Holmes signs with Braves

By Phil Alexander
POSTED: Jan. 29, 2002 12:33 a.m.

ASHEVILLE - Asheville pitcher Darren Holmes credits his former coaches at Roberson High School with helping him get back to the major leagues after back surgery sidelined him last year.

That comeback took a big step Monday, as Holmes signed a minor-league contract with the Atlanta Braves, fulfilling a wish he has had since the beginning of his pro career in 1993.

But the 35-year-old Holmes doesn't expect even to have a cup of coffee in Richmond or any of the other Braves' farm cities, with the paperwork just being a legality that will get him a pass into the Braves' training camp in Kissimmee, Fla., on Feb. 12.

"I wanted to play there because, obviously, when you're from here you're a Braves fan," Holmes said Monday evening from his Arden home. "I thought it would be something special if, before I was done with the game, that I could play with the Braves."

After the spinal fusion, Holmes said he has felt as if his back were never injured. For the first time in three years, he awakes with no stiffness, and his throwing motion doesn't grab at his back.

He's ready for a second chance, and he's stayed in shape to get that chance. Football coach Mike Houston lets him in the Roberson weight room so he can lift. Baseball coach Tom Smith has allowed Holmes to work out with his former team, albeit with players half his age. Smith's son, Kenny, a UNC Wilmington commitment, goes over to the Holmes house to throw with him.

"Coach (Rich) Sizemore (Roberson's boys basketball coach) has actually had me on the floor and had guys work on one half of the floor and guys on the other half so I can throw in the middle on rainy days," he said. "I owe a lot to coach Smith and the boys over at that baseball team."

Holmes said he threw perhaps 20 pitches for Braves general manager John Schuerholz and pitching coach Leo Mazzone on Monday morning before Schuerholz asked him his uniform size.

Holmes thought the GM was kidding. But by the time he made the 3 1/2-hour drive back to Asheville, he had agreed to a contract.

"I wasn't asking anything, really, financially," he said. "I just wanted to come back and play."

A right-handed reliever, Holmes was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in their 1992 expansion draft and saved 25 games the following season, the Rockies' first.

Since then, he has pitched for Los Angeles, Milwaukee, the New York Yankees, Arizona, Baltimore and St. Louis with a career record of 35-29, a 4.47 earned-run average and 58 saves.

But Holmes said he thinks it helped that he always seemed to pitch well against the Braves, when he knew the home folk would be watching. He had several teams interested in his comeback, but he held back because he wanted to see if he could reach terms with Atlanta.

Although he had met Mazzone on the field, Monday was the first time the two of them could sit down and talk business.

The two made a start on a good relationship, spending about an hour discussing Mazzone's expectations and baseball in general.

"He just kind of set an Atlanta Braves foundation on pitching, on what they demand and what they look for," said Holmes.

For the former Ram, the third time was the right one. He nearly was traded from Colorado to Atlanta at the 1996 trading deadline and almost landed there again at the end of spring training in 2000, his last season before back surgery.

"I'm still in a daze," he said. "I don't think it's really set in."

Contact Alexander at 232-5837 or PAlexander@CITIZEN- TIMES.com.