'd jump offa bridge, you know?
And like this whole notion of like, hey, you went over 4, It's
OK. Like, I have a hard time
processing it. So Matt, I want to, I want to
jump to you here for a second. I think again, I'll speak first
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person here. One of the hardest things that
I've struggled with as a dad with youth sports is feeling is
finding the right coaches to say, OK, here's my son, here's
my daughter. You've got them.
You have their best interest. And I'm just going to go sit
over there in the corner and mind my own business.
When you find those people there, it feels like you've
(12:15):
struck gold. And sometimes you find the
complete opposite. So what was your approach when
you're trying to place your boyson the correct travel ball team
or you're trying to decide whichshowcase to go to and who's
running it and what camp? You know, college coaches, all
the things that come with it. What were some of the factors
that you looked at? What were the red flags?
How did you find the best environments to not only develop
(12:37):
your sons as men, but also then obviously develop them as
athletes? Yeah, I would say, first of all,
I would keep him away from Mark Reynolds.
So I mean that would probably bewhere.
That's probably been my biggest mistake.
That's probably been where my myson's career.
Yeah, exactly. That's well said.
No, he only had 299 home runs. I think it's kind of hard to be
(12:59):
coached by a guy who's under 300, don't you think?
I mean, how do you retire at 299, Mark?
Yeah. I know he's, he's unbelievable.
You know, I, I think for me, I think sometimes you ask
questions, right? You ask other people that have
been coached by maybe a potential coach, like, you know,
(13:20):
a lot of times when we move to new cities or something and
we're looking for a team to get the boys in in involved with.
I think doing some research on the experience that other
parents have had. I mean, maybe just maybe asking
around, asking some questions about, you know, to me, it
wasn't necessarily like I felt like, you know, and this I'm a
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little bit, you know, I guess a really different situation when
it comes to baseball, because I didn't really care how much
knowledge they had about necessarily hitting or, or a lot
of those things, because I felt like that's that was sort of my
job as a dad who played Major League Baseball was to help them
with those things. But I, I really love, you know,
the people, you know, like, likehe was talking about with, with
(14:02):
Johnny Goodrich, who coached theboys in, in summer baseball with
the Scorpions, because he would challenge them on the things
that I would challenge them. Make sure they're playing hard,
playing team baseball. And, and it's not just a
showcase that we're out here to hit it as far as we can and to
throw it as hard as we can and then run as fast, you know,
aimlessly running or, you know, trying to steal because you want
(14:24):
to, You're just trying to accumulate stats.
I think teaching them how to play the game and teaching them
the right way that, you know, ifthere's a man on 2nd nobody out,
we're trying to get him over to,to, to help the team get another
run to help the team win, right?That there's a, there's a,
there's a way to play that wins games.
And there's a way to play where the guy gets up there and
doesn't matter what's going on around him, he's trying to hit a
(14:46):
home run because he's worried about what his perfect game
rating is or what college scoutswatching or, you know, trying to
impress to, to put it on his social media.
I think that's dangerous. I think that if that's the
motive, I, you know, that's, youknow, I know my brother's the
head coach at, at Oklahoma Stateand, and knowing that he's, he
(15:07):
would rather watch a kid fight like heck to hit a ground or to
2nd to get the runner from 2nd to 3rd.
That says more about the player and the character of the player
than if the kid gets up there and hits the foul pole.
And on the pool side, I mean, I think that there's, there's, you
know, sometimes we get caught upin the wrong things and what
coaches are actually looking for.
And, and, and I think that that's, that's the sign of sort
(15:30):
of where we are. And I think that we're fighting
against that, right? Of, of everything is, is the
best on social media. And, you know, everybody wants
to post their, their homers and,and, and this, this narrative
that it's all about you, right? And it's taken away from some of
the team, team aspect of baseball and football and
basketball. And so I, I think that I was
(15:52):
looking for coaches and, and finding them places to play
where it was a team environment.They're trying to win the, the,
the coach was in it for the right reasons, which I think
sometimes can be tricky. But I think that that's, you
know, I think that's sometimes it's, it's you, you find out
later that maybe you got the wrong read.
But I think, you know, try to dosome research, try to figure out
(16:16):
if other people have had good experiences with them.
But to me, finding a coach that healthy wants to win.
I mean, I think sometimes, you know, when you're 8:00 and 9:00,
if you're slamming the clipboardbecause you lost the game in the
next year innings or you throw akid 145 pitches so that you win
the championship. Like I think that there's a
there's a healthy balance here. But I think the emphasis on
(16:38):
teaching kids how to play the right way is it was important to
me and I think should be important to parents.
I want you guys to stay there for a second.
I'd be curious the boys perspective of this because so I
coach 12 year olds. So my son's 6th grade team, all
of our boys live within 1015 miles of each other.
We practice together every week.We go work out in the off
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seasons. Like it is a community travel
ball team and a lot of these teams will come up against,
we'll have teams from, we live in North Carolina, they'll have
kids from Texas, Georgia, Florida, California, they fly
in. It's a different roster every
weekend and again, to each theirown.
A lot of people find a lot of pleasure in that and and I have
no issues with that at all. People do what they do.
(17:21):
But I'd be curious the the the two boys like what your
perspective as you look back? Well, Ethan, you're kind of
still in it. But Jackson, as you look back,
when you look back to your earlycult travel ball days when you
weren't playing with your buddies at school, like, what do
you remember the most? Because I try to preach to the
kids. Like we're going to remember the
offseason winter workouts when all 12 of the boys were all here
(17:42):
together. And we're going to know that
after a tough loss on Sunday andbracket play come Tuesday, the
same 12 boys that lost on Sunday, we're going to come back
to the field on. We're going to come back to the
field on Tuesday and we're goingto make some mistakes.
And we're going to figure out why we didn't handle that bunt
in the last, you know, the last inning the right way.
And we didn't handle our cuts and we threw a ball away.
And whatever the issues were that 'cause we're going to coach
(18:04):
it, we're going to fix, we're not going to just replace you.
We're going to try to actually get you better to improve it.
So as you guys look back, like what would you tell these 12
year olds that want to chase thetop team in the top showcase and
they want to just make sure they're PG ranking to your, to
your, to your point, Matt is where it needs to be here.
In your shoes, as you look back to those ten 1112 year old
(18:25):
years, like what was important to you getting you to where you
are now versus maybe what you thought was important when you
were 10 or 12? Oh man, I think.
