As a freshman, he struck out 25 batters in a no-hitter against North Carolina Central. In a game the next week, he struck out 24. He threw four no-hitters, one each season of his college career. As a senior, he led the NCAA with an earned run average of 0.26. He led the nation in ERA twice and in strikeouts twice.

That’s a Hall of Fame career. In June, college baseball will certify it as such when Holland is inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas. He’ll be the first Aggie to be inducted.

“This is one of the biggest honors I’ve had in my career,” Holland says. “When the guy called me and told me I was being considered, I was so elated and so happy. I’m so excited about it.”

When you talk to him about his career, several qualities keep coming up in the conversation. You can’t miss the gratitude in his voice when he talks about the opportunities he’s had, the people who helped him along the way and the honors he’s received (he’s a member of the N.C. A&T Hall of Fame and the MEAC’s).

The respect he has for both teammates and opponents is clear, especially when he talks about the best and most intense of them. The intensity he was famous for is still there, but now it sometimes comes out more as enthusiasm. And there’s a counterpoint of laughter throughout his conversation.

The left-hander didn’t do much smiling on the mound. With a Fu Manchu moustache and a tough-guy glare, he was a picture of intensity.

“People said I had a mean look,” he says. “I didn’t think I looked that mean. That’s what you call being dialed in. I was focused.”

At A&T, he was focused on two things: fastballs and strikeouts. “When I was pitching in college, I used nothing but fastballs, one after another for the entire game because I could overpower hitters,” he says.

The natural result of that overpowering fastball was strikeouts.

“That was my forte, man,” he says. “I was a power pitcher and I just did not believe anyone could hit me. I had that kind of confidence. … I was just a fierce competitor and whatever it took to win the ball game, that’s what I would do.”

That may sound more like a football state of mind, which would make sense because Holland actually came to A&T on a football scholarship. Growing up poor in Roanoke, Virginia, he knew his family couldn’t pay for college. It was football that got him in the door.

He was a four-year starter for coach Hornsby Howell. “I was a fullback, tailback,” he says. “I played a little quarterback, a little tight end. I was the punter. I did quite a bit.”

When he wasn’t playing five different positions on the football field, Howell agreed to let him play baseball as well. “We had a good club, a real good club,” he says. Mel Grooms was the coach; like Howell, he, too, is a member of the Aggie Hall of Fame. The team was a perfect fit for the intense Holland.

“We had a bunch of guys who had that same attitude,” he says. “You’re not going to beat us. We’re going to play, we’re going to hit, we’re going to run, we’re going to pitch. We’re going to get the job done.”

Holland was selected twice in the baseball draft, but stayed to complete his degree. His scholarship was worth more than the small signing bonuses he was offered, but he had a bigger reason for staying.

“One of the main reasons I did was because I promised my grandfather that I would graduate before I tried to play [professionally]. … When I promised him I would graduate from school, I had to. He’s the one who basically raised me.”

He received his degree in recreation administration and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a few seasons in the minor leagues and a trade to the San Francisco Giants, his career took off in 1980. He was traded to Philadelphia and had his best season in 1984: He was selected for the National League All-Star Team, posted a career-high 29 saves and was named the league’s top relief pitcher.

By the time Holland blew out his elbow – “It’s going to happen to anyone who throws as hard as I did” – and retired after the 1987 season, he had played with many of the greats of the era: Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Steve Carlton, Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell among them.

Today, he’s back home in Roanoke. He used to build decks and do some home renovation work, but now he’s retired. He still follows the game and keeps up with news from the campus. His unflagging enthusiasm for the game is clear when he talks about A&T’s acquisition of Memorial Stadium.

“I’m so proud and so happy that they got it,” he says. “That is so beautiful.

“Every time I come down there, I look at the front façade and see it crumbling, and I just say somebody needs to fix this thing up. It’s simply a beautiful place, just gorgeous. I love going there to watch a game.”

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