"My Fortunate Detour" chronicles Holland's pivotal career switch
Dec. 15—If you're a baseball fan in West Virginia — particularly the southern portion — chances are you have crossed paths with Jim Holland.
Ironically, the trajectory of Holland's life has been all about paths. Specifically, about leaving one and following a new one.
With a three-decade career in professional and college baseball, it only seems that was all he ever knew. That's not the case. His career path was going in one direction, when suddenly opportunity presented itself to go another way.
A detour, it could be said. Which leads right to Holland's recent project, a new book appropriately titled, "My Fortunate Detour".
The book was released on Nov. 12 and sales are going well. Within the first five days of the launch, orders were shipped to 13 states.
"My Fortunate Detour" is a 356-page work that Holland describes as starting off autobiographical before turning into a first-person account of a 30-year career in baseball.
Holland wasn't in baseball his entire working life, but he could still be described as a baseball lifer. From the homemade "Dunbar Yankees" jersey crafted by his mother Rick (a nickname derived from her maiden name Richmond) to his marathon baseball excursion with friends Bud Bickel and Kevin Byers, the game has always been a part of him.
He just didn't always have the fortune of working in baseball.
After graduation from the University of Charleston, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications, he began a 3 {#}1{&/num}/{&den}2{&/den}-year tenure as circulation manager at Charleston Newspapers. After that he moved on to a career selling electronics and filtration products.
When he was away from the job, you could usually find Holland at various sporting events — he often planned his sales trips around games he wanted to attend.
Chief among his interest was the Charleston Wheelers, a high-level Minor League team that played at old Watt Powell Park. Bickel worked for the Wheelers and owner/GM Dennis Bastien, who later also became owner of the Cubs' Appalachian League team in Wytheville, Va.
Bastien moved the team to Huntington and brought Bickel with him.
Knowing his friend Holland as a baseball fan who probably longed to work in the sport, Bickel enlisted him to help with the Cubs. Eventually, that was Holland's way out of the sales work he was doing — a definitive detour in his life.
"I had another life before baseball," Holland said. "And just meeting that one person — you never know when that one intersection is going to happen.
"That's the whole thing, there was just another life and (I) kind of always loved sports. Lots of people love sports and don't get the opportunity to work in it, so I was lucky in that regard. But it's just a matter of when you meet that one person at the one time that can make a difference — it wasn't pre-scripted. Look what happened."
What happened was 30 years of not only a baseball career, but a decorated one at that. His time in Huntington started in 1990, but it only took two years for him to be recognized as someone with the ability to lead a franchise.
The opportunity to become the full-time general manager for the Princeton Reds came open in 1991. A Huntington colleague, Frank Gahl, interviewed for the position and the same in Pulaski, Va. He ultimately took the Pulaski job, and encouraged Holland to go for the spot in Princeton.
He interviewed with members of the Princeton Baseball Association, which hired Holland as its first full-time employee.
The book goes on to chronicle what turned into 24 seasons for Holland as GM in Princeton, first as the Reds' Appy League affiliate before eventually aligning with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Holland became the only five-time winner of the Appalachian League Award of Promotional Excellence.
He was named the league's Executive of the Year in 1993, his second season with Princeton.
During his 24 years, Holland was able to witness the career starts of 84 eventual Major Leaguers — including Greenbrier East alumnus Seth McClung. Twenty-four years and 84 players led to several stories that Holland documents in his book.
Holland decided to leave Princeton after the 2015 season and he wasn't sure if he would work in baseball again. He did — Holland joined Beckley's West Virginia Miners in March 2016 as director of marketing, sales and game day operations.
He stayed with the Miners for four seasons before retiring on May 15, 2020. Exactly one year later, he began work on his book.
With a little over a week left before Christmas, "My Fortunate Detour" ($23.50) would make an ideal gift for baseball fans. The book is available for purchase at The Hatter's Bookshop in Princeton, located at 929 Mercer St. And, Holland announced Thursday that the book is now also being sold at Taylor Books at 226 Capitol St. in Charleston.
The book can also be purchased by contacting Holland at 304-920-7100 for cash, check or credit card orders. Checks can be mailed to Holland at P.O. Box 293, Princeton, WV, 24740. West Virginia sales tax, when applicable, and a $5 shipping fee will be added.
Depending on the locale, Holland will also deliver the book himself. He also plans for the book to be available on Amazon, mostly likely in the spring.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