Honestly. When I was 10 through 12, most
of my memories are like going onlike different trips with, with
our team and like playing travelball in like Kansas City or like
(18:48):
going somewhere else in, in Missouri and playing in the
hotels and like Ding Dong ditching people and like running
through the halls. Like that's, that's what I
remember the most. But I'd say one of my more
memorable teams was when I was like 12 years old and we were
like one of the best teams in, in Missouri.
And we went and rolled through every team and won every
tournament. And, and I still keep in touch
(19:09):
with some of the guys that were,were on that team.
And I think we had like, we end up having like 8 kids that went
and played Division One baseballor, or something like that,
something crazy. But, but I just remember having
so much fun playing and, and winning tournaments and, and
just playing the game the right way.
And, and we like to play together.
And we went to Myrtle Beach and won tournaments there and, and,
(19:32):
and travel all around Missouri. But that's, that's what I
remember. I remember we would hang out off
the field and, and on weekends and, and we were, we were pretty
tight knit group for, for 12 year olds.
Like, like you said, you got thesame, same group of guys.
And, and that's, that's what we had.
We didn't. I didn't end up playing really
travel baseball until I was about I guess 15-16 years old
was the first time I started travelling and and not playing
(19:55):
for I guess a local team. Yeah, I mean, that's probably
what the. Latest and I think it's a.
Great point. So you're the number one overall
pick and when you're 10 and 12, granted your teams are good.
Don't get me wrong. We don't practice all year
because I don't want to win. We're not we're not big like
into the whole losing thing. I say, you find me a good loser,
I'll show you a loser. Like we got to teach these kids
(20:17):
that performance and practice and and being held to a standard
actually results in success bothindividually and collectively.
So I'm with you on the winning thing.
And if you win as many games as you can, but there was that
community component where you are playing with your buddies
and you're traveling and you're in the hotel and you're going
for pizza after the game and andhanging out.
And then at 1516, I'm assuming you start going to play for some
(20:38):
of those bigger national teams and you're flying in with other
top future college kids or MLB kids where you're putting
together really top tier national teams to go against
other very top tier national teams.
Is that kind of an active description?
Of what you did. Yeah, I mean I.
I played up growing up a little bit.
I always played on, on older teams, I always play like a year
(21:00):
or two up until, I mean, until like my last year travel ball,
even even my second to last yearplaying, I was playing on with
teams that were, were seniors and, and guys that were year old
than me and, and I enjoyed it. But yeah, I think I was probably
16 when I started travelling and, and I guess meeting up, but
(21:20):
it was with that Scorpions team and I end up playing for them
for, for two years. But yeah, I'd say I was on the
later side as far as going to Atlanta and and Hoover and and
all these tournaments. So what about you?
So. Ethan So so your, your brother,
typically what I find is like the younger brother gets into it
faster just because they kind ofdo what the older brother does.
So Ethan, what what was your baseball like?
(21:42):
What when did the travel real high level competitive National
Baseball world start for you? I want to.
Say I played on my first team inFlorida when I was 14, maybe
going into my freshman year, I want to say.
So this is all. Big field.
So you guys are all now on the 6090.
You're all on the big field. It might.
Have been a year earlier it might have been going into my
(22:04):
8th grade my 8th grade school year yeah so pretty early, but
like staying with Jackson like we I played in Missouri with a
really good team We we boat raceteams and we played in big, big
tournaments in Missouri went to Kansas City all all these fun
things but we both played for the same summer coach in Florida
named the scorpions. Johnny Goodrich was our head
(22:26):
coach, so just having him was, was huge during that whole
process. And yeah, I mean, travel
baseball is awesome. There's some amazing things in
travel baseball, but there's also some, some things that I
would recommend people just being careful with and not
getting too caught up in the media.
There's a lot of social media going around and, and travel
(22:47):
baseball and youth baseball. And I know kids love it, but
just not just not getting your head wrapped, wrapped around too
much. So I mean, travel baseball is
great. And yeah, we, we had a good, we
had a good experience with, withall of our travel teams.
That's awesome. Matt, what speak for your
brother? I know he's a coach at Oklahoma
State and and obviously you guyshave a close relationship with a
(23:07):
lot of coaches all around the country.
What would you say to the families that that say your kid
doesn't get recruited at high school, Your kids getting
recruited off the summer circuit, he's getting recruited
out of showcases. Go to everyone you can.
None of the college guys care what he does for his high school
team. Is that real?
Or would you would you counter that?
Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's real.
(23:27):
I mean, I think that obviously if you can, if you if you wind
up in a pocket and at the USA team, you know, there's a
there's a tournament that they have that's, it's got a lot of
the the top travel teams in, in Kerry at the USA complex, right?
Yeah. That's not far from us.
You if you. Wind up playing in that
tournament. Yeah, there's going to be a lot
(23:48):
of college coaches there, but there's also a lot of college
coaches. So say you live in, in, in North
Carolina, right? So at at at high school, the NC
State coach, the UNC coach, the Duke coach, all those coaches,
East Carolina and Norbio get mad.
So those those coaches are, are keeping in tabs and hearing from
(24:11):
high school coaches. And they know the high school
coaches in the area and they're friends with the high school
coaches. And they say, hey, hey, coach
Avent at NC State, like, you know, I got a player, you know,
he's a, he's a he's a, he's a sophomore, a junior.
You need to keep your eye on him.
Like he's he's a good player. So what does he do on the next
off day? They have where that high school
is playing? He drives over there and
(24:32):
watches, right? And so he invites him to camp
if, if kids want to get recruited, especially now that
they've changed the rules a little bit where you can't get
offered till your junior year and you can't take business till
your junior year. If you want to get recruited,
you should go to camps of the schools that you want to go to.
And if you can't afford that, then play high school baseball
and, and, and, and do some, sometravel if you can to, to.
(24:55):
But the idea that you only get recruited if you play in every
single perfect game or PBR tournament is, is not true.
I mean, they, they found, I tellpeople this all the time.
There was a guy named Bobby Jinxthat pitched for the Chicago
White Sox and scouts found him. He wasn't in high school.
He wasn't enrolled in school. He was throwing a bullpen.
(25:16):
He threw a bullpen in a barn in South or North Dakota somewhere
and the scouts found it right. He end up playing in the major
leagues and, and so the idea that somehow you have to play an
X number of tournaments or you have to play in this term or
that tournament for colleges to look at you to get a scholarship
to get recruited by the school that you want to go to is, is
not true at all. It's not true.
(25:36):
And it's, it's, it's actually quite the opposite.
I, I think, like you said, people, my brother goes to high
school games all the time and especially in the area that he
can get to, you know, on an off day or on a day where, you know,
they don't have a game and there's a high school game.
