"She blew me off a couple times" - Jackson Holliday's dad Matt & mom Leslee fondly remember their first meeting
Jackson Holliday is among MLB's most exciting young stars. Although the 20-year-old infielder has experienced growing pains, he's flashed immense potential since returning to the Baltimore Orioles lineup following a minor league stint.
It isn't surprising to see Holliday making an early impact, given that baseball flows through his veins. Jackson is one of four children raised by Leslee and Matt Holliday. His father is a former slugger for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The couple, who married in 2000, have raised a tight-knit group. However, their family and love story almost didn't occur. In an episode of The Pure Athlete Podcast, Leslee and Matt shared how they met. They were set up on a blind date, and had shaky chemistry at first.
"She blew me off a couple of times so, I had to hang in there [21:08]," Matt said of their initial date.
Mutual friends set up Leslee and Matt when they attended OSU-Stillwater. Although Leslee was hesitant about the idea, the pair eventually went on the date.
"Eventually, we got on the date and we went to a movie. The rest is histroy. We've been together ever since that night," the former St. Louis Cardinal shared [21:19].
Since then, the couple has celebrated many life moments, including the evening Jackson made his MLB debut, thus following in his father's footsteps.
Jackson Holliday is not the only Holliday son looking to make a career in baseball
Later in the episode, Matt Holliday spoke about coaching his sons, Jackson and Ethan. The former MLB All-Star began coaching his boys when they started Little League. However, he altered his instructional style to suit each of his sons' on-field and emotional attributes.
"Jackson is very matter of fact, if you see something, I want you to say it... Ethan is bit more emotional, so I have to pick my spots and let him sort of come to me first." [33:13]
While Jackson Holliday is writing his pro baseball story, his brother Ethan isn't far behind him. Ethan is among the top 2025 MLB Draft prospects, meaning he could soon create his own Major League Baseball legacy.
With so much history yet to be written in the Holliday family scrapbook, it's sobering to think that if Leslee hadn't gone on that blind date, none of this would be happening.