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Every morning when
Damon Hollins wakes
up and turns on his
cell phone, he hears
the same
salutations.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder knows the messages so well, he mouths the words as he listens to the voice of his mother, Deborah Watson, telling her only child: "Damon, good morning. Have a good day. I love you. Don't worry about nothing. Talk to you soon. Now just go out there and do your best."
Hollins, a native of Fairfield who grew up in Vallejo, has taken the motherly advice and run with it in his meandering professional baseball career. How else to describe the path taken by a guy who was drafted in 1992, made his major-league debut in 1998, did not return to the Show again until 2004 and did not stick on a big-league roster until last season?
More than a decade's worth of riding Triple-A buses in the minors has made Hollins a profile in perseverance as well as a highly respected part of the young Devil Rays clubhouse. Finally, more than 14 years after being the Atlanta Braves' fourth-round draft choice out of Vallejo High School, he feels like a big leaguer.
"Every guy has a different story, and everybody's not going to get to the big leagues as fast as certain people," Hollins said in the Devil Rays' clubhouse just before the All-Star break. "That's just how things work. But you've got to keep working, just got to keep plugging away.
"One of the good things that happened for me was I did play in the big leagues when I was 23 years old, even though I was only there two weeks. It just gave me that sense of urgency."
It was on April 23, 1998, when Hollins was called up by the Braves to take the place of the injured Danny Bautista, and Hollins got his first hit the next day, singling in his first game against the Arizona Diamondbacks' Brian Anderson.
Thirteen days later, Hollins was sent back to Triple-A Richmond. Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 9, he appeared in five games with them before signing with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent that offseason.
His tour of the minor leagues continued with stops in the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins farm systems before the Braves reacquired him on July 22, 2001, and he was again shipped to Richmond.
The Braves called him up for the second time on April 28, 2004, and this time he lasted seven games before being shuttled back.
A weary Hollins signed a free-agent contract with Tampa Bay on Dec. 14, 2004, and was assigned to Triple-A Durham. He was there for less than a month when Tampa Bay needed a body to replace the disabled Travis Lee, and Hollins became a Devil Ray on May 2, 2005.
He hasn't looked back since. In fact, he was the American League's Rookie of the Month that May after batting .325 with six home runs and 15 RBIs with a .600 slugging percentage and a .368 on-base percentage.
That he was technically a 31-year-old rookie last season did not bring about rounds of razzing from his teammates. After all, this was the same organization that gave Jim "The Rookie" Morris his shot at 35, inspiring a movie.
"It's weird. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was the youngest, a little prospect running around with all types of energy, and now I'm the older guy and people come to me for advice," Hollins said. "But I'm still learning."
And his teammates are still inspired by Hollins.
"We all have something that triggers the motivation factor, but 10 years?" mused left fielder Carl Crawford. "That's impressive because a lot of guys would have probably thrown in the towel. In his case, he didn't have nothing else to fall back on, no cushion, so he had to make it up here."
Hollins has more than himself to think about now. His fiancee, Patrice Parker, gave birth to the couple's first child on July 3, a daughter they named Tahari, and Hollins missed three games to be home for her arrival.
That the Devil Rays are in the Bay Area for a weekend series against the A's is only sweeter. He gets to spend time with the 20 or so family members and friends at McAfee Coliseum who are decked out in Tampa Bay gear and ringing cowbells in support (fellow Devil Rays Jonny Gomes and Greg Norton of Petaluma and San Leandro, respectively, also have their own rooting sections in the East Bay).
And although those turbulent days in the minors may seem like a distant memory, Hollins keeps it all in perspective. After all, he has followed his rookie numbers of a .249 average, 13 homers and 46 RBIs in 120 games by batting .224 with 13 homers and 26 RBIs. Success can be fleeting.
"When you work for something so hard and you get there at a young age, you think you're going to be there all the time, so it just left a bitter taste in my mouth when I got sent down and didn't get back," Hollins said. "I was going to get back no matter what it took or how long it took, and I was knocking on the door every year but just couldn't break through. Last year was a blessing.
"I don't think I ever got like that close to quitting because, who's going to quit? You play head games with yourself, of course. But as far as quitting, I really didn't ever think I was going to quit because I had the physical ability to play. I was healthy still, but it was tough."
And that's where his mother's words of encouragement came into play.
"My mom has always been pretty much my biggest fan and inspiration," he said. "We've just always had that bond and that relationship.
"She raised me to be a man. The day after I graduated from high school, I was drafted and I was in Florida."
Watson, who worked as a school secretary and still lives in the same Vallejo condominium in which she raised Hollins by herself, said she could not explain the pride she feels when she sees her son on a major-league baseball field.
"I get so excited, so overjoyed that his dream came true," said Watson, who choked back tears. "I'm too emotional. It's all just overwhelming."