So, yes, are are there some tournaments during the summer
where there's it's easy for colleges to kind of congregate
(25:58):
and see a lot of players in a short amount of time?
Yeah, that that's true. But I, I think if, if I was
recommending, you know, wanting to get looked at by a certain
handful of schools, like if I was talking to you and your kids
were interested in playing college baseball, I would tell
them to go to the North Carolinacamp, to the NC State camp, to
(26:18):
the Duke. You know why?
Because coaches are looking at kids there and they're looking
and they say, oh, you know what,you got some talent for a 13
year old. I'm going to keep an eye on you,
and you should come next year tothis camp.
And then now to build a rapport.You know the coaches, because
you're a dad and you got your kid at his camp and now all of a
sudden you like what he does or you like this coach or you like
that coach and he likes you. And now all of a sudden when you
(26:41):
when you sign to go to that school, you know what you're
going to get. And I think that to me that that
seems like the healthiest model to try to find a school in a
school like your kids. Yeah.
Because there's a football guy there, you know, there was no
such. Nowadays there's like 7 on 7.
So that's like our version of travel baseball.
But again, it's not the same sport necessarily as traditional
(27:03):
football. But there you only got recruited
out of high school. Like there was no such.
So like, I'm it always like I can't wrap my head around it
when I hear all these people like talking down about high
school sports. That's why I love hearing Ethan.
He's going to be the top pick inthe draft and he's sitting here
saying, I can't wait to play high school baseball.
I can't wait to play with my buddies.
Like I think that is so important for all these other
(27:25):
families out there whose kid is not going to be the first
overall pick in the draft, let alone have two and say, Nah,
it's all about the summer. My high school team doesn't
work. My coach doesn't know any of
these coaches. And I just sit there and I look
at them and I'm like, man, I don't know who's telling you
this, but I'm out of, I don't know a lot about baseball, but
that just, that doesn't seem right.
Like that doesn't seem like that's the way it goes.
(27:48):
You know, I think, you know, thehis first game, probably March
1st, they'll be, they'll be 50 to 100 scouts there.
I mean, you know, I mean, if high school baseball didn't
matter, why would they come, right?
I mean, they've already seen himplay in the summer, you know?
And so if high school baseball didn't matter, then then they
wouldn't bother coming to high school games.
(28:08):
Yeah. And.
They'll be there, no question. And if I'm on your brother's
staff and I'm at Oklahoma State and he says, hey, you need to go
watch Ethan Holiday, he's not mynephew.
He's just the next best player in the area.
I want you to go watch him. You know what?
I'm coming to watch him. I saw him in summer ball.
I saw him at all the showcases. I saw him against the best
talent the country has and I know how good he is.
You know what I want to see? I want to see how he interacts
(28:31):
with his buddies. I want to see how his teammates
that know him, that go to schoolwith him.
If he strikes out, they come andslap him on the ass in the
dugout or they kind of look awayand go, shit, he ain't that
good. He's an asshole.
Like I could learn more about watching Ethan playing in a high
school game with the people who know him the best and the
community that knows him the best better than if he flew in
(28:51):
to play on the best team in the country.
And he's just out there saying, hey, I just got to worry about
me. Score means nothing.
These aren't my buddies. These aren't my friends.
I'm out here just trying to get mine.
I can learn more about him in two innings watching him play
high school baseball and he could strike out every time and
I don't even care. Like, that's not why I'm there.
So I couldn't agree with you more, man.
You could learn high school sports is where you learn who
(29:14):
you are, what you're about, and you know the way everyone else
treats him in the dugout will tell you how he treats all of
them throughout the course of the year.
Totally agree. Yeah, I totally agree.
That's been our experience as well.
Well, all right, I got. One more question for each boy,
and I'm going to let you guys roll.
All right, So Ethan, I'm going to start with you.
Just touch one more time. Just going forward.
(29:36):
Give me your goals. Give me what you're what, what
is I'm going to set back. What does your life look like
between now high school graduation and then again summer
draft? And we'll let all that sorted
out. Like I think it's so easy for my
13 and 12 year old boys to follow you on PG and follow you
on all the showcases and playingthe all American games and go,
(29:57):
this kid is so good. He hits the ball so hard.
I don't think they really know what you do on a daily basis to
be the best player in the country.
Like, give us an idea of your schedule, your day, your
routine. What do you do that goes into
what then everyone sees when they show up at the ballpark?
Yeah, well, I don't. Go to school.
(30:17):
I do online school, so that's kind of a why not hold on, you
can't skip. Over that you're burying the
lead. Hold on, how do why do you just
have enough credits or like how do you not go to school?
My now my kids are like, see dad, you don't know shit.
So when COVID happened, they offered a virtual stuff like
online version of high school here in, in Oklahoma, in
(30:38):
Stillwater. And so Jackson, like, you know,
nobody was going to school for awhile and then they kept the
same program. So basically you can still do
your, your, your school online here and, and, and be a
Stillwater high student, but youjust because it's block
scheduling. So you have 4 classes.
So he has four online classes. So every.
(30:59):
Every. Kid in America, right?
Every kid in America right now is going to mom and dad saying,
see, I want to be the number onepick.
All right, so all right, so now tell me your day because I'm
fascinated. Tell me.
Your day, It sounds incredible. So it.
Sounds like my day. I don't sleep till low, Jackson
says. I sleep till low.
I don't sleep till low. What time?
(31:19):
Do you get up? This morning I woke up at 88.
That's a good. That's a good time.
That's a good time, yeah. I got up today, We went, we
drove an hour and a half to Tulsa.
We we did our speed work and ouragility.
We drove home. We're doing this now and then
I'm about to go to practice and then I'm going to lift after
practice and then I'm going to hang out with the family and
(31:40):
then go to sleep. So.
Obviously. So this is a public school?
Yeah. So.
This is a public school. Are you the only like?
How many other kids on your teamdo this?
There's three kids that do it full time and then like probably
half the team does it. They do like one or two classes.
I love it. So in essence, again, all joking
aside, for what the future lookslike over the next couple months
(32:03):
for you, you're really just ableto get a head start on what pro
ball slash college ball, You know, whatever direction you go
kind of it's going to resemble more of what that schedule will
look like. You're just getting a, you're
just getting a little bit of a head start.
Yeah, no. Doubt.
I mean we. We spend usually the.
Whole day doing some sort of some sort of training to help us
(32:27):
in baseball, whether it's lifting, going to the speed guy,
hitting, taking our balls, doingextra stuff before practice,
doing extra stuff after practice, going to sporting.
Like we, we love going to sporting events.
