The hype around young MLB prospects in recent years is continuing with the Baltimore Orioles calling up super-prospect Jackson Holliday. Jackson comes from a talented family, as his father Matt Holliday was a 15-year MLB vet who only retired in 2018. There have been several recent examples of sons making their MLB debut whose fathers also played in the majors. A good handful of those fathers have been former Rockies players. From Dante and Bo Bichette, to Charlie and Ke’Bryan Hayes, and the aforementioned Holliday duo. As of now though, only one father-son combo has each spent portions of their careers donning the purple and black; Eric Young Sr. and Eric Young Jr.
Rockies whose sons also played in the Majors:
*Eric Young Sr. – EY Jr.
Bruce Ruffin – Chance
Dante Bichette – Bo
Charlie Hayes – Ke’Bryan
Kevin Jarvis – Bryce
Matt Holliday – Jackson*Only father-son duo to both player for Colorado.
— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) April 14, 2024
The One True Rockies Father-Son Duo
Eric Young Sr.
Eric Young Sr. was a 43rd-round pick out of Rutgers by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1989 amateur draft. He got the call to the major leagues in 1992 and played 49 games for the Dodgers. After that season, he was taken by the Rockies with the 11th pick in their expansion draft. He became a cornerstone player in Denver for five years.
In the Rockies’ first-ever home game and at-bat, Young went deep. He made his lone All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger in 1996. That year he also led all of MLB with 53 stolen bases. That season helped propel Young to being the Rockies’ all-time stolen base leader with 180 bags as a part of the club. Young finds his name in the top 10 of other franchise statistics, as he is eighth in triples (28), tied for 10th in dWAR, and is tied for fourth all-time in on-base percentage (.378).
On August 19, 1997, Young was traded from the Rockies back to the Dodgers in exchange for RHP Pedro Astacio. Young played nine more seasons in the bigs before ending his playing days in 2006 and officially retiring in 2008 as a member of none other than the Colorado Rockies.
Eric Young Jr.
While Eric Young Sr. is known and celebrated as a Rockie, the same can’t be said about his son. Eric Young Jr. was drafted in the 30th round of the 2003 amateur draft out of Piscataway High School in New Jersey by the Rockies. His debut didn’t happen until 2009, and then his playing time was sparse. The most games Young Jr. ever played in a season with Colorado was 98 games in 2012. That year also happened to be the highest season OPS of his career at .825.
Young Jr’s disappointing tenure in Denver ended in 2013 when he was traded to the New York Mets at the deadline for RHP Collin McHugh. He bounced around after that with that second half in the Queens being the best season of his career. In July of 2019, he was released by the Seattle Mariners and never made it back to the majors.
Career Paths Intertwined
The careers of this Rockies father-son duo differ widely. Eric Young Sr. was an everyday player wherever he went, while also hovering around a league-average hitter. Young Jr. bounced around the league with little playing time and was only above the league average in hitting twice.
While that might be the case, both were in the league for one particular reason; their blazing speed. Young Sr. stole 465 bases in his career, and his son swiped 162. Although neither of them will ever make it to Cooperstown, they do have the distinction of being the only father-son duo to both play for the Colorado Rockies.
Photo Credit: © Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