Sounds like another message of hope from mother to son.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder knows the messages so well, he mouths the words as he listens to the voice of his mother, Deborah Watson, telling her only child: "Damon, good morning. Have a good day. I love you. Don't worry about nothing. Talk to you soon. Now just go out there and do your best."
Hollins, a native of Fairfield who grew up in Vallejo, has taken the motherly advice and run with it in his meandering professional baseball career. How else to describe the path taken by a guy who was drafted in 1992, made his major-league debut in 1998, did not return to the Show again until 2004 and did not stick on a big-league roster until last season?
More than a decade's worth of riding Triple-A buses in the minors has made Hollins a profile in perseverance as well as a highly respected part of the young Devil Rays clubhouse. Finally, more than 14 years after being the Atlanta Braves' fourth-round draft choice out of Vallejo High School, he feels like a big leaguer.
"Every guy has a different story, and everybody's not going to get to the big leagues as fast as certain people," Hollins said in the Devil Rays' clubhouse just before the All-Star break. "That's just how things work. But you've got to keep working, just got to keep plugging away.
"One of the good things that happened for me was I did play in the big leagues when I was 23 years old, even though I was only there two weeks. It just gave me that sense of urgency."
It was on April 23, 1998, when Hollins was called up by the Braves to take the place of the injured Danny Bautista, and Hollins got his first hit the next day, singling in his first game against the Arizona Diamondbacks' Brian Anderson.
Thirteen days later, Hollins was sent back to Triple-A Richmond. Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 9, he appeared in five games with them before signing with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent that offseason.
His tour of the minor leagues continued with stops in the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins farm systems before the Braves reacquired him on July 22, 2001, and he was again shipped to Richmond.
The Braves called him up for the second time on April 28, 2004, and this time he lasted seven games before being shuttled back.
A weary Hollins signed a free-agent contract with Tampa Bay on Dec. 14, 2004, and was assigned to Triple-A Durham. He was there for less than a month when Tampa Bay needed a body to replace the disabled Travis Lee, and Hollins became a Devil Ray on May 2, 2005.
He hasn't looked back since. In fact, he was the American League's Rookie of the Month that May after batting .325 with six home runs and 15 RBIs with a .600 slugging percentage and a .368 on-base percentage.
That he was technically a 31-year-old rookie last season did not bring about rounds of razzing from his teammates. After all, this was the same organization that gave Jim "The Rookie" Morris his shot at 35, inspiring a movie.
"It's weird. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was the youngest, a little prospect running around with all types of energy, and now I'm the older guy and people come to me for advice," Hollins said. "But I'm still learning."
And his teammates are still inspired by Hollins.
"We all have something that triggers the motivation factor, but 10 years?" mused left fielder Carl Crawford. "That's impressive because a lot of guys would have probably thrown in the towel. In his case, he didn't have nothing else to fall back on, no cushion, so he had to make it up here."
Hollins has more than himself to think about now. His fiancee, Patrice Parker, gave birth to the couple's first child on July 3, a daughter they named Tahari, and Hollins missed three games to be home for her arrival.
That the Devil Rays are in the Bay Area for a weekend series against the A's is only sweeter. He gets to spend time with the 20 or so family members and friends at McAfee Coliseum who are decked out in Tampa Bay gear and ringing cowbells in support (fellow Devil Rays Jonny Gomes and Greg Norton of Petaluma and San Leandro, respectively, also have their own rooting sections in the East Bay).
And although those turbulent days in the minors may seem like a distant memory, Hollins keeps it all in perspective. After all, he has followed his rookie numbers of a .249 average, 13 homers and 46 RBIs in 120 games by batting .224 with 13 homers and 26 RBIs. Success can be fleeting.
"When you work for something so hard and you get there at a young age, you think you're going to be there all the time, so it just left a bitter taste in my mouth when I got sent down and didn't get back," Hollins said. "I was going to get back no matter what it took or how long it took, and I was knocking on the door every year but just couldn't break through. Last year was a blessing.
"I don't think I ever got like that close to quitting because, who's going to quit? You play head games with yourself, of course. But as far as quitting, I really didn't ever think I was going to quit because I had the physical ability to play. I was healthy still, but it was tough."
And that's where his mother's words of encouragement came into play.
"My mom has always been pretty much my biggest fan and inspiration," he said. "We've just always had that bond and that relationship.
"She raised me to be a man. The day after I graduated from high school, I was drafted and I was in Florida."
Watson, who worked as a school secretary and still lives in the same Vallejo condominium in which she raised Hollins by herself, said she could not explain the pride she feels when she sees her son on a major-league baseball field.
"I get so excited, so overjoyed that his dream came true," said Watson, who choked back tears. "I'm too emotional. It's all just overwhelming."
Sounds like another message of hope from mother to son.