Like we really respect, I reallyrespect other athletes.
I love watching them perform thestuff that they, they put so
(32:48):
much time in. But I mean, yeah, we, we get
after it. Like Jackson's been here for
three months or so and we've, we've gotten after it every
single day and we'll continue todo that.
We've always, we've always done that.
It's something I love. Like I love getting better every
day. I love just thinking 1% better
every single day. I like to think like earning my
(33:10):
shower, like I like to earn my shower at the end of the day.
That's good. Yeah.
I want to, I want to get after it.
And we eat super healthy. We eat super clean.
That's kind of been engraved in us since we were little with my
mom and dad. So yeah, we, we dedicate a lot
of, a lot of time and energy into being, being I guess great
baseball players, but also greathumans.
(33:31):
And yeah, so we we get after it.I'm jealous.
I'll be honest, I'm jealous. That sounds incredible.
Listen, I can't thank you guys enough.
You guys when I tell you are like have been at the top of my
list of like. How do I get these three guys
all together and just tell your story as sons, as brothers,
father, all of it is just everything that we talk about.
(33:54):
It doesn't hurt, obviously, thatin a couple months it could go 2
for two for the holiday boys as number one overall picks.
Hey everyone, what's up? It's Greg Olson.
I just wrote the very first issue of the Youth Inc
newsletter and I wrote it for you.
Whether you're a parent, a coach, an athlete, this
newsletter is here to inform, inspire and entertain anyone who
cares about youth sports. Go to Youth dot Inc slash
newsletter and Sign up today. It's free, it's for our
(00:20):
community, and we are just getting started.
We all want youth sports to be better.
Join the movement. So everybody, welcome back to A
to a really fun, probably a highly anticipated episode here
on you think we we kind of have a an idea board where we say,
OK, who are our ultimate guests?What are the stories?
What are the families? What are the personalities that
(00:42):
best wrap up the ideas and the conversations we're trying to
have here on our you think platform?
And at the top of the list are the Holiday boys and I'm sure
their household names now and everyone understands, but Matt
Holiday, obviously former big leaguer All Star everything and
the journey of his his two boys,Jackson and Ethan, You know,
(01:04):
number one overall picks. We think another number one
overall pick. We're going to get into all of
that. But, you know, in a lot of ways,
you guys kind of, you know, are the you guys are the story of
the youth sports scene, multi generations.
How do dads coach their kids? And we're going to cover
everything and everything. So Matt Jackson, Ethan, I
appreciate you guys joining us here on You think.
(01:26):
Yeah. Thanks for having.
Us. Yeah.
Glad to be here. Well, I think it's pretty
fitting. So just tell us where you guys
are. So we're going to have some
video to this. So like that that feels to me
like when you walk in, it's likethis is where it all started.
Like this is the origin story ofthe holiday boys.
Like where are you guys? So we're, we have on our
property, we have a barn, I say barn loosely a metal building
(01:50):
that has now it has a batting cage in it and a pickleball
court. And this is, we do a lot of our
hitting stuff, but we really only had it probably for almost
2 years now of as a with a batting cage in it.
And it was just kind of a sport court type basketball set up,
but the boys wanted a cage and Iwanted pickleball.
(02:13):
So we, we've transitioned it into into pickleball and
baseball. And so this is we spent a lot of
time here. I was telling you before we came
on, this is the quietest space we have.
We have lots of dogs and loud dogs.
And, and, and so this is, this is our best bet at, at, at
quiet. And so here we are in, in in our
(02:35):
batting cage slash pickleball arena.
I love it. It feels like a very a very
fitting location for us to have this conversation because we're
going to dive into kind of the whole story and where it all
started. But I guess First things first,
and this is for the two boys. So Jackson, Ethan, feel free one
of you to jump in. So your old man, right?
He's a 300 lifetime hitter, 300 plus home runs, 1200.
(02:57):
I mean, the guy, the guy's done everything.
So I guess the first question, baseball fans around the country
want to know, like, which one ofyou is better than him?
Like who's breaking all of his records?
Like who's going to sit at Thanksgiving in the holidays and
be like, all right, I got the highest MLB batting average.
Which one's it going to be? Hopefully, both of us, hopefully
we can. Yeah, so so Dad's.
(03:18):
Going to be in 3rd. We're going to try our best.
You know, it's, it's a long roadahead of us, but we're going to
try our best. We got our goal with kind of
have a loose goal of like havingthe most time runs in the family
or, or trying, trying to do something like that.
But I think Barry Bonds probablyprobably covers a lot of his
dad's runs. So we've got a long way to go.
But no, it's it's pretty awesometo have a dad that had such an
(03:42):
unbelievable career. And we're lucky enough to be
able to grow up and in that and be able to go to the clubhouse
and hang out and, but yeah, hopefully one day we can climb
to the to the mountain top and. Is there like a bet?
Is there is there a bet amongst the families?
Like when it's all said and done, like whoever's in last has
to like, is it like, you know, fantasy football drafts where
like the loser has to do something embarrassing?
(04:04):
Is there anything, is there any stakes on this?
Maybe we should. Maybe we should make.
We should. Make them right now.
I feel like we should make them right now.
On on you think? We have one for lifting for me
and and him a long time ago, butthe big guy tore his hip in
half. So he's got no labrum in there.
And so we can't. I don't, I think he kind of got
a disqualified. Matt, these guys don't
(04:26):
understand how how hard it is toget old.
Yeah, I. Mean playing tennis a couple.
Weeks ago we we had, we had a couple bets on on lifts.
I, I think I'm still in good a good place.
Probably not the legs, the leg workout just because as you, as
you know, when you get done, youget done playing the motivation
to do an extremely hard leg workout is, is just not quite
(04:47):
what it used to be. So we had, we had something on
the line for that. But I, I definitely think that
there's I'm, I'm open to having a, a competition and a bet that
if you know, if they can't beat me in certain categories
someday, somebody has to cash inwith, with, with something.
(05:08):
So if you if you've got any goodideas, big or small, we're all
ears. Well, with, with the amount of
money you've probably spent on I'd literally 5 minutes before I
just came on here, I had to buy my so my kid now is playing
middle school baseball. So now they're doing BB core.
So for the, I don't even know what ABB core bat is like when
we were growing up, like you just used your buddy's bat.
(05:28):
Like whatever bat they brought into the dugout, we used it.
So I'm like researching BB core bats and he's telling me that
this bat stinks. And I look at it's $500 and it's
hard for me to believe it stinks.
I almost feel like your swing needs to be a little bit better.
So I can only imagine how much money you've spent.
So maybe there's like a hey, I'mkeeping tabs here and all this
this batting cage ain't free. This barn you're in a free
(05:49):
these. You know, I don't know if
they're getting lessons because they're probably just doing at
home, but I'm sure their bills pretty high that they could
start paying off here one day. Yeah, I like that.
I'll I'll start keeping tabs. I'll write them a bill at the
end of their their career. If they can't beat me, then
they'll they'll pay it all back.Tell my kids, it's like we got
$500 bats. We got three hits like that's
let's pick it up here. What the hell are we doing?
(06:10):
All right, so Jackson, what you know, you're you got to be a
senior. You pretty much live the life
that your brother now is living.You've been there.
You've gone through the the highs and the lows and the ups
and downs expectation when you guys are having those moments,
like give us a little insight into what are you telling him?
Like what can you share from your experience?
Fame at a young age. We're seeing it more and more
(06:31):
nowadays than ever before with social media.
We know who the best players arein Oklahoma.
We know who the best players arein California from the time they
were 1213 years old going to select fest and all these
things. So what is the advice you've
learned from your journey that now you can pass and share, that
you share with your brother, butnow you can share with all of
our listeners who may find themselves in a similar
(06:53):
situation with their son or daughter?
Yeah, I mean, a lot of what Ethan just said is kind of what
what I've been telling him as far as like kind of how he's
been handling this year. I mean, I was lucky enough to to
get to play with him. And I mean, I wasn't the biggest
deal going into my senior year. I wasn't expected to get drafted
(07:14):
even in the top of the top of the first round.
So high school baseball was it was really important for me.
And it's kind of something that really helped show all of the
the the gains that I made in between the my last summer ball
game and my first high school game was, was, was training and,
and, and developing. And that that senior year for me
(07:35):
was really important. And it kind of led me to where I
got drafted. But yeah, I think enjoying it
and, and, and making it a priority to, to have fun and,
and, and enjoy playing with yourteammates in high school because
it's really the last time that you get to just just go out and,
and play. And you're not playing to, to,
to earn someone's, I guess like approval and, and get promoted
(07:57):
and, and all that. I think high school baseball is,
is, is really fun. And as far as travel ball, I
think just playing for, for a team that values the right
things. That was something that was
important for, for us. That's why we play for, for the
Scorpions and we didn't go out and play for these teams that I
guess pick their players. And just like the coach said,
(08:18):
all right, go out, go out and play.
We played for, for a coach that really was intentional about
growing you as a person, teaching you the right things
as, as, as far as being a man and, and also learning how to
how to play the game the right way.
I think honestly, all of all of my travel coaches growing up
were very similar. And in that department from,
from as long as I can remember, they taught the fundamentals of
(08:41):
the game and, and how to play the right way and as far as
hustling on and off the field and, and, and controlling what
you can control. And I was very, very fortunate
to to grow up and, and have a lot of really good coaches.
And I mean, outside of him, obviously he was fine.
Yeah, he was all right. Yeah, yeah.
So whenever he was at the field,I was, I was, like I said, lucky
(09:04):
enough to have a lot of coaches that were very, I guess, hands
off when it came to, to, to hitting and, and kind of
understood how to just teach us as little kids to, to play the
right way. I love it.
All right, so Matt, now I'm going to kick to you.
So right, so you so you see yourboys and one of them's journey
is obviously very young. The other one is kind of the
next phase now as as he transitions to a full time big
(09:26):
leaguer and obviously had the success he had early on in his
big league career. So now just talk to us as dad,
right. So for all the families that are
listening, you have a son, a daughter, they show early, you
know, interest in sport. They show early, you know,
abilities. Maybe they have some natural,
you know, natural skill sets. Give us an idea of along the way
(09:48):
when you knew it was time to push and encourage and challenge
and when you knew it was time toOK, hey, this, this, this could
be a little bit too much too early.
I think that's, that's probably the most common question and the
most common issue that families are going through around the
country is how do I keep up and give my child every opportunity
(10:09):
to be successful and every opportunity to keep up with the
other kids he's competing against In your own town, team,
community, whatever. But also understanding at
certain age, at at certain age groups, there's different levels
of appropriateness, right? There's different levels of
seriousness and whatnot. So how did you manage that from
the early days and how do you still manage it now with a big
(10:30):
league son and a high school senior?
Yeah, I mean, look, I think if your kid has a passion to
practice, I always told him like, if you like to practice,
then you have a chance to do this and pursue this at a high
level. If this is something you want to
do and your free time has come over to, to the, we want to go
(10:53):
to the cages, I'll throw to you all day.
Like, you know, it's, it's got to be your idea.
And so I think that there's an element of if this is what you
like to do and this is what you like to practice, then I'm all
in. I want you to pursue what you
like, to practice, what you're passionate about.
Yeah, it's so, it's so true. And I'll tell you so.
I grew, I played baseball growing up in a limited fashion.
(11:13):
We played on the local town, youknow, All Star teams or whatever
in the summer. But I I stopped playing come
high school and, you know, spentmore time obviously playing
football and what not. So I've really learned more
baseball now just as a dad, as ayouth coach, as just being
around my two boys who have played it since they were five.
And now they're in in middle school and getting ready to kind
(11:33):
of move on to school ball, whichis awesome.
So I don't have the brain for baseball.
I'm the first one to admit it. Like if I caught one out of
every three passes, I'd jump offa bridge, you know?
And like this whole notion of like, hey, you went over 4, It's
OK. Like, I have a hard time
processing it. So Matt, I want to, I want to
jump to you here for a second. I think again, I'll speak first
(11:54):
person here. One of the hardest things that
I've struggled with as a dad with youth sports is feeling is
finding the right coaches to say, OK, here's my son, here's
my daughter. You've got them.
You have their best interest. And I'm just going to go sit
over there in the corner and mind my own business.
When you find those people there, it feels like you've
(12:15):
struck gold. And sometimes you find the
complete opposite. So what was your approach when
you're trying to place your boyson the correct travel ball team
or you're trying to decide whichshowcase to go to and who's
running it and what camp? You know, college coaches, all
the things that come with it. What were some of the factors
that you looked at? What were the red flags?
How did you find the best environments to not only develop
(12:37):
your sons as men, but also then obviously develop them as
athletes? Yeah, I would say, first of all,
I would keep him away from Mark Reynolds.
So I mean that would probably bewhere.
That's probably been my biggest mistake.
That's probably been where my myson's career.
Yeah, exactly. That's well said.
No, he only had 299 home runs. I think it's kind of hard to be
(12:59):
coached by a guy who's under 300, don't you think?
I mean, how do you retire at 299, Mark?
Yeah. I know he's, he's unbelievable.
You know, I, I think for me, I think sometimes you ask
questions, right? You ask other people that have
been coached by maybe a potential coach, like, you know,
(13:20):
a lot of times when we move to new cities or something and
we're looking for a team to get the boys in in involved with.
I think doing some research on the experience that other
parents have had. I mean, maybe just maybe asking
around, asking some questions about, you know, to me, it
wasn't necessarily like I felt like, you know, and this I'm a
(13:41):
little bit, you know, I guess a really different situation when
it comes to baseball, because I didn't really care how much
knowledge they had about necessarily hitting or, or a lot
of those things, because I felt like that's that was sort of my
job as a dad who played Major League Baseball was to help them
with those things. But I, I really love, you know,
the people, you know, like, likehe was talking about with, with
(14:02):
Johnny Goodrich, who coached theboys in, in summer baseball with
the Scorpions, because he would challenge them on the things
that I would challenge them. Make sure they're playing hard,
playing team baseball. And, and it's not just a
showcase that we're out here to hit it as far as we can and to
throw it as hard as we can and then run as fast, you know,
aimlessly running or, you know, trying to steal because you want
(14:24):
to, You're just trying to accumulate stats.
I think teaching them how to play the game and teaching them
the right way that, you know, ifthere's a man on 2nd nobody out,
we're trying to get him over to,to, to help the team get another
run to help the team win, right?That there's a, there's a,
there's a way to play that wins games.
And there's a way to play where the guy gets up there and
doesn't matter what's going on around him, he's trying to hit a
(14:46):
home run because he's worried about what his perfect game
rating is or what college scoutswatching or, you know, trying to
impress to, to put it on his social media.
I think that's dangerous. I think that if that's the
motive, I, you know, that's, youknow, I know my brother's the
head coach at, at Oklahoma Stateand, and knowing that he's, he
(15:07):
would rather watch a kid fight like heck to hit a ground or to
2nd to get the runner from 2nd to 3rd.
That says more about the player and the character of the player
than if the kid gets up there and hits the foul pole.
And on the pool side, I mean, I think that there's, there's, you
know, sometimes we get caught upin the wrong things and what
coaches are actually looking for.
And, and, and I think that that's, that's the sign of sort
(15:30):
of where we are. And I think that we're fighting
against that, right? Of, of everything is, is the
best on social media. And, you know, everybody wants
to post their, their homers and,and, and this, this narrative
that it's all about you, right? And it's taken away from some of
the team, team aspect of baseball and football and
basketball. And so I, I think that I was
(15:52):
looking for coaches and, and finding them places to play
where it was a team environment.They're trying to win the, the,
the coach was in it for the right reasons, which I think
sometimes can be tricky. But I think that that's, you
know, I think that's sometimes it's, it's you, you find out
later that maybe you got the wrong read.
But I think, you know, try to dosome research, try to figure out
(16:16):
if other people have had good experiences with them.
But to me, finding a coach that healthy wants to win.
I mean, I think sometimes, you know, when you're 8:00 and 9:00,
if you're slamming the clipboardbecause you lost the game in the
next year innings or you throw akid 145 pitches so that you win
the championship. Like I think that there's a
there's a healthy balance here. But I think the emphasis on
(16:38):
teaching kids how to play the right way is it was important to
me and I think should be important to parents.
I want you guys to stay there for a second.
I'd be curious the boys perspective of this because so I
coach 12 year olds. So my son's 6th grade team, all
of our boys live within 1015 miles of each other.
We practice together every week.We go work out in the off
(16:59):
seasons. Like it is a community travel
ball team and a lot of these teams will come up against,
we'll have teams from, we live in North Carolina, they'll have
kids from Texas, Georgia, Florida, California, they fly
in. It's a different roster every
weekend and again, to each theirown.
A lot of people find a lot of pleasure in that and and I have
no issues with that at all. People do what they do.
(17:21):
But I'd be curious the the the two boys like what your
perspective as you look back? Well, Ethan, you're kind of
still in it. But Jackson, as you look back,
when you look back to your earlycult travel ball days when you
weren't playing with your buddies at school, like, what do
you remember the most? Because I try to preach to the
kids. Like we're going to remember the
offseason winter workouts when all 12 of the boys were all here
(17:42):
together. And we're going to know that
after a tough loss on Sunday andbracket play come Tuesday, the
same 12 boys that lost on Sunday, we're going to come back
to the field on. We're going to come back to the
field on Tuesday and we're goingto make some mistakes.
And we're going to figure out why we didn't handle that bunt
in the last, you know, the last inning the right way.
And we didn't handle our cuts and we threw a ball away.
And whatever the issues were that 'cause we're going to coach
(18:04):
it, we're going to fix, we're not going to just replace you.
We're going to try to actually get you better to improve it.
So as you guys look back, like what would you tell these 12
year olds that want to chase thetop team in the top showcase and
they want to just make sure they're PG ranking to your, to
your, to your point, Matt is where it needs to be here.
In your shoes, as you look back to those ten 1112 year old
(18:25):
years, like what was important to you getting you to where you
are now versus maybe what you thought was important when you
were 10 or 12? Oh man, I think.
Honestly. When I was 10 through 12, most
of my memories are like going onlike different trips with, with
our team and like playing travelball in like Kansas City or like
(18:48):
going somewhere else in, in Missouri and playing in the
hotels and like Ding Dong ditching people and like running
through the halls. Like that's, that's what I
remember the most. But I'd say one of my more
memorable teams was when I was like 12 years old and we were
like one of the best teams in, in Missouri.
And we went and rolled through every team and won every
tournament. And, and I still keep in touch
(19:09):
with some of the guys that were,were on that team.
And I think we had like, we end up having like 8 kids that went
and played Division One baseballor, or something like that,
something crazy. But, but I just remember having
so much fun playing and, and winning tournaments and, and
just playing the game the right way.
And, and we like to play together.
And we went to Myrtle Beach and won tournaments there and, and,
(19:32):
and travel all around Missouri. But that's, that's what I
remember. I remember we would hang out off
the field and, and on weekends and, and we were, we were pretty
tight knit group for, for 12 year olds.
Like, like you said, you got thesame, same group of guys.
And, and that's, that's what we had.
We didn't. I didn't end up playing really
travel baseball until I was about I guess 15-16 years old
was the first time I started travelling and and not playing
(19:55):
for I guess a local team. Yeah, I mean, that's probably
what the. Latest and I think it's a.
Great point. So you're the number one overall
pick and when you're 10 and 12, granted your teams are good.
Don't get me wrong. We don't practice all year
because I don't want to win. We're not we're not big like
into the whole losing thing. I say, you find me a good loser,
I'll show you a loser. Like we got to teach these kids
(20:17):
that performance and practice and and being held to a standard
actually results in success bothindividually and collectively.
So I'm with you on the winning thing.
And if you win as many games as you can, but there was that
community component where you are playing with your buddies
and you're traveling and you're in the hotel and you're going
for pizza after the game and andhanging out.
And then at 1516, I'm assuming you start going to play for some
(20:38):
of those bigger national teams and you're flying in with other
top future college kids or MLB kids where you're putting
together really top tier national teams to go against
other very top tier national teams.
Is that kind of an active description?
Of what you did. Yeah, I mean I.
I played up growing up a little bit.
I always played on, on older teams, I always play like a year
(21:00):
or two up until, I mean, until like my last year travel ball,
even even my second to last yearplaying, I was playing on with
teams that were, were seniors and, and guys that were year old
than me and, and I enjoyed it. But yeah, I think I was probably
16 when I started travelling and, and I guess meeting up, but
(21:20):
it was with that Scorpions team and I end up playing for them
for, for two years. But yeah, I'd say I was on the
later side as far as going to Atlanta and and Hoover and and
all these tournaments. So what about you?
So. Ethan So so your, your brother,
typically what I find is like the younger brother gets into it
faster just because they kind ofdo what the older brother does.
So Ethan, what what was your baseball like?
(21:42):
What when did the travel real high level competitive National
Baseball world start for you? I want to.
Say I played on my first team inFlorida when I was 14, maybe
going into my freshman year, I want to say.
So this is all. Big field.
So you guys are all now on the 6090.
You're all on the big field. It might.
Have been a year earlier it might have been going into my
(22:04):
8th grade my 8th grade school year yeah so pretty early, but
like staying with Jackson like we I played in Missouri with a
really good team We we boat raceteams and we played in big, big
tournaments in Missouri went to Kansas City all all these fun
things but we both played for the same summer coach in Florida
named the scorpions. Johnny Goodrich was our head
(22:26):
coach, so just having him was, was huge during that whole
process. And yeah, I mean, travel
baseball is awesome. There's some amazing things in
travel baseball, but there's also some, some things that I
would recommend people just being careful with and not
getting too caught up in the media.
There's a lot of social media going around and, and travel
(22:47):
baseball and youth baseball. And I know kids love it, but
just not just not getting your head wrapped, wrapped around too
much. So I mean, travel baseball is
great. And yeah, we, we had a good, we
had a good experience with, withall of our travel teams.
That's awesome. Matt, what speak for your
brother? I know he's a coach at Oklahoma
State and and obviously you guyshave a close relationship with a
(23:07):
lot of coaches all around the country.
What would you say to the families that that say your kid
doesn't get recruited at high school, Your kids getting
recruited off the summer circuit, he's getting recruited
out of showcases. Go to everyone you can.
None of the college guys care what he does for his high school
team. Is that real?
Or would you would you counter that?
Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's real.
(23:27):
I mean, I think that obviously if you can, if you if you wind
up in a pocket and at the USA team, you know, there's a
there's a tournament that they have that's, it's got a lot of
the the top travel teams in, in Kerry at the USA complex, right?
Yeah. That's not far from us.
You if you. Wind up playing in that
tournament. Yeah, there's going to be a lot
(23:48):
of college coaches there, but there's also a lot of college
coaches. So say you live in, in, in North
Carolina, right? So at at at high school, the NC
State coach, the UNC coach, the Duke coach, all those coaches,
East Carolina and Norbio get mad.
So those those coaches are, are keeping in tabs and hearing from
(24:11):
high school coaches. And they know the high school
coaches in the area and they're friends with the high school
coaches. And they say, hey, hey, coach
Avent at NC State, like, you know, I got a player, you know,
he's a, he's a he's a, he's a sophomore, a junior.
You need to keep your eye on him.
Like he's he's a good player. So what does he do on the next
off day? They have where that high school
is playing? He drives over there and
(24:32):
watches, right? And so he invites him to camp
if, if kids want to get recruited, especially now that
they've changed the rules a little bit where you can't get
offered till your junior year and you can't take business till
your junior year. If you want to get recruited,
you should go to camps of the schools that you want to go to.
And if you can't afford that, then play high school baseball
and, and, and, and do some, sometravel if you can to, to.
(24:55):
But the idea that you only get recruited if you play in every
single perfect game or PBR tournament is, is not true.
I mean, they, they found, I tellpeople this all the time.
There was a guy named Bobby Jinxthat pitched for the Chicago
White Sox and scouts found him. He wasn't in high school.
He wasn't enrolled in school. He was throwing a bullpen.
(25:16):
He threw a bullpen in a barn in South or North Dakota somewhere
and the scouts found it right. He end up playing in the major
leagues and, and so the idea that somehow you have to play an
X number of tournaments or you have to play in this term or
that tournament for colleges to look at you to get a scholarship
to get recruited by the school that you want to go to is, is
not true at all. It's not true.
(25:36):
And it's, it's, it's actually quite the opposite.
I, I think, like you said, people, my brother goes to high
school games all the time and especially in the area that he
can get to, you know, on an off day or on a day where, you know,
they don't have a game and there's a high school game.
So, yes, are are there some tournaments during the summer
where there's it's easy for colleges to kind of congregate
(25:58):
and see a lot of players in a short amount of time?
Yeah, that that's true. But I, I think if, if I was
recommending, you know, wanting to get looked at by a certain
handful of schools, like if I was talking to you and your kids
were interested in playing college baseball, I would tell
them to go to the North Carolinacamp, to the NC State camp, to
(26:18):
the Duke. You know why?
Because coaches are looking at kids there and they're looking
and they say, oh, you know what,you got some talent for a 13
year old. I'm going to keep an eye on you,
and you should come next year tothis camp.
And then now to build a rapport.You know the coaches, because
you're a dad and you got your kid at his camp and now all of a
sudden you like what he does or you like this coach or you like
that coach and he likes you. And now all of a sudden when you
(26:41):
when you sign to go to that school, you know what you're
going to get. And I think that to me that that
seems like the healthiest model to try to find a school in a
school like your kids. Yeah.
Because there's a football guy there, you know, there was no
such. Nowadays there's like 7 on 7.
So that's like our version of travel baseball.
But again, it's not the same sport necessarily as traditional
(27:03):
football. But there you only got recruited
out of high school. Like there was no such.
So like, I'm it always like I can't wrap my head around it
when I hear all these people like talking down about high
school sports. That's why I love hearing Ethan.
He's going to be the top pick inthe draft and he's sitting here
saying, I can't wait to play high school baseball.
I can't wait to play with my buddies.
Like I think that is so important for all these other
(27:25):
families out there whose kid is not going to be the first
overall pick in the draft, let alone have two and say, Nah,
it's all about the summer. My high school team doesn't
work. My coach doesn't know any of
these coaches. And I just sit there and I look
at them and I'm like, man, I don't know who's telling you
this, but I'm out of, I don't know a lot about baseball, but
that just, that doesn't seem right.
Like that doesn't seem like that's the way it goes.
(27:48):
You know, I think, you know, thehis first game, probably March
1st, they'll be, they'll be 50 to 100 scouts there.
I mean, you know, I mean, if high school baseball didn't
matter, why would they come, right?
I mean, they've already seen himplay in the summer, you know?
And so if high school baseball didn't matter, then then they
wouldn't bother coming to high school games.
(28:08):
Yeah. And.
They'll be there, no question. And if I'm on your brother's
staff and I'm at Oklahoma State and he says, hey, you need to go
watch Ethan Holiday, he's not mynephew.
He's just the next best player in the area.
I want you to go watch him. You know what?
I'm coming to watch him. I saw him in summer ball.
I saw him at all the showcases. I saw him against the best
talent the country has and I know how good he is.
You know what I want to see? I want to see how he interacts
(28:31):
with his buddies. I want to see how his teammates
that know him, that go to schoolwith him.
If he strikes out, they come andslap him on the ass in the
dugout or they kind of look awayand go, shit, he ain't that
good. He's an asshole.
Like I could learn more about watching Ethan playing in a high
school game with the people who know him the best and the
community that knows him the best better than if he flew in
(28:51):
to play on the best team in the country.
And he's just out there saying, hey, I just got to worry about
me. Score means nothing.
These aren't my buddies. These aren't my friends.
I'm out here just trying to get mine.
I can learn more about him in two innings watching him play
high school baseball and he could strike out every time and
I don't even care. Like, that's not why I'm there.
So I couldn't agree with you more, man.
You could learn high school sports is where you learn who
(29:14):
you are, what you're about, and you know the way everyone else
treats him in the dugout will tell you how he treats all of
them throughout the course of the year.
Totally agree. Yeah, I totally agree.
That's been our experience as well.
Well, all right, I got. One more question for each boy,
and I'm going to let you guys roll.
All right, So Ethan, I'm going to start with you.
Just touch one more time. Just going forward.
(29:36):
Give me your goals. Give me what you're what, what
is I'm going to set back. What does your life look like
between now high school graduation and then again summer
draft? And we'll let all that sorted
out. Like I think it's so easy for my
13 and 12 year old boys to follow you on PG and follow you
on all the showcases and playingthe all American games and go,
(29:57):
this kid is so good. He hits the ball so hard.
I don't think they really know what you do on a daily basis to
be the best player in the country.
Like, give us an idea of your schedule, your day, your
routine. What do you do that goes into
what then everyone sees when they show up at the ballpark?
Yeah, well, I don't. Go to school.
(30:17):
I do online school, so that's kind of a why not hold on, you
can't skip. Over that you're burying the
lead. Hold on, how do why do you just
have enough credits or like how do you not go to school?
My now my kids are like, see dad, you don't know shit.
So when COVID happened, they offered a virtual stuff like
online version of high school here in, in Oklahoma, in
(30:38):
Stillwater. And so Jackson, like, you know,
nobody was going to school for awhile and then they kept the
same program. So basically you can still do
your, your, your school online here and, and, and be a
Stillwater high student, but youjust because it's block
scheduling. So you have 4 classes.
So he has four online classes. So every.
(30:59):
Every. Kid in America, right?
Every kid in America right now is going to mom and dad saying,
see, I want to be the number onepick.
All right, so all right, so now tell me your day because I'm
fascinated. Tell me.
Your day, It sounds incredible. So it.
Sounds like my day. I don't sleep till low, Jackson
says. I sleep till low.
I don't sleep till low. What time?
(31:19):
Do you get up? This morning I woke up at 88.
That's a good. That's a good time.
That's a good time, yeah. I got up today, We went, we
drove an hour and a half to Tulsa.
We we did our speed work and ouragility.
We drove home. We're doing this now and then
I'm about to go to practice and then I'm going to lift after
practice and then I'm going to hang out with the family and
(31:40):
then go to sleep. So.
Obviously. So this is a public school?
Yeah. So.
This is a public school. Are you the only like?
How many other kids on your teamdo this?
There's three kids that do it full time and then like probably
half the team does it. They do like one or two classes.
I love it. So in essence, again, all joking
aside, for what the future lookslike over the next couple months
(32:03):
for you, you're really just ableto get a head start on what pro
ball slash college ball, You know, whatever direction you go
kind of it's going to resemble more of what that schedule will
look like. You're just getting a, you're
just getting a little bit of a head start.
Yeah, no. Doubt.
I mean we. We spend usually the.
Whole day doing some sort of some sort of training to help us
(32:27):
in baseball, whether it's lifting, going to the speed guy,
hitting, taking our balls, doingextra stuff before practice,
doing extra stuff after practice, going to sporting.
Like we, we love going to sporting events.
Like we really respect, I reallyrespect other athletes.
I love watching them perform thestuff that they, they put so
(32:48):
much time in. But I mean, yeah, we, we get
after it. Like Jackson's been here for
three months or so and we've, we've gotten after it every
single day and we'll continue todo that.
We've always, we've always done that.
It's something I love. Like I love getting better every
day. I love just thinking 1% better
every single day. I like to think like earning my
(33:10):
shower, like I like to earn my shower at the end of the day.
That's good. Yeah.
I want to, I want to get after it.
And we eat super healthy. We eat super clean.
That's kind of been engraved in us since we were little with my
mom and dad. So yeah, we, we dedicate a lot
of, a lot of time and energy into being, being I guess great
baseball players, but also greathumans.
(33:31):
And yeah, so we we get after it.I'm jealous.
I'll be honest, I'm jealous. That sounds incredible.
Listen, I can't thank you guys enough.
You guys when I tell you are like have been at the top of my
list of like. How do I get these three guys
all together and just tell your story as sons, as brothers,
father, all of it is just everything that we talk about.
(33:54):
It doesn't hurt, obviously, thatin a couple months it could go 2
for two for the holiday boys as number one overall picks.
